When defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough thinks back to UCLA’s 2007 meeting with Washington, he distinctly remembers what coaches were saying through their headsets.
“Oh my God, he’s a lot faster than we thought.”
“He” is Jake Locker, Washington’s junior quarterback, and yes, he is very fast.
It must be particularly striking to watch his purple jersey flash by from the sidelines, considering the guy wearing No. 10 is 6 feet 3 inches and a hard-to-tackle 226 pounds.
He can run past you and over you.
And, oh yeah, he can throw the ball, too.
Locker ranks second in the league with 1,968 yards passing.
“Jake Locker is a difference-maker,” coach Rick Neuheisel said.
“Locker is special,” Bullough added more than once over the course of five minutes.
But will he play?
Locker, the critical cog that was missing when Washington went 0-11 a year ago, remains officially questionable for Saturday afternoon’s contest against the Bruins.
Bullough said the coaching staff is assuming Locker will play because, “He’s a great athlete, and athletes recover fast.” The first-year coordinator is spot-on in his athletic evaluation, as Locker is considered by many a better baseball player than he is a football player.
With Locker back and a new coaching staff led by former USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, the Huskies have already managed three wins after a winless 2008 campaign that saw them lose to Washington State and fire their coach.
One of those three wins this year was a 16-13 victory against USC. One of the losses came in overtime in a game the Huskies let slip away in South Bend. And to open the season, Washington had a legitimate shot to beat LSU on its home turf to open the season.
What pundits might have considered an easy UCLA victory before the season began now looks more like a coin-flip for a Bruin team that is winless in the Pac-10.
“Obviously they are playing very well,” Neuheisel said of Washington. “They’ve been in almost every game. They are 3-5 like us, and they easily could be 5-3. Maybe even 6-2. We have a great deal of respect for what they’ve accomplished.”
Certainly Locker will present problems for the defense, but if UCLA can do an adequate job containing the quarterback, the Huskies might end up being the sort of antidote they need.
Up to this point, the Bruins have played a grueling set of five conference games, stacked with several top teams. Every one of the Bruin’s Pac-10 opponents up to this point has, at some point in the season, been ranked in the top 25.
At 3-5, Washington at least statistically represents a shift into the latter and easier half of the Bruins’ schedule.
But if the Bruins hope to get their first win on Saturday, the Bruin offense will have to pick up where it left off against Oregon State. After an abysmal midseason stretch in which the team could not find the end zone, the Bruins put up 16 points in the fourth quarter, enough to stage a comeback and tie the game.
The flurry started with more consistent play from redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Prince, who eclipsed 300 yards passing on the day and was aided by a breakout performance by sophomore wide receiver Nelson Rosario who had 152 yards receiving.
“I feel like we put together a solid fourth quarter offensively,” Prince said. “That’s obviously our goal is to keep playing consistently like that.”
Playing so well did wonders for Rosario’s confidence.
“That just helped me realize I can do this against anybody,” he said. “I can have good days. It’s just all in my head. It’s all confidence back there.”
Prince pointed out, however, that last week’s showing ultimately ended in a loss. If the team has any shot left to finish at or above .500 it is almost imperative they get win No. 4 this weekend at home.
But perhaps even more important than that, the team may just need something to keep them motivated.
Neuheisel said, “I’m very appreciative of the spirit of these young guys who keep coming back, keep working and know that there is still lots to play for.”