By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – The University of Washington’s offensive line has done its share of apologizing to teammates since Saturday’s 35-13 loss to UCLA.
Following a disaster in which the Bruins held the Huskies to 16 rushing yards and battered quarterback Taylor Barton almost at will, members of the offensive line say they’re most responsible for the blowout.
“You feel like you let them down,” guard Elliott Zajac said. “You let the quarterback down; you let everybody down. You let the guys in the backfield down. You let the coaches down. Everybody. It’s definitely different when you look into your own peers’ eyes. It’s written all over their faces.”
Having faced perhaps the best, deepest defensive front in the country makes no difference. Neither does the fact that the line is painfully inexperienced, with only two-year starting center Kyle Benn having had any meaningful experience.
“There’s been no finger-pointing,” Benn said. “The o-line, we know we played bad. And that was the reason Taylor got hit as many times as he did. There’s no excuse for that. It’s just us taking responsibility for an embarrassing performance.”
It was known before the season that the area of foremost concern would be the offensive line. Gone are four-year starter Chad Ward and three-year starter Elliot Silvers to the NFL. Ditto four-year letter-winner Matt Fraize. Wes Call. Dominic Daste helps coach the o-line. Matt Rogers, who made important contributions in the Rose Bowl, is gone.
Past lapses in recruiting offensive linemen have caught up. So have defections and academic problems. Khalif Barnes was moved from defensive tackle to offensive tackle in the spring.
The cupboard is bare. Coaches say that, in time, this will be a quality line. Now, they’re learning on the fly.
“We’d like to have competition at the position, but the bottom line is that there aren’t any experienced guys behind them,” UW coach Rick Neuheisel said. “We said all along that we were going to have some growing pains, and this is a major growing pain.”
And don’t forget Pat Conniff and Jerramy Stevens. Conniff was a marvelous lead blocker at fullback. Tight end Stevens, who broke a foot and is out indefinitely, not only is a great receiver, but a solid blocker, too.
“We are developing a new offensive line that will hopefully reach the status of last year’s line,” Neuheisel said. “The only way to do that is to believe in our confidence and work our butts off. We have suffered losses before and we have fought back, so I’m expecting nothing less.”
Pickett practices: Cody Pickett seemed to make all the necessary throws and was surprisingly sharp in Tuesday’s practice. He said afterward that his separated shoulder held up well and that he should be ready to play Saturday against Arizona.
“It feels good,” Pickett said. “I definitely want to play on Saturday. I can’t stand to stand there and watch again.”
Pickett missed Saturday’s game at UCLA after separating his right shoulder against USC the previous week. Much of the decision about whether Pickett plays Saturday will be the way the shoulder feels today after Tuesday’s throwing.
Neuheisel said Pickett nagged at him to practice Tuesday, to the extent that Neuheisel asked head trainer Dave Burton whether it would be a good idea. Burton said it might be worthwhile to let Pickett try, but to watch him closely.
“He really had no visible signs (of the injury),” Neuheisel said. “I was watching him closely, and if I saw that wincing that accompanies pain with the throwing motion, I was going to pull him.”
Barton, Pickett’s backup, has health issues of his own. His sprained left foot prevented him from practicing Tuesday. He also will get results of neurological tests this week administered after it was feared he’d sustained a concussion against UCLA.
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