SEATTLE — He is expected to have a full recovery.
Those eight words came from the University of Washington Sunday night regarding quarterback Jake Locker, surely bringing a huge amount of relief for Husky fans. Locker left Saturday’s loss to Oregon State in an ambulance with a neck injury, but was later released from the hospital in time to make an appearance on the sideline in the game’s final minutes.
In a release put out by the school, Locker is said to have suffered a stinger and a trapezius muscle strain.
He underwent more tests Sunday, has begun therapy, and is expected to make a full recovery. When he’ll be back on the football field is unknown, said Washington coach Tyrone Willingham.
“We are truly happy that the tests that were conducted on Jake indicated nothing more serious than a stinger and a muscle strain,” Willingham said in the statement. “We will not rush Jake’s return to the field. The extent to which Jake will be out of action will be in large part determined by his ability to recover from the injury. Jake, his family and the University of Washington football program are very appreciative of the all the well wishes, thoughts and prayers that have been extended to him, and we look forward to having him back on the field upon his recovery.”
The news is a welcome change of emotion for Husky fans, coaches and players who on Saturday were worried about the star quarterback as he was attended to on the field.
“It was a total heartbreaker man,” said senior defensive tackle Jordan Reffett. “It’s tough to see one of your leaders, one of your friends, and one of the best players on the football team go down like that. And it’s scary.”
Offensive coordinator Tim Lappano, who recruited Locker out of Ferndale high school, said he was, “Scared to death” when Locker went down.
A much-needed bright spot: On a night when the Huskies lost their starting quarterback, as well as their bowl hopes, the silver lining on an otherwise dreary night was the play of freshman Curtis Shaw.
A tailback who in recent weeks has been moved to receiver, Shaw saw his first game action as a wideout, and had a solid debut. Shaw caught four passes for 46 yards, including a 23-yarder where he did most of the work after the catch. Shaw also nearly had a long reception down the sideline, but the ball came loose as he went to the ground.
“Curtis Shaw has found a home,” said Lappano. “I think he’s going to give us that down-field stretch that we need. There’s nothing like 10.4 hundred meters.”
On second thought: Lappano admitted after the game that he would have called Washington’s final drive differently if he had it to do over again. On third and two at the Oregon State 29-yard line, Lappano called a pass play, which went for an incompletion. Carl Bonnell’s fourth-down pass attempt to Corey Williams also was incomplete, ending Washington’s comeback hopes.
“Well, coulda, woulda, shoulda,” Lappano said. “I wish I would have run it now on third and two. We were in five when that happened and I don’t think we threw an incompletion when we were in that set, so I was just trying to get a quick one and get a first down. On the last play, they gambled and they won. We had two guys open for touchdowns, the corners cheated and tried to drive on the quick outs (quarterback Carl Bonnell) was just trying to get the first down and look inside. Their backers were playing inside leverage on us, and he was just trying to fit it in there and they made the play on it, so that was tough. But I wish on third down that I would have run the football. I wish I would have done that.”
Injury update: Other than Locker’s neck injury, the most significant injury was to linebacker Fred Wiggs, a regular on special teams who left the game after getting hurt on a kickoff. Willingham only said that Wiggs was injured, but did not specify what the injury was. Tailback Louis Rankin and defensive tackle Jordan Reffett both left the game with injuries, but came back and were able to finish the game.
Asked how he was after the game, Reffett — the oldest player on the team — joked that he was fine, but that he was getting old.
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog
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