By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – Idaho coach Tom Cable doesn’t hesitate when asked what made the difference in last season’s game between his team and Washington, a 44-20 Husky win.
“If you turn it over six times, you’re not going to win,” said Cable, a 1982 Snohomish High School grad. “We gave away 28 points in that football game. That’s the reality of it. If we took care of the football, we could have made it a football game.”
Cable’s point: If the Vandals (0-2) cut down on turnovers, they can beat No. 13 Washington (1-0).
In fact, 31 UW points came after Washington forced a Vandal turnover, whether it was on special teams or defense. John Welsh likely is the Sun Belt Conference’s most gifted passer (more than 3,100 passing yards, 22 touchdowns in 2000), but he did throw 17 interceptions last season.
Twice against the Huskies, Welsh’s fumbles led to scores. Linebacker Ben Mahdavi scored on a 35-yard return after recovering one of Welsh’s bobbles. Eight plays following another Welsh fumble, John Anderson kicked a 31-yard field goal.
Welsh said the Vandals should be more acclimated to the size and roar in Husky Stadium this time, a circumstance that may help cut down on mistakes.
“I think we’re familiar with the environment,” he said. “We played here last year and in other big games. I don’t think that’s going to be a factor. We just have to go in there and run the offense.”
The Huskies also scored 21 points off turnovers from the kicking game.
More help: Much has been made about the fact that Cable is a former Rick Neuheisel assistant at Colorado and served under UW offensive coordinator Keith Gilbertson when Gilbertson was head coach at Cal.
But Idaho also has Tarn Sublett as receivers coach, the same Sublett who was a grad assistant with the Huskies last season in that same capacity.
“He is well versed on how we do things on both sides of the ball,” Neuheisel said. “He has very detailed information on our personnel. We’ll also have to change our communication system a little bit so they won’t know exactly what we are doing.”
Coping: While UW players admitted to shock with last week’s events – the East Coast terrorist attacks Sept. 11 and the plane crash in Mexico that killed 16 UW boosters the day after – they also are no strangers to those feelings.
Curtis Williams, the Husky safety who remains in a wheelchair after injuring his spinal cord against Stanford, helped his teammates know what really is important, and in a very real way, still helps them on the field.
“You have to separate the game and life, and cherish every moment,” inside linebacker Jamaun Willis said. “As far as football is concerned, what happened to Curtis put everything in perspective. I know I’m focused every moment of every day because it could be over just like that.”
Added Neuheisel: “If you think about the last 12 months for our program – the crash in Mexico, the Curtis Williams injury – there has been reminder after reminder to the young people in our program that you can’t take anything for granted. You may seem 10 feet tall and bulletproof, but you also have to stop and smell the roses now and then. I don’t think you’re ever too young to have that mentality.”
Short routes: In their first two games, against Washington State and Arizona, the Vandals have given up an average of 36 points and 517.5 yards a game … Jordan Kramer, son of Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer, starts at safety for Idaho.
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