SEATTLE – If the Washington Huskies repeat the two-quarterback system they used in the season opener against Fresno State against UCLA Saturday, it likely won’t be the same cast.
Thanks to an ankle sprain to backup quarterback sophomore Isaiah Stanback, redshirt freshman Carl Bonnell may spell starter Casey Paus against the Bruins.
Stanback sprained his ankle in the 35-16 loss to Fresno State and didn’t practice last week, the Huskies’ bye week. In his place was Bonnell – promising but inexperienced – represents the best mix of the three in terms of a runner and passer.
“He got all the reps,” UW head coach Keith Gilbertson said. “He got a lot of work. Being the newest here, he probably had the farthest to go. In a lot of ways, last week was really good for him.”
Gilbertson said the likely starter is Paus, who struggled against Fresno State with three interceptions, all but one of which led to touchdowns for the Bulldogs.
Paus was 18 of 39 passing for 183 yards against the Bulldogs Sept. 5 in his first start as a Husky. Besides the three interceptions, Paus, at times, passed the ball too early in his receivers’ routes and wasn’t as poised as the position requires.
Bonnell mopped up in the Fresno State loss, completing two of four passes for minus-3 yards. He was impressive in the early days in preseason practices – so impressive, in fact, that many observers had him leading in the race for the starting position at one point.
But his inexperience later showed, and Bonnell found himself the odd man out. It was obvious he needed work on the two-minute offense and in other areas in which the only answer is repetition and experience.
“If you try to be balanced, the quarterback’s got to know his reads, where to go with the ball, where not to go with the ball, things that you need to check into and check away from,” Gilbertson said. “If he’s confused by the base part of your offense, he’s probably not ready to assume total control.
“I think he’s betting better at it and I think he’s going to be a really good player.”
Bad bye: The consensus on a bye week this early in the season, before the second opponent produced a resounding thumbs-down from the UW players, even though the Huskies appeared to need ample time to correct mistakes.
“I don’t know about the other guys,” free safety Dashon Goldson said, “but I know I wanted to play.”
So did Gilbertson.
“I don’t think it does your football team much good, particularly when you’re as inexperienced at quarterback as we are,” Gilbertson said. “As inexperienced at quarterback as we are, it would have been nice to play another game, a non-conference game.
“You hope you got things done, but you never know when you come out of a bye.”
Short bursts: Tight ends Joe Toledo (groin, back) and Ben Bandel (knee) are not expected back soon. Gilbertson said … Tailback Louis Rankin and strong safety C.J. Wallace made biggest bids for more playing time, Gilbertson said. Rankin is pushing Shelton Sampson for the backup tailback spot, while Wallace is pushing Jimmy Newell.
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