The whole season could go “puff” like the Pre
Rich Linde, 22 July 2009

Steve Sarkisian’s enthusiasm for Husky football has rubbed off on the fans. Washington’s practices are now open to both the media and fans, and Sarkisian, himself, is more accessible to the press than his predecessor, Tyrone Willingham, who was as unapproachable as Gil Dobie, not meaning to put an 11-37 coach in the same category as a gent who went 58-0-3.

In the world of gadgetry, Sark’s personal magnetism is as catchy as the touchtone device that I use to charge my Palm Pre. (*) Hopefully, his offensive machine will be as elegant as Palm’s multitasking operating system, but not as clumsy as its keyboard which is a tad too small in my opinion. (Check out the iPhone before buying a Pre).

Waiting thirty minutes at the doctor's office yesterday, I used my Pre to read Bob Condotta, Ted Miller, John Berkowitz and some news stories.

ESPN Blogger Miller and Seattle Times reporter Condotta both agree that the over and under for Washington this year is four. At the start of the season, the Huskies should be favored to beat Idaho and Washington State. Winning two more games means the Huskies need to stay healthy.

See Nick Daschel for a report on some Las Vegas over-and under numbers for Pac-10 teams.

Three of Washington’s first five games involve physical football teams: LSU, USC, and Notre Dame. Their rosters are peppered with four and five star recruits, many of whom have the potential to play pro football.

If the Huskies can get by these physical teams with minimal injuries, then they will have the framework to win at least four games this season. Remember this was a 0-12 team last year that posted some horrifying statistics.

Overall depth on the team is a critical issue, especially at running back. Three of the Huskies four leading running backs from last season have been lost to academics, namely Terrance Dailey (338 yards, 75 carries), Brandon Johnson (194 yards, 76 carries), and David Freeman (152 yards, 27 carries). Willie Griffin (219 yards, 63 carries) and Chris Polk (33 yards, 20 carries) both return. They will be augmented by speedster Curtis Shaw, who sat out last year, and freshman Demetrius Bronson, who had four carries and a touchdown in the spring game. He also posted 51 yards and 3 touchdowns on 18 carries in the two previous spring scrimmages (4/18 and 4/11).

Polk is a potential playmaker who chose Washington over USC. He started the first two games last season but was lost to injury for the rest of the season; Shaw is one of the fastest members on the team; Griffin has good inside vision, with a knack for finding a hole; and Bronson can get those extra yards.

The transition from the spread option to a pro-style scheme, which will rely less on QB Jake Locker’s running ability than Willingham did, will test Sarkisian’s goal of keeping Locker from shouldering too much of the offensive workload, especially if injuries accumulate at running back.

The other key to the offense this season relies on an offensive line that lacks depth. The line woefully underachieved last season under the light of expectations, to wit: the running game (99.3 yards per game) ranked 106th in the nation and the OL surrendered 31 sacks.

Three linemen who registered 29 starts among them have been lost to graduation. Four returning linemen (Ben Ossai, 11 starts; Cody Habben, 12 starts; Ryan Tolar, 7 starts; and Skyler Fancher, 1 start) can boast of having one or more starts last year.

In addition, Senio Kelemete, who as a freshman started 4 games at DT last season, has been moved to the OL. The defensive line is another unit where depth could be a problem, but we won't get into that.

Reportedly, the offensive linemen have lost some weight and are in better shape than they were last season.

With Cody Habben (6-6, 316, Junior) at left tackle and Ben Ossai (6-6, 332, Senior) and Ryan Tolar (6-5, 321, Junior) sharing the left guard spot, the Huskies have some talent and experience on the left side of the line.

The center position should be strong with Tolar and Mykenna Ikehara (6-3, 291, redshirt freshman) battling for the starting position.

The right side of the line may be a little more iffy with young Kelemete (6-4, 260, sophomore) and Morgan Roseborough (6-6, 382, Senior) being penciled in at right guard. Drew Schaffer (6-5, 275, redshirt freshman) and Skyler Fancher (6-5, 294, sophomore), both battling at right tackle, add to the inexperience on the right side of the line. Although Rosborough’s immense size could pose some problems for opposing defenses, it also questions his endurance.

During the spring practices, according to my count, Sarkisian singled out offensive linemen Schaffer, Ikehara, and Habben as players of the day on offense – for whatever that’s worth.

The potential of suffering some key injuries to the offensive line make it a unit that has questionable depth issues going into the season. If the line stays healthy it should improve as a unit over last year’s line. However, almost any accomplishment on offense would be an improvement over last year.

On a positive note, Condotta says that, "In terms of class year, this (the OL) is one of the more balanced positions on the team as the Huskies could be in a position of beginning to have a nice blend of experience and improving youth each year."

If Sarkisian’s Dawgs get off to a 1-4 start, as most experts expect, his challenge will be to quell an early uprising of unhappy fans while maintaining the upbeat momentum his program currently enjoys. You can't reenergize the fan base using a touchtone charger. As the season approaches and excitement builds, a cadre of fans always harbors unrealistic expectations, and they will have their say if the season goes south.

Stated another way, the whole season could go “puff” after the first 5 games -- like the Palm Pre does when you swipe a card up and off the screen. However, with the Palm Pre, you can always reload the card (the task), whereas, with Washington, you can't reload the team if stricken by injuries to where it was at the beginning of the season.

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(*) The touchtone charger is an accessory that you must purchase separately. The back of the Pre snaps off and is replaced with a new back that adheres to the touchtone magnetically.