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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huard Not Eager To Share Duties As Husky Qb

Don Borst Tacoma News Tribune

Entering his fifth season at Washington and third as the starting quarterback, Damon Huard is becoming a little jealous of his playing time.

He wants to call the whole job his own.

And so when he overhears coach Jim Lambright talk about giving sophomore Shane Fortney some quality playing time, as he did Monday, Huard shudders a bit.

“I understand you need to get another quarterback some experience,” Huard said, “but if we start alternating quarterbacks … I don’t think it would be very positive.”

Lambright proclaimed he felt comfortable having two quarterbacks the team could win with. What’s more, he plans to use both, starting right off with the Sept. 2 season-opener against Arizona State.

Playing two quarterbacks is a fine line Lambright says he is ready to walk.

“The most important thing I can do as the head coach is to emphasize the fact that Damon Huard is going to have a great year,” he said. “He’s our senior leader and he’ll establish his dominance, and Shane will complement him.”

Still, Lambright said Fortney will be doing far more than mop-up duty.

“Shane will get automatic time,” Lambright said. “But I’ll let him ‘smooth in.’ We’re not going to ‘book in’ a second-quarter series for Shane Fortney. I just want us to feel good about having two good quarterbacks.”

He went as far as to say he could foresee games in which the quarterbacks would play balanced roles if such a substitution pattern fit the opponent and game plan.

Lambright is aware of the problems that arose in 1992 and 1993, when first Billy Joe Hobert and Mark Brunell, and then Huard and Eric Bjornson virtually shared the quarterback position.

In each of those seasons, the Huskies’ offense sputtered with inconsistent quarterbacking. As it turned out, neither quarterback in either season performed at the top of his game, and Huard thinks it is no coincidence.