To be sure, the Washington Huskies would have an easier time Saturday, walking into the lions’ den of Autzen Stadium to face the No. 1 Ducks, if Jake Locker is available to play.
Locker has averaged 209.8 yards per game through the air at a 56.1-percent completion percentage for Washington (3-5, 2-3 Pacific-10 Conference) this season. Special attention, however, is devoted to the senior’s ability with his legs; he has three rushing touchdowns on 31.6 yards a game on the ground, and he breaks containment with aplomb.
However, Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian reasoned that a banged-up Jake Locker — a rib injury has affected him the past three games — would not help the team toward bowl eligibility with four games remaining. Keith Price, a redshirt freshman from Compton, Calif., will get his first career start in Locker’s place. True freshman Nick Montana, Joe Montana’s son, will be his backup.
“He took a couple pretty good shots (against Stanford) as you guys probably saw that kind of escalated this thing to a whole another level for us,” Sarkisian told the Seattle Times on Monday. “It’s unfortunate. I know Jake wants to be out there in the worst way, but this is the right thing to do.
“He was pretty shook up about it. Jake is a courageous guy, a competitive guy, extremely loyal. The thing that bothers him the most is that he feels like maybe he’s letting his teammates down, and his team, they don’t feel that way at all about it. They understand that, ‘Man, this is the right thing to do for him, this is the right thing to do for us as we continue to move forward.’ Hopefully we’ll get him back here in a few weeks for the UCLA game.”
The Huskies’ problems extend beyond their highly regarded opponent.
Sarkisian shook up his offensive line by starting true freshmen Colin Porter and Erik Kohler at right guard and right tackle, respectively, against Stanford last week. The duo endured a trial by fire in the Huskies 41-0 loss to the Cardinal; Locker was sacked three times in the defeat.
Senior offensive tackle Cody Habben is expected to return to the starting lineup on the right side, and senior Greg Christine is expected to see significant time at offensive guard.
“Starting two true freshmen next to each other was hard. We tried it. It was hard,” Sarkisian said. “I thought Cody when he went back into the game showed, man, he’s still a fifth-year senior. He’s got a lot of playing time under his belt.”
The lines on both side of the ball are matters of concern for Sarkisian.
Washington defensive linemen Talia Crichton and Cameron Elisara have been hampered by injuries, and opponents have rushed for 212.1 yards a game against the Huskies — ninth in the Pac-10, to only Washington State. (Oregon is the conference leader and third-ranked team nationally in rushing.)
“It’s a big challenge for our defense,” starting defensive tackle Alameda Ta’amu told The Seattle Times.
The defense has just 10 takeaways on the season, the fewest in the Pac-10, and has just 15 sacks on the season, tied for the fewest with Arizona State. Washington has allowed opponents to score 34 times in 37 chances in the red-zone, also the Pac-10’s worst mark.
The Huskies’ overall effort level on defense, however, cannot be overlooked.
“They’re very active,” Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood said. “They’re going to come from all over the place. The D-coordinator (Nick Holt) likes zone pressure and movement — we struggled with some of their movement last year. They’re going to challenge us in that way — they’re always going to try to get one more down (in the box) that we have to get ready for.”
Individually, Washington can point to several bright spots on the defensive side of the ball. Outside linebacker Mason Foster, a senior and a likely NFL draft choice, leads the conference with 100 tackles, supplemented by three sacks. Safety Nate Williams (70 tackles) and middle linebacker Cort Dennison (60 tackles) rank second and third in the conference, respectively.
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