Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart put on a performance for the ages at Husky Stadium on Saturday, as the Ducks racked up a mind-boggling 661 yards of total offense on their way to a 55-34 win. The Husky defense surrendered an amazing 465 rushing yards, the second-most allowed in school history. That puts UW's rushing defense at 118th in the nation, giving up a disturbing 241.7 yards per game. That 241.7 yards per game average is on pace to be the second-worst rushing defense in school history. Obviously, the defense has issues.But lost in the defensive embarrassment Saturday, the UW offense finally put up some respectable numbers. With 34 points and over 400 yards of total offense, they kept things interesting as they had the score tied through three quarters before Oregon salted this one away with their relentless running game.
This week the Seattle media has really been praising young Jake Locker, with many claims that this was the QB's best game of the year. If you look at the end-result of 34 points, over 400 yards of total offense and the fact that he threw four TD's, it's hard to argue that point. Or is it? While Locker did finish with 257 yards passing, and also ran for 78 yards, the one big thing that you worry about is a continuing issue with accuracy. Even with the praise, he still completed just 12 out of 31 attempts, good for a 39% completion percentage. Again, hard to argue with the TD passes, but the accuracy issue is haunting the UW offense. Locker is still last in the conference in passing efficiency and passing yards per game, and he's still under 50% in his accuracy (47.5% completion percentage). The sliver of hope is that you did finally see Locker unleash the deep ball, hitting on TD passes of 83, 43, 38, and 26 yards, impressive any way you slice it. The deep pass is now officially part of the UW offense. But no offense can fully live on the chance the long balls will work every week. So if Locker can just improve on the fundamentals and hitting the underneath stuff a little better to keep those drives alive, there's no telling how much better he can get the rest of the year.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-24-2007 @ 12:33PM
Braden said...
The 12 for 31 would normally worry me, but I saw Jake miss only a few passes in that game. A majority of the incompletions were the result of throwing the ball away to avoid a loss or a drop by the reciever. I saw a quarterback that stifled the defense and made few mistakes. I was surprised to see the completion percentage after the game. In the end I saw a quarterback take a giant step forward in his development.
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10-24-2007 @ 12:36PM
Sean said...
You make a great point, and there were some drops (I think unofficially 5 of them?). He did do a lot of things right. But the percentage thing has been a growing issue since the first game, and the reliance on the big plays is worrisome. Locker and Lappano have talked about his mechanics and how important it is to clean them up. Once he does get more accurate, he is going to be scary-good. I mean it does sound like I'm nitpicking, and this is still just his first season playing at this level! But it did strike me as a little odd that the media has been heaping so much praise on him this week after he went 12-for-31?
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10-24-2007 @ 5:33PM
Jeff said...
Locker does need to work on his accuracy, no question. But the numbers wouldn't look bad if it weren't for drops, throw-aways and a few intangible factors that have to play a part:
- inconsistent o-line play
- inconsistent running game-- some passes would be easier to complete if they were coming on 2nd & 4 or 3rd & 2 instead of 2 & 9 and 3rd & 10
- inconsistent route-running -- without game film it's hard to know who's to blame for the ball not hitting a receiver, but i'd bet sometimes a receiver isn't where he should be
bottom line is if he was the qb on a more talented team he likely would have a ~60% completion rate, a couple fewer INTs and some more yards, all while being the same exact player he is now.
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10-24-2007 @ 5:42PM
Sean Hawkins said...
I agree to a certain extent, but, it's not like the WR's are dropping 10 balls a game. It only seems like it! But, seven games into the season and he's got the lowest completion rate in the conference. It is just seven games into his career though. He gets poked and prodded more than any frosh QB around, so it's easy to over-analyze his every move. Plus there's still six games left this season, and no doubt he's been through the gauntlet of good defenses (Ohio State, UCLA, USC come to mind). With some of the beatings he took early in the year, it's a great sign that he made some big plays vs. Oregon.
Once he fine tunes some of his game, look out.
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10-25-2007 @ 3:58PM
Steve said...
The real deal with Jake Locker is that yes, he is a redshirt freshman, but that is the problem. Jake is going to be a good one - emphasis on "going to be" - but the Huskies have a talented 5th year senior rotting away on the bench who would've given the Huskies more opportunities to win some of these past 5 games, even as just a change of pace kind of move. Locker was named the starter in spring ball, after a year of throwing on the scout team (which is not really that true a test of big game readiness) because he was by far the most talented, skilled, and mature qb on the roster? No. It was because with all the hype that surrounded him the powers that be (the athletic director and Tyrone Willingham) knew they could market him - sell more tickets and merchandise along with giving them the ready-made excuse, "he's just a redshirt freshman" whenever there was/is a lack of execution or success on the field. This last game WAS Jake's best, but it seems like most people up here are making more of it than it really is. It is sad to see this great prospect being used and possibly used up by this program, by these coaches. At this point I would not be surprised to see him go elsewhere; whether it be back to baseball or another D-1 school to continue with his football career.
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10-25-2007 @ 4:06PM
Sean said...
I can't disagree with the fact that eyebrows were raised when he was named the starter in the spring, as well as being outplayed by Bonnell in early practices. But I bet they look at it this way - Willingham even said today in the Times that they just don't have enough talented athletes right now to beat the likes of Oregon, ASU, UCLA, USC, etc. So even if they played the 5th-yr senior or the redshirt frosh at QB, they probably, at least internally, knew that this was going to be another rebuilding year. Sure, they'd never flat-out say that in public, but you raise a good point. So they probably figured if they were going to take some lumps, might as well get the kid QB some in-game experience.
I can't imagine he'll go anywhere else though. The only thing I could fathom is him leaving early for the NFL after his junior year, but I can't see him quitting on the program. But who knows, stranger things have happened.
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