Vontoure sits after missing meeting

By JOHN SLEEPER

Herald Writer

TEMPE, Ariz. – University of Washington cornerback Anthony Vontoure did not start Saturday’s game against Arizona State because he missed a team meeting Friday.

Vontoure sat out the entire first half.

It is the fourth transgression in the last two seasons for Vontoure. Last year, he missed the Oregon game after an argument with an assistant coach. He also missed the first days of fall practice because he did not finish schoolwork for a summer-quarter class and later was held out of one afternoon practice because he overslept the morning session.

True freshman Derrick Johnson started in Vontoure’s place.

Injured: UW tailback Paul Arnold suffered a stinger in the first quarter and sat out the rest of the half. More serious was linebacker Jafar Williams, who sprained an ankle and knee in one play in the second quarter. He did not return.

Krohn returns: ASU quarterback Jeff Krohn came into the game late in the first quarter. It was his first action in the last three weeks following a bout with mononucleosis.

On his first play, Krohn hit tight end Todd Heap for a 16-yard pass play.

Davis scores: UW wideout Wondame Davis caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Marques Tuiasosopo in the second half to put the Huskies ahead, 7-6. It was Davis’ first touchdown catch of his career.

It was the sixth TD via the air for the Huskies, and four came from players who hadn’t had a TD catch before. The others were tailback Willie Hurst (against Oregon), wideout Wilbur Hooks (Colorado) and wideout Justin Robbins (Oregon State).

Punt-return adventures: Cascade High School grad Toure Butler was inserted as the punt returner after a gaffe by Johnson.

In the first quarter, Johnson fielded a punt on his own 3-yard line and was immediately hit by Christon Rance. However, reserve wideout Roderick Denetso hit Johnson late and was flagged with a personal foul, and the Huskies took over on their own 18. Butler later fumbled a punt after being leveled by Rance, and ASU’s Alfred Williams recovered.

Ties: UW coach Rick Neuheisel grew up in Tempe and went to school at nearby McClintock High School. There are other ties as well. ASU secondary coach Ron English worked briefly for UW quarterbacks and receivers coach Steve Axman in 1996 when Axman was head coach at Northern Arizona.

UW defensive coordinator Tim Hundley served on the same Oregon State coaching staff as ASU tight ends coach Dick Arbuckle.

Also, three players on the Washington roster are from Arizona: freshman linebacker Marquis Cooper (Gilbert), junior tight end John Westra (Mesa) and junior defensive end Jonathan Schmidt (Tucson).

ASU’s roster has three Washingtonians: freshman fullback Skyler Fulton (Olympia), freshman fullback Mike Karney (Kent) and sophomore receiver Travis Gisme (Gig Harbor).

Short routes: Ken Walker started at fullback for the Huskies in place of Pat Conniff. Conniff will miss at least one more game because of a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Walker logged his first-ever carry as a Husky in the first quarter for 6 yards … The Arizona Republic has a staff “football forecast,” in which 12 writers, sportscasters, television talking heads and other pseudo-celebrities pick winners of football games. The leader going into Saturday’s games: Burned-out rock star Alice Cooper … Useless tidbit award: The ASU media notes says that the daughter of Sun Devils coach Bruce Snyder, Paige, works as a student assistant at the UCLA football office.