SEATTLE —UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel said that he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jake Locker will be starting at quarterback for the University of Washington on Thursday night.
“Well, he probably knows our doctors pretty well,” UW coach Steve Sarkisian said Tuesday evening, after putting on a charade in front of reporters about not knowing whether Locker will play. “Maybe he knows more than I know.”
Less than an hour later, Sarkisian admitted on his Twitter account that Locker was “cleared to play” and would indeed start against the Bruins.
It will mark the final time Locker, a senior who put off the NFL draft to return for his senior season, will play at Husky Stadium. He sat out the Oregon game on Nov. 6 because of a cracked rib bone.
On Monday night, before Locker had been officially cleared by team doctors, he said that he couldn’t imagine missing Senior Night.
“Anytime you have to sit out and watch, it’s tough,” he said. “As a competitor and as a football player, you always want to be out there.”
Whether Sarkisian was trying to gain a competitive advantage, play with the media or add hits to his Twitter site, the coach spent most of his post-practice session with the media Tuesday acting as if he didn’t know whether Locker would play.
“I don’t know yet,” Sarkisian said with a shrug and a slight smirk. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. We’ll see what happens.”
He eventually admitted that Locker had been medically cleared.
Redshirt freshman Keith Price started UW’s last game, a 53-16 loss to Oregon, and completed 14 of 28 passes in his first collegiate start. The Huskies have lost their last eight games when Locker is sidelined by an injury, dating back to his freshman year. The only Locker backup to win a game as starter was Carl Bonnell in 2007, when UW rushed for 334 yards in a 37-23 win.
The Huskies have been rather secretive about the UCLA game on several fronts this week. First, UW tried to keep the new black uniforms under wraps before Sarkisian essentially spilled the beans at his Monday press conference. Sarkisian said that same day that medical word on Locker would come Tuesday, but he claimed after that afternoon’s practice that doctors had yet to make a decision.
About an hour later, Sarkisian broke the news 2010 style.
“Jake Locker is cleared to play!” he tweeted. “Let’s make sure Husky Stadium is rockin’ for the the (sic) entire nation to see. Go Dawgs!”
And with that, the the Huskies had their senior leader back.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
