SEATTLE – Although Saturday’s final score would indicate otherwise, Craig Chambers considered his first-quarter fumble so crushingly game-changing that he allowed it to fester.
Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
“I let it mess with my head,” said Chambers, fast emerging as Washington’s primary big-play receiver. “I was disappointed. I felt sick. I thought I was going to throw up when I came to the sidelines.”
To Chambers’ credit, though, he fought off the nausea. And by the end of the day, the 6-foot-3 sophomore from Jackson High School was the most dangerous receiver on the field.
Oh, sure, Chambers beat himself up. He’d fumbled on his first catch of the day at the Notre Dame 1-yard line, when Irish safety Chinedum Ndukwe stripped the ball and pounced on it.
Forget a likely early Husky lead and whatever momentum might have come from it. We’ll never know what confidence the young Huskies could have taken from the likely touchdown.
UW coach Tyrone Willingham thought Chambers was down and demanded, fruitlessly, a review. Chambers thought he’d scored. The zebras disagreed, and they’re the only ones who count.
So Chambers was left kicking himself. His is a team beyond impatient for a victory against a quality opponent. To beat 16th-ranked Notre Dame would have given a young team that had lost 12 of its previous 14 games a jolt for who knows how long.
Thus, a sickened Chambers was busy self-applying a boot to his derriere. No telling how damaging his fumble might be for the rest of the season, never mind the game.
Then Isaiah Stanback came by for a chat.
It is in Stanback’s nature to be a leader by example, a term too often used for guys who would rather not get in a teammate’s face. It is only since he became the starting quarterback that he has become vocal.
Chambers received a dose of it.
“I just told him that it was only the first series,” Stanback said. “We moved the ball on them pretty easily and it’s something that we had the ability to do all the time. I told him that stuff happens, that I’ve turned over the ball before plenty of times. I said to him that it was the first drive of the game and look how fast we got down there.”
The last thing Stanback wanted was a potentially big-time receiver with miniscule confidence. First, he soothed Chambers verbally. Then, to bring the point home, he threw to him on the Huskies’ first play of their next possession.
By the time Chambers was done Saturday, he’d caught five passes for 127 yards and a touchdown. He made the spectacular appear routine. And he further established himself as the team’s big-play guy.
Chambers could have let the fumble destroy him Saturday. He could have short-armed the next throw to him. He could have quit competing for each pass, each jump ball and each wrestling match with a defensive back.
Instead, with Stanback’s help, Chambers used the fumble as motivation.
“It lingered with me the whole game – not in a negative way, but a positive way,” Chambers said. “It made me make sure I was locking the ball up.”
Chambers was the Huskies’ primary deep threat Saturday. In the third quarter, he made use of his speed, size and hops when he launched for a deep pass from Stanback, one in which, in mid-air, he out-leaped and out-fought cornerback Ambrose Wooden for a 49-yard gain.
Chambers made the catch, despite Wooden’s coverage that was so felonious he was whistled for pass interference. Chambers also scored Washington’s final touchdown, making another leaping grab on a 41-yard scoring play.
“I feel like when the ball comes to me, I have to go up and get it,” Chambers said. “That’s my job as a receiver. I feel like I have to catch it.”
Chambers has come far since his first days as a Husky. Criticized for his hands and lack of effort for much of last season, Chambers played in just five games. It took him more than half the year before the coaching staff trusted him enough to give him meaningful playing time.
But when they saw greater effort from Chambers, off came the shackles. The high point was an eight-catch, 189-yard outburst against California.
The momentum didn’t continue, though. After the coaching change, he found himself listed on the third-team offense for the opener against Air Force.
The light, however, has again come on. Saturday was Chambers’ best day of the season. He has 10 receptions for 256 yards, or 25.6 yards per catch, in 2005, and has scored two touchdowns.
We are watching the maturation of Craig Chambers. He’s learning that work creates opportunities and that, when Chambers gets an opportunity, he is capable of great feats.
“Craig’s a playmaker,” UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said. “He’s got great size. He’s got great leaping ability. He was working a lot harder in practice this week. His practice habits really picked up. He’s going be a guy that we’ve got to get the ball to. He can go up and make some plays.
“He’s going to be a great football player. There’s no question about it.”
How soon greatness comes to Craig Chambers depends on Craig Chambers himself.
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