EUGENE, Ore. – In naming junior Casey Paus his quarterback today against Oregon and, he says, for the rest of the year, University of Washington head football coach Keith Gilbertson is going back to basics.
As he did in the beginning of the season, Gilbertson is going with the most experienced guy, the one who’s been in the program the longest and the one who knows the offense the best.
After the quarterback carousel that’s involved Paus, redshirt freshman Carl Bonnell and sophomore Isaiah Stanback, Gilbertson is hoping to bring stability to an offense that ranks ninth in the Pacific-10 Conference, ninth in passing offense and dead last among 117 NCAA Division I schools in pass percentage.
Remember, this is a team that’s coming off a 113-yard “performance” against USC, a game in which the Huskies picked up just six first downs.
“We haven’t progressed there,” Gilbertson said. “We’re just frustrated and we’re looking for anything to give us a spark.”
There are those who wonder, out of all available quarterbacks, why he chose Paus, who has completed just 44.4 percent of his passes and has thrown for just three TDs to six interceptions.
But this is what 1-6 teams do. For all their creative flair, Bonnell and Stanback limited the offense because of their inexperience. The offensive coaching staff tore pages out of the playbook just to simplify the offense. In the end, it was an attack that lacked imagination and deception.
“We can’t get much simpler now, in comparison to the other years I have been here,” Gilbertson said. “I have been so fortunate to coach experienced guys from Cary Conklin on. Our play lists are a third of what we used to do. In terms of personnel groups, shifting, we’re not very complicated right now in what we’re trying to do. It’s not very complex. It’s pretty basic stuff.”
Even when they were in competition for the starting job, both Stanback and Bonnell marveled at how well Paus knew the playbook.
Indeed, that’s how Paus got the starting job in the first place. He started the first three games, but lost the position to Bonnell, who, in turn, suffered a groin injury, which turned the job back over to Paus.
Yet, again, Paus couldn’t hold onto it.
He lasted just eight snaps in a 29-14 loss to Oregon State. He threw a pair of interceptions and generated just 5 yards of offense in three abbreviated series.
The coaches yanked him in favor of Stanback, who showed some good things and yet made the coaches cover their eyes at times with his inexperience.
Against the Beavers, Stanback threw for 219 yards, ran for 51, completed 11 of 29 passes, connected on two TD throws and tossed an interception in three quarters.
His next game, against the Trojans, was a colossal disaster.
So the situation has come full circle. Paus is back in the driver’s seat, hoping to generate an offense that’s missing both starting receivers, its best lineman and its starting fullback because of injuries.
Notes
Reserve defensive tackle Wilson Afoa, thought earlier to be unfit to play today, possibly will because of favorable response to treatment … Sophomore wideout Quintin Daniels will have arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday … Gilbertson said Craig Chambers, redshirt freshman receiver from Jackson High School, may make his first career start today after a good week of practice.
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