SEATTLE – Both Johnny DuRocher and Jake Locker say they are ready if called upon to play quarterback for Washington, though both say they have confidence that Carl Bonnell will be able to lead the Husky offense for the rest of the season.
With Isaiah Stanback’s season over because of an injured foot, Bonnell shot up to the starting job and DuRocher and Locker are now competing to be the backup. DuRocher is listed as the backup, but coaches said both players will get snaps this week in practice.
“Jake and Johnny will get a little bit more reps, but Carl’s going to get the most reps because he’s the starter,” UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said. “We’ll go with Carl and see what happens.”
There are arguments to be made for both DuRocher and Locker.
DuRocher is a junior who played in five games last season and has more experience. Locker is Washington’s heralded true freshman with athletic ability similar to Stanback. DuRocher has seen few snaps in practice this year while Locker has seen plenty running the scout team.
“It’s a tough situation, but you have to make the best of it,” DuRocher said. “They have to make sure Carl gets ready and Jake gets ready. I just have to be ready to go if my number gets called.”
“I’m confident in my abilities,” Locker said. “It’s a different game and I haven’t had a chance to play in a big-time atmosphere like this. But I’m confident I’d be able to go out and move the ball (and) help our team.”
Both players say they’ve been happy with the way the season has gone because the Huskies have been winning. They’re both looking forward to getting more snaps in practice this week.
Lappano said that DuRocher’s lack of mobility will hurt him, but said his experience is a plus. He said Locker hasn’t had much of a look in the Huskies’ offense, but has been impressive on the scout team and has shown he knows the offense.
“As far as knowing the offense, understanding the offense, he’s right there,” Lappano said. “He understands what we’re doing.”
Lappano said he and coach Tyrone Willingham would have to decide “in the next week or two” whether to commit to redshirting Locker or playing him. Locker said he has no preference.
“I don’t think they’re going to throw anyone into a situation that hurts them or the team,” Locker said. “I feel like I’m ready to play, but the coaches know. They’ve been doing this a long time, they’ve been around a lot of players.”
What happened? Lappano pointed to a number of issues that went wrong in the loss to Oregon State. Washington struggled on third downs, had too many negative yards on running plays, too many penalties and quarterbacks didn’t do a good job of finding receivers.
“We were sloppy fundamentally in every position everywhere,” Lappano said. “We broke down. We didn’t trust our technique in a lot of areas.”
Feeling for Isaiah: Lappano said Monday was tough after he found out Stanback’s college career was over. The two had developed a close relationship as Stanback began to emerge under Lappano’s tutelage. But Lappano hopes that Stanback will still get a shot in the NFL.
“He’s going to have to do it the hard way,” Lappano said. “It really hurts him for the combine and that stuff. Because he was getting a lot of attention from the next level. He probably won’t be able to do that stuff and that’s what bothers him right now, that’s what hurts. But he’ll do it the hard way just like he’s done the past few years. … A good kid like him doesn’t deserve that.”
Felder finding time: California coach Jeff Tedford said sophomore linebacker Anthony Felder, an O’Dea graduate, is battling for time at linebacker after starting the season “banged up.”
“He’s been a spot player for us,” Tedford said. “He plays about 12 to 20 plays a game. He’s a very solid player. We have a lot of depth at our linebacker corps right now. He’s rotating in there with the guys and is doing a good job on special teams.”
Felder has 12 tackles this season.
What about Montgomery? He might have been battling for playing time at Washington but instead, freshman running back James Montgomery is a redshirt for Cal. Montgomery originally committed to the Huskies as a senior at Rancho Cordova (Calif.) High School, where he was one of the nation’s top-rated running backs, but instead changed his mind and went to Cal. Now he’s behind three talented running backs in Marshawn Lynch, Justin Forsett and Marcus O’Keith.
“He’s done a nice job,” Tedford said. “He had a very good camp. He has a bright future for us, but we have three running backs that are pretty good players.”
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