Husky Defense Ahead of The O in Controlled Scrimmage

While the buzz is still in full swing regarding Jake Locker, the young QB showed some inconsistency in UW's first scrimmage of the 2007 spring. Locker was just 8-for-19 for 66 yards, but the word "controlled" must be highlighed here, because this wasn't a full-on game scrimmage. The Husky offense worked in scripted situations, including red-zone offensive plays, and of course the QB's were off-limits to full contact. Carl Bonnell wasn't much better than Locker, just 7-for-17 for 86 yards, but did have the longest offensive play of the game on a 41-yard hookup with TE Michael Gottlieb. But as coach Willingham said, the offensive struggles isn't exactly a surprise at this point of the spring:

"Usually the defense is a little ahead right now, what with being able to stunt and blitz and do some things, and the offense is not quite accustomed to that," Willingham said.

One offensive highlight was starting running back Louis Rankin, churning out 63 yards including a couple of long runs, one for 24 yards and another for 18. Rankin has showed quite a bit of upside over the last few years, where it looks like only a little more consistency is all that separates him from being a 1,000-yard running back for UW. Backup J.R. Hasty didn't do a whole lot, 19 yards on 8 carries running behind the backup offensive line, but that situation should improve as things move forward.

Basically this scrimmage is the starting point of where the coaches and players will look for improvement as the spring grinds on. You never want to read too much into practice or scrimmage situations, and the bottom line is things went pretty much like the coaches expected at this stage.