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Articles
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Sixkiller's 7-4, an opening bid By Richard Linde, 27 August 2004
Of course, the mighty Toejams will need to stub a toe or two somewhere along the way, and maybe once against the Dawgs. Fans, this Husky team is for real. It’s the team we thought we had last year, the Pacific 10 title contender. If the offensive line stays healthy and if the defense can stop the run, there is no way the Dawgs finish as low as seventh. Those qualifiers being met, finishing a lowly seventh is about as likely as it would be for Clay Walker to land a haymaker against Manase Hopoi, both of them dressed in pads. Incidentally, Walker used Hopoi’s helmet as a speed back during one of the practice sessions before the pier-six brawl was upended by team captain Khalif Barnes, who threw Walker to the ground. Last season, USC’s Matt Lienart, a sophomore, demonstrated that you don’t need an experienced senior quarterback to win the Pac-10 crown. No other team in the conference can match as a unit (in quality number), Washington’s three contenders (Casey Paus, Isaiah Stanback, and Carl Bonnell) for the starting quarterback’s role. The underrated walk-on quarterback Felix Sweetman is good enough to mush the Huskies out of a snow drift should the front three become mired in injury. His performance in last season’s Oregon game, his ability to run the two-minute offense and his 99-yard drive during the recent scrimmage demonstrate that Paus (Junior, 6-foot-5, 220) is fit to run the show -- or, maybe, share in its running? -- and take the Dawgs to a bowl game. As an aside, Bonnell (redshirt freshman) looks like a quarterback that will be starting in the “Granddaddy of Them All” some day, but not this season. Now for the conundrum. With his speed of foot, elusiveness and arm strength, Isaiah Stanback (6-foot-3, 205, sophomore) is the most gifted of the three quarterbacks. He needs to see action on the playing field and could become part of a two-quarterback rotation against Fresno State, a situation that Gilby has not ruled out. Paus (and Stanback?) will have an abundance of skilled receivers to throw at -- Corey Williams, Bobby Whithorne, Quintin Daniels, Anthony Russo, Craig Chambers and Sonny Shackelford all making statements at the Olympia practices. "Shack" is slowly inching his way out of Gilby's dawghouse after kicking the ball in frustration over having dropped a pass near the five-yard line during the Olympia scrimmage. Gilby was in his face after the kick, jawing at him relentlessly, showing a heretofore not seen temper that was close to being Woodyesque in volatility. But that was two Wednesdays ago, the day all the fights broke out, Gilby feeling chippy along with his troops. On that day, I offered to referee a Kriegspiel game, a chess variant, between beat writers Bob Condotta and Ted Miller, both of whom seemed gnarly. Both burly reporters were itching for a Queen snatch. Referee: "piece gone." (Neither player knows the other's exact position). Miller: "Take that, you churl." After last Sunday’s scrimmage, receivers coach Steve Axman said he has a pretty good idea of who his starting receivers would be: Charles Frederick (sprained foot) and Williams with Russo (nursing an injury now) in the slot. We kidded Frederick about being so slow on crutches. I can still see him hobbling across the length of the field, wearing that boot. (Upfront, Dash Crutchley is the fastest man on crutches. Thankfully, he doesn't need them). The biggest surprise at Olympia was the quality of the walk-ons. Head coach Keith Gilbertson raved about WR Steve Anderson’s play; Anderson made a number of impressive catches, including a one-hander that went for an apparent touchdown on a pass thrown by Stanback (Anderson didn’t look out of the end zone to me, as claimed). Gilby said that Anderson could become a "Paul Skansi," a former walk-on who became the Huskies' all-time leading receiver before Reggie Williams came along. Kicker Michael Book demonstrated a strong leg and TE Michael Gottlieb made some quality catches, both of them walk-ons. Scholarship kicker Michael Braunstein became a huge surprise with a consistency that was lacking at Olympia last year. True freshman tailback Johnie Kirton (6-foot-3, 278) threatens to knock a would-be tackler rear-end-over-tea-kettle, though his speediest playing weight is at 250 pounds. Add him to the backfield along with standout Zach Tuiasosopo (FB, 6-foot-2, 245) and Gilby has what some might call a “Kirton-call backfield,” that is, standup and take a bow, guys. Washington has three quality running backs in Kenny James, Shelton Sampson and Louis Rankin. Add an on-and-off again Chris Singleton (foot) to the mix and Gilby has the whole shebang at running back and fullback. Fullback James Sims (6-foot-1, 208), who has 4.42 speed, also has good hands -- and smarts (he’s an academic all-American). However, the backfield will need an offensive line that stays healthy to have an outstanding year. My guess is that Khalif Barnes (WT), Clay Walker (WG), Brad Vanneman, (Center), Tusi Sa'au (SG), and Ryan Brooks (ST) will start against Fresno State. Figuring in the active rotation, are: Tui Alailefaleula (G), Stanley Daniels (G), Rob Meadow (T), walk-on Brandon Leyritz (Center) and Chad Macklin (T). At Band Day, former QB Sonny Sixkiller (photo above) predicted the Dawgs would finish 7-4 on the season. He told me I looked good in the band jacket that I had bid on and won. Considering my luck in bidding, I’m upping the ante and bidding for an 8-3 season. I hope that we are outbid by those omniscient football gods who hover high above Husky Stadium. Richard Linde (a.k.a., Malamute) can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
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I traveled to Olympia (TESC) thinking the Huskies would look like
the seventh-place conference team the media had predicted. I left Olympia with
the impression that this year’s Huskies can finish anywhere from seventh to
first in the hunt for the roses, the latter depending on the vagaries of a
little bit of luck and a paucity of debilitating injuries.