Everything is Jake with Bonnell
Huskies rout Huskies
Malamute, 29 April 2007

During the annual Washington spring game, the Purple team, consisting of the number one defensive and offensive players, beat a Gold team made up of backups in a 44-7 rout at Husky Stadium. Although this was the best looking offensive and defensive effort I’ve seen of the Huskies in the last four spring games, questions of depth will accompany the team heading into the fall campaign.

Quarterbacks Jake Locker and Carl Bonnell quarterbacked the Purples, while 17-year old freshman Ronnie Fouch and walk-on Chandler Clemons quarterbacked the Golds.

Some observations and notes:

-- An estimated 10,000 fans were in attendance.

-- I watched the game on my desktop from a live feed over the Internet, provided by gohusies.com. At the same time, I listened to the radio broadcast over the Internet on my laptop, charting the game. The video transmission was excellent, free of the glitches that marred last season's broadcast. The radio broadcast was about 10 seconds behind the video.

-- It was an entertaining game to watch and, in my opinion, the coaches choreographed a good format. Almost everyone got to play -- a fitting reward for their hard work this spring. And no one was injured!

-- However, next year I'm flying up for the game. The hassle of the airport has got to be less of a bedlam than the multiprocessing that took place in my home office yesterday. 

-- Bonnell had the better of it among the four quarterbacks, completing 8 of 15, for 127 yards and 3 TDs.  Locker went 4 of 8, for 37 yards, one TD and 1 interception; he posted a passing efficiency rating of 106.15. Bonnell’s number was 190.45. His rating of 145.8 for the 2006 Apple Cup is considered an excellent number.

-- Putting the game in perspective, Isaiah Stanback’s performance in last year’s spring game was better than that of quarterbacks I saw yesterday. Stanback connected on 6 of 9 attempts, for 190 yards, 1 pick and 2 touchdowns, posting a passing efficiency rating of 211.95.

-- Playing for the Gold team, Ronnie Fouch was 8 of 16, for 81 yards, and 1 pick. His PE was 80.03 on the game. Fouch made some nifty moves and threw some nice passes, though his debut was somewhat marred by a 59-yard interception return by E. J. Savannah that resulted in a Purple TD. At 185 pounds, he has some work to do in the weight room. Clemons accounted for the only Gold TD on a 4-yard pass to Walt Winter.

-- Going into the game, we expected Bonnell to trump Jake in knowledge of the system, pass release and in accuracy, and those expectations were met during the game. Locker looked hesitant on some of his throws while Bonnell’s quick release is made for the west-coast-offensive part of offensive coordinator Tim Lappano’s “spread-coast” offense.

-- In the first half, with 98 seconds to go, Bonnell was effective in a 50-yard drive that scored a touchdown. 

-- Where was the pass rush?

-- There was nothing about Locker’s play that sent chills running up and down my spine. But clearly he was under wrap. He has the look (6’, 3,” 220) of a rugged quarterback, who can knock someone’s helmet off, and not vice versa. It would be nice to see him running the option from the spread formation; however, running the option is something Coach Tyrone Willingham has mostly eschewed in the past.

-- Note that the coaches ran a small percentage of their total offensive repertoire of plays, hiding much of their offense from prying eyes. The game was available for anyone with a high-speed Internet connection to watch. Coach Robinson were you watching? Greg Robinson is the head football coach at Syracuse University.

 -- Note, also, that Locker’s numbers were winnowed by the fine support he had, e.g., Rankin’s long completion and his running (99 yards on 16 rushes). Jake and the Purples lost a possession when Luke Kravitz fumbled the ball away to walk-on DB Jay Angiotti, who, by the way, had 8 tackles, along with Donald Butler.

-- Linebacker Don Howell reportedly missed the game because of illness.

-- Although we didn’t see all of it yesterday, Locker’s reputed athleticism seems made for the bad guys' red zone. On one play from the Gold’s 9-yard line, Locker ran into the endzone but was touched on the 9; otherwise, I think he would have scored. The two quarterbacks, Locker and Bonnell, pose a nice dilemma for the coach to mull over.

-- Despite what the coach says, I look for Bonnell to start at quarterback against Syracuse on August 31, providing he stays healthy. If I were the coach I wouldn’t want to risk losing the first game of the season by resting it on the shoulders of a redshirt freshman quarterback -- particularly on the road. Reportedly, Locker will be working on his footwork this summer, to improve his passing accuracy.

-- The Gold team’s play, an indicator of depth, didn’t look that sharp, obviously, although there were a few exceptions, one being an interception of Locker by Angiotti. The disparity of play between the starters on the OL and their backups must be reckoned with in the fall practices or depth will be a serious issue. The same goes for the defensive secondary.

--RB Louis Rankin is the man. He rushed 16 times for 99 yards and a TD. He completed a 39-yard pass to Corey Williams on the second play of the game.

-- WR Marcel Reece is also the man. He caught 3 passes for 44 yards and 3 TDs. Corey Williams caught 3 passes for 73 yards and Anthony Russo caught 3 passes for 65 yards.

-- Gold team tailback J. R. Hasty (10 rushes, 35 yards) demonstrated good vision, with an ability to find a hole. I would like to see him run behind the first-team line.

-- The team rushed 49 times for 209 yards; it would be nice to see the Dawgs post 209 yards on the ground against Syracuse on August 31.

-- Averaging 26.5 yards on 6 punts, Jared Ballman’s punting was inconsistent, and the question of consistency will continue into fall. His inconsistency was noted by the beat writers during the spring practices, so I’m not entirely discounting the effects of the wind during the game, though Ballman did all the punting and kicking, which had to tire his leg. Punter/kicker Ryan Perkins, who suffered a severe leg injury in last year’s spring game, will be back for the fall campaign and could liven up the competition for the kickers/punters.

--Kicking off from the 30-yard line could be a huge problem for the Huskies in the fall. None of yesterday’s kickoffs got into the endzone. Arriving in the fall, freshman kicker Erik Folk (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) was signed as part of the 2007 recruiting class.

-- Due partly to some nice kickoff returns and short punts, the Purple's offensive possessions started from its 40, its 41, the 50, its 40, its 43, the Gold 47, the Gold 47, the Gold 49, its own 4, and the Gold 25.

-- The lack of depth on the offensive line, at the running back position, in the kicking game and in the defensive secondary is disappointing. Although help is on the way in the fall, what kind of help will it be?

Notes on Bonnell:

Past injuries have hampered Bonnell’s career at UW. He started the third game of the 2004 season against Notre Dame, started the next game against Stanford and was injured in the San Jose State game the following week. He missed the 2005 season because of a deep-thigh bruise and had surgery on his off-throwing shoulder following the 2006 season.

Bonnell has played in 15 games for UW and has a career passing efficiency rating of 83.12, which is based on 218 passes, with 92 completions for 1144 yards, 15 interceptions and 7 touchdowns. He has a career total of 166 rushing yards, averaging 9.8 yards per game.

In 2006, Bonnell's PE was 91.49, based on 164 pass attempts, with 72 completions, 11 interceptions, 7 touchdowns and 916 yards. Bonnell's PE for the Apple Cup was 145.8.