UW Notes

Run defense

C

Again, given the time they were on the field, no worries. Terrence Whitehead had 122 yards on 25 carries, with a 30-yard TD coming long after the game was decided. No trouble. Just exhaustion.

Chambers has big day

* Redshirt freshman wide receiver Craig Chambers, who played at Jackson High School, catches four passes for 106 yards.

By John Sleeper

Herald Writer

EUGENE, Ore. – On another day of disaster for the University of Washington football team, Craig Chambers was magnificent.

The Huskies offense did innumerable things wrong Saturday in a 31-6 defeat to Oregon, but pin nothing on the redshirt freshman wide receiver from Jackson High School. Chambers caught four passes for 106 yards, three of the spectacular variety.

This, coming from a kid who hadn’t caught a pass as a Husky. After more than a year of sitting on the bench and listening to whispers about how in the world he could have been considered the crown jewel of his recruiting class, Chambers broke out big-time in his first start.

“He ran some real great routes tonight,” UW head coach Keith Gilbertson said. “He made some great catches over people. I’m real happy to see that. People have been asking where he is, and he did some good things tonight. I’m real proud of him.”

The light may have finally clicked on for Chambers this week. Gilbertson said he had had a great week of practice and that he was considering starting him.

To be sure, a factor in the decision was the fact that the Huskies’ two top wide receivers, Charles Frederick (hamstring) and Corey Williams (wrist) were injured. Also, wide receiver Quintin Daniels is scheduled for knee surgery on Tuesday.

But another was that Chambers was a standout.

“In practice, he did things a little more easily,” offensive coordinator John Pettas said. “He knew what he was doing and he seemed relaxed out there. He caught more balls. He didn’t drop as many. About Thursday, I told him, ‘I’ve got a good feeling about you for this game.’ He stepped up and made some plays.”

After making an 11-yard catch for a first down in the second quarter, Chambers caught three deep balls in the third quarter.

The first was a diving, 34-yarder to the Oregon 48-yard line. The next, on the next series, came on the same pattern and resulted in a 30-yard gain to the Oregon 43. On the same series, Chambers leaped over two Oregon defenders and came down with the ball on the Duck 1-yard line for a 31-yard gain.

“We’ve been waiting for him to do that,” Pettas said. “He hadn’t shown it in practice, consistently. He’s dropped a lot of balls and ran the wrong routes. For some reason, he did it today. I guess it was because we were counting on him.”

At 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, Chambers can create mismatches with smaller cornerbacks, especially with his leaping ability. That’s what Washington is counting on for the rest of his time in Montlake.

Lord knows, the Huskies could use him.

“Basically, the last two weeks, I’ve been focusing more,” Chambers said. ” … I just had a talk with myself and said, ‘You’ve gotta get moving or you’re never going to play.’”

Knudson excels: Place-kicker Evan Knudson won a competition over Michael Braunstein Thursday and won the job for Saturday’s game. His contribution: Washington’s only points on field goals of 41 and 37 yards.

Braunstein had won the job after Knudson missed two field goals against Fresno State in the season opener. Since then, Braunstein has fallen on hard times, missing his last three attempts. Gilbertson threw the job open this week.

Knudson earned it, booting five successful field goals out of six beyond 40 yards in Thursday’s practice.

“It was a bittersweet kind of opportunity, emphasis on the bitter,” Knudson said. “It was a great feeling making that first field goal.”

It later was revealed that Knudson suffered from mononucleosis in fall camp. He said he felt weak and washed out, but didn’t know what it was.

“I thought it was a cold,” he said. “There was a loss of strength a little bit, but it probably got into my head more than anything.”

Matson galore: If you were in Eugene this weekend and missed Jerry Matson, you weren’t looking.

They love the Ducks middle linebacker and Kamiak High School grad. UO head coach Mike Bellotti can’t say enough great things about him in print. The Eugene Register-Guard called him the heart and soul of the defense. He was named a game co-captain Saturday and his photo was on the cover of the game program.

Not bad for a former walk-on.

Matson finished with six tackles, three for loss.

Short bursts: The top-ranked and 19-0 Washington volleyball team attended Saturday’s football game. The night before, the football team attended Washington’s three-set victory over Oregon … Washington plays host to Arizona Saturday at Husky Stadium.