SEATTLE — The offensive line of the University of Washington football team has been in constant motion all season, and yet there has been one key cog that hasn’t moved.
That could change this week.
Junior left tackle Senio Kelemete, who has not only been the only lineman to start all 11 games at the same position but has also been the unit’s most consistent player, was sidelined by a high ankle sprain Monday and might not be available for Saturday’s Apple Cup game against Washington State.
Kelemete suffered the injury on the final play of UW’s 16-13 win over Cal on Saturday and was in a boot over the past two days. Kelemete shed the boot to walk around the track during Monday’s practice.
“He’s made tremendous progress,” said coach Steve Sarkisian, who’s always optimistic about injuries. “I’m not going to declare him playing Saturday yet, but the progress he is making is encouraging.”
Kelemete got hurt when at least one teammate fell on his ankle during Chris Polk’s 1-yard touchdown run Saturday afternoon.
If Kelemete can’t play this Saturday, freshman Erik Kohler would probably get the nod.
Kohler started at left guard in the Cal win, but senior Ryan Tolar has returned from a knee injury and appears likely to start at guard this Saturday.
Déjà vu
It’s beginning to look a lot like 1992.
Or Seattle, circa last week.
Snow has been dumping on the east side of the state in recent days, and it’s expected to continue over the next few days. That means the Huskies and Cougars are likely to play in the snow this weekend.
“It’s football kind of weather,” UW linebacker Cort Dennison said. “I love bad weather. I love when teams are forced to run the ball. That’s what I live for.”
One of the most famous games in the history of the rivalry came in 1992, when WSU quarterback Drew Bledsoe led the Cougars to an upset win of fifth-ranked UW in Pullman.
“The Snow Bowl here is still a huge deal,” current WSU quarterback Jeff Tuel said of that game. “You still hear about it, with Bledsoe hitting a guy in the back of the end zone and the guy sliding 15 yards in a pile of snow.
“It might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play these guys in the snow like this. I’m fired up about it.”
Washington State has more experience playing in snow, but the Huskies got a little taste of the elements last week. After this side of the state got hit by a couple of inches of the white stuff last Monday morning, Sarkisian led his players out onto the snow-covered Husky Stadium turf for a practice that afternoon.
“That was the intent of it, why we went outside that day last week,” Sarkisian said when asked how the practice might help the Huskies in Pullman. “Obviously, it wasn’t going to snow at Cal — although it hailed.
“That was the intent of getting out there and getting our guys somewhat acclimated to it and some of our young guys exposed. We didn’t know exactly what the weather would be like this week, so we tried to take advantage of that last week.”
Banning the B-word
Sarkisian doesn’t expect his players to do much trash-talking during rivalry week, and he’s also imploring them not to look at Saturday’s game as a gateway to bowl eligibility.
“Obviously, we’d all like to get to a bowl game,” said Sarkisian, whose 5-6 Huskies need a win in this weekend’s regular-season finale to become bowl eligible. “But more than that, this week, is playing the Apple Cup. And I don’t want to lose sight of that.
“I don’t want to say we’re playing Washington State to get to a bowl game; we’re playing Washington State for the Apple Cup.”
As far as the possibility of trash talk this week, Sarkisian wasn’t overly concerned.
“I think our guys are very respectful of Washington State and who they are and the way they play and their style of play,” he said.
Locker, meet Locker
For the first time, UW quarterback Jake Locker will go against cousin Casey Locker, a WSU freshman safety, this weekend.
The Cougars’ Locker did not play in last year’s Apple Cup because he was redshirting.
Jake Locker said he hasn’t been treating his cousin any different this week, but he expects that family consideration to take the day off Saturday afternoon.
“I’m sure he’ll try to hit me harder than he tries to hit anybody else,” the Huskies’ quarterback said Monday.
Short yardage
Sarkisian said that punter Kiel Rasp (back spasms) should be available for this weekend’s game. He added that he hopes to have reserve safety Sean Parker (stinger) back as well but that “we are not going to push him out there” if Parker isn’t ready. … An injury forced WSU’s Tuel to the sidelines for last year’s Apple Cup, which the Huskies won 30-0. Tuel is slated to start on Saturday, and he hasn’t forgotten what it was like to watch last year’s game. “It was unbearable,” he said in a conference call Monday. … The Herald mis-reported the name of the play that led to UW’s game-winning touchdown on Saturday afternoon. It was called the 26 Power Quad. A Herald reporter misunderstood wide receiver Jermaine Kearse when he asked what the play was called, reporting it was the 26 Power Plod.
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