UW’s season feels familiar

SEATTLE – If a cartoonist were to create the image of the first five-twelfths of the University of Washington football season – and the players and coaches probably won’t be trying to fool you into that 13-game promise this week – he or she could do worse than to sketch ailing quarterback Jake Locker with an ice bag on his head.

The thought of Locker spending part of late Saturday night getting an IV to replenish fluids seems to best represent where the 2010 Huskies are right now. After an under-the-weather Locker and his teammates dropped a home game to Pac-10 bottom-feeder Arizona State, UW now sits at 2-3 overall, 1-1 in the conference and in need of four wins in its final seven games just to be considered for bowl participation.

With upcoming road games at No. 2 Oregon, No. 17 Arizona and Cal and home dates against two teams – No. 24 Oregon State and No. 14 Stanford – that beat the Huskies by a combined 47 points last season among the seven remaining games, it’s getting more and more difficult to decipher where those wins will be found.

UW’s chances of postseason competition are in serious need of an IV right now.

The Huskies play four consecutive ranked teams, three of which handily beat them last season. A Nov. 18 home date against UCLA looks entirely winnable, but UW could conceivably be looking at a 2-7 record and four-game losing streak by that point. The season-ending Apple Cup should include a heavily-favored UW team, but both the Huskies and Cougars could be playing for nothing other than pride – again.

It’s enough to push Husky Nation to the brink of here-we-go-again.

UW’s 104th-ranked defense, which has given up more yardage than every Pac-10 team outside of Pullman and has allowed opponents to convert more than 40 percent of third downs, might continue to be among the 20 worst units in the country. A passing offense that was supposed to use its experience and firepower to pile up points might continue to be a unit plagued by dropped passes – that number has now swelled to 10, with Jermaine Kearse’s seven drops leading the way. And maybe the inconsistency of Locker will continue to be the story of his senior season.

After Saturday’s game, Sarkisian was quick to defend his senior leader by pointing out that Locker “just wasn’t feeling great” and added: “I don’t think we got 100 percent of Jake Locker tonight, unfortunately.”

But the excuses are running out on a quarterback who couldn’t finish strong at BYU, played one of the worst games of his career against Nebraska and struggled to get into a passing rhythm in the ASU game.

“We’re not the only team that lost (Saturday),” senior safety Nate Williams said after the ASU game. “Anything can happen.”

Anything can happen, but after Saturday night’s loss it’s beginning to look like what will happen is a familiar ending.

That is, the Huskies and Washington State Cougars playing for pride after both teams have been eliminated from bowl contention again.

If the Huskies are going to end their seven-year bowl drought, they’re certainly going to have to earn it.