Will Willingham survive next year?

SEATTLE — Now that a decision has been made on Tyrone Willingham, answering the biggest question of the offseason, another question looms.

Are the 2008 Huskies going to be good enough to keep Willingham around past next season? The assumption is that the Huskies will need a winning season and a bowl game next year for Willingham to be the coach at the University of Washington in 2009.

“Every year is win or else,” Willingham said at Wednesday’s press conference. “That’s the life of a football coach or any other coach and that’s the way I approach every season.”

So, will next year’s Dawgs have enough to keep their coach employed?

The biggest question mark, though certainly not the only one, is the defense. As of now, Kent Baer is still the team’s defensive coordinator, though that could very well change sometime soon. This season, the Huskies allowed 446.28 yards per game, the worst total in school history. That number ranked 102nd out of 119 NCAA Division I teams. The Huskies were almost equally bad against the run and the pass, ranking 99th in pass defense (261.38 yards per game) and 89th against the run (185 yards per game).

The defense was an area of concern coming into the season, but no one expected the numbers to be that bad.

“I knew we had some areas of concern, obviously, because we came into the season knowing we’d have to use some young personnel in our secondary, that we had not yet had a dominant up front guy even though we felt good about the experience of our defensive front,” Willingham said. “But no, I didn’t think we’d give up as much yardage as we did and increase scoring as we did.”

For next year, the Huskies will return a lot of experience at linebacker and in the defensive backfield, but will be very inexperienced on the defensive line, which graduates three of four starters. Also gone are the top two reserves used on the defensive line, end Caesar Rayford and tackle Erick Lobos. Only defensive end Daniel Te’o-Nesheim returns from a starting line that loses Greyson Gunheim, Jordan Reffett and Wilson Afoa, meaning a few young and inexperienced players will have to step up.

Dan Howell is the only departing starting linebacker, leading to some speculation that the Huskies could switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense to take advantage of the experience at linebacker. Regular starters E.J. Savannah, who led the team with 111 tackles, and Donald Butler, who missed the second half of the season with a knee injury, will be back. Also returning are Trenton Tuiasosopo and Mason Foster, who saw significant playing time and started a few games because of injuries.

Both starting safeties, Jason Wells and Mesphin Forrester return, as does Darin Harris, who moved into a starting role after a knee injury to Wells. Freshman Nate Williams, who played mostly on nickel defense this year, could also challenge for a starting spot.

The Huskies lose their most experienced cornerback in Roy Lewis, but everyone else is back.

Right now, the linebackers look like the strength of next year’s defense, but they, like everyone else, will need to improve for the Huskies to win more games.

And if talking about the Husky defense is depressing for fans, they can at least take some comfort knowing the Jake Locker-led offense should be entertaining and productive next year.

The Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, Locker already has proven himself to be one of the conference’s best runners, and one of the nation’s best running quarterbacks. Next season’s challenge will be to improve upon a 47.3 percent completion rate.

“He’ll be the first to tell you that there are a couple of those throws that he needs to make,” offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said. “When he becomes more accurate, he’s the best in the business, he really is.”

If Locker improves in the passing game, and the Huskies’ pass offense (95th nationally with 192.2 yards per game) can come close to matching the run game (17th with 203.08 yards per game), then the Huskies will have one of the conference’s top offenses.

Just who Locker will throw to is the biggest question for the offense. Gone are leading receivers Anthony Russo and Marcel Reece, who accounted for 1,527 of Washington’s 2,485 receiving yards. The Huskies also lose Corey Williams, Cody Ellis and Quintin Daniels.

The Huskies will have a number of talented, but inexperienced receivers trying to earn starting roles. Curtis Shaw, a converted tailback, and D’Andre Goodwin will be the only receivers with any experience on the team. A number of freshmen likely will make impacts as well. Anthony Boyles and Devin Aguilar were both supposed to be freshmen this year, but failed to qualify academically. Both are expected to be available next year. A number of incoming freshmen could play as well.

“I love the talent of these young receivers coming in,” Lappano said. “Those guys are clearly the most talented group of receivers that have been in there for a long time, but they’re clearly young and inexperienced. So it’s going to be important that they get out there this winter and throw the football. That falls on Jake Locker. When they don’t want to be out there, he needs to get them out there.”

Lappano also stressed that the Huskies need more production from the tight end position. Michael Gottlieb and Johnie Kirton will be back, while Robert Lewis is gone. Gottlieb led the tight ends with just 12 catches for 136 yards. The two returning players could be challenged for the starting role by Chris Izbicki, who redshirted this year, or by incoming freshman Kavario Middleton, who is rated as the state’s top recruit.

Two areas of strength for the offense should be the fullback position with both Luke Kravitz and Paul Homer returning, and the offensive line. Center Juan Garcia has not made it known yet if he will return for his final year of eligibility or pursue a professional career, but it he does come back, the Huskies’ line should be a force. Either Ben Ossai or Cody Habben, who split time at left tackle, will start at that position, while the other will slide over to right tackle to take over for the departing Chad Macklin. Starting guards Ryan Tolar and Casey Bulyca will return, as will Jordan White-Frisbee, who also saw time at guard.

Just who they block for, however, is uncertain with the departure of leading rusher Louis Rankin. Brandon Johnson, who rushed for over 100 yards against Cal, seems the likely candidate to earn the starting role. If he does, the battle for the No. 2 spot would include J.R. Hasty, who played sparingly this season, and Brandon Yakaboski and Willie Griffin, who both redshirted.

Youth at the skill positions aside, the offense will need to continue the growth it showed this year for the Huskies to be successful.

“There’s a chance that this thing could be — if the receivers are as good as we think they are — this could be pretty good,” Lappano said. “Real good.”

Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog