Receiving corps has Huskies in good hands

Published 2:54 pm Tuesday, September 14, 2010

SEATTLE — University of Washington wide receiver Jermaine Kearse didn’t play poorly a week ago — five receptions for 108 yards and one touchdown — but he also let some passes slip through his hands in a disappointing 23-17 loss to Brigham Young.

In his home debut on Saturday, Kearse really wanted to play better.

And did he ever, totaling nine receptions for 179 yards and three touchdowns — all three career highs — in Washington’s 41-20 victory over Syracuse at Husky Stadium. The three TD catches came in the space of 13 minutes of the second and third quarters, and turned a 10-6 deficit into a 27-10 UW lead.

“Jermaine Kearse had a fantastic outing tonight,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said minutes after the Huskies wrapped up a 41-20 victory over the visiting Orange.

Said Kearse: “I didn’t have that great of a game last week. … (So) this definitely made me feel a lot better.”

On his first touchdown, Kearse was already in the end zone and merely had to catch the ball. But for his second, he performed a bit of highlight-film magic.

On the first play from scrimmage after halftime, quarterback Jake Locker passed to Kearse in the left flat. Using blocks from wide receivers Devin Aguilar and D’Andre Goodwin, Kearse broke one tackle, eluded another, and then won a footrace down the sideline for a 57-yard TD that put the Huskies in front 20-10.

That play gave the Huskies a huge jolt of momentum, Sarkisian said.

“It kept our team alive,” he said. “I thought that play was indicative of what we were going to do in the second half. We were going to play with the same energy, the same intensity and the same passion that we were capable of playing.”

Washington’s coaches figured that Syracuse would try to control the middle of the field, in part to contain Locker, so they devised a game plan to attack the perimeter. In part, that involved a short passing game to give the UW’s receiver corps a chance to make plays in the open field.

Kearse made that strategy look brilliant with his 57-yard touchdown catch and another 28-yard TD reception on another short route later in the third quarter.

“He made a lot of things happen once the ball got in his hands,” Locker said. “It was easy for me. I threw little 10-yard passes.”

The UW coaches talked to Kearse after last season about trying to gain more yards after his catches. It became a point of pride, he said, “through the whole offseason, spring ball and then (fall) camp, just working on running those extra 15 yards after the catch.”

“That showed up tonight,” Sarkisian said. “Everything he was doing was after the catch.”

Kearse, a junior from Lakewood, is putting together a career that will rank among the best in UW history. He began the season with 70 receptions for 1,167 yards, and has 14 catches for 287 yards in two games this year. At this pace, he should crack the school’s top 10 in both career statistics by midseason.

“He seems very confident in what he’s doing right now,” Locker said. “You’re seeing his talent real flourish.”

“I say this a lot, but I just try to make the most of my opportunities,” Kearse said. “(But) I definitely think I’ve grown up a lot.”

Kearse was recruited to Washington by previous head coach Tyrone Willingham. When Sarkisian took over last season, Kearse played the first three games as a backup receiver.

But he has since blossomed into Locker’s most trustworthy target. And as he showed on Saturday, a player who can make game-breaking plays on his own talents.

“I didn’t give him enough credit when I first had him,” Sarkisian acknowledged Saturday. “I thought he was a nice and kind of a smart player, a nice catcher, but I didn’t realize he had as much versatility as he’s got in his game. He’s earned everything he’s gotten, and I’m very proud of him.”