Huskies have more questions
Questions that went unanswered through spring and fall practices have followed the Washington Huskies into the regular season.
Washington’s 35-16 season-opening loss to Fresno State on Sunday failed to resolve key issues and may even have reopened the most persistent question of the season.
We’ll address that one first:
Who is the quarterback?
Junior Casey Paus, sophomore Isaiah Stanback and freshman Carl Bonnell all played Sunday. They didn’t all get equal reps, but that seemed the only significant difference from camp.
Paus started, completing 18 of 39 passes for 183 yards. However, he threw three interceptions and no touchdowns.
Stanback was 1 for 5 and made two crushing errors: an interception and a fumble, both returned for Fresno touchdowns.
Bonnell played briefly once the game was out of reach, completing 2 of 4 passes for minus-3 yards.
Afterward, coach Keith Gilbertson gave mixed signals on what lies ahead.
At one point he implied that the quarterback job will be back up for grabs in practice this week: “With the quarterbacks, we will just go back to square one.”
Later, he seemed to be re-evaluating the whole idea of a quarterback rotation and considering a single full-time field general: “We have to take a long hard look again and start over and see if we can get better and find one guy.”
His final comment put an upbeat spin on the status quo: “It’s not going to be a complete tryout for the quarterback position — we are not going to run an ad in the student newspaper. I like the way Casey Paus moved us at the end of the game and thought he had some good throws. I think Paus is the starter, and I don’t think Stanback should be discouraged. I also thought Carl Bonnell did some good things.”
Will depth at tailback produce a solid ground game?
The running attack looked OK, but tailback depth had little to do with it. The Huskies rode starter Kenny James 17 times for 75 yards.
“Good, tough player,” Gilbertson said. “He gets yards, breaks tackles, and moves us down the field.”
The surprise was how seldom other runners were asked to help. Tailback Shelton Sampson carried once, and Louis Rankin not at all. Fullbacks Zach Tuiasosopo and James Sims carried twice each.
Washington’s second-, third- and fourth-busiest runners were the quarterbacks: Stanback carried seven times, Paus six and Bonnell four.
That was partly a function of the new Washington offense, which featured plenty of quarterback options, shotgun formations and shovel passes.
But the option seemed to work best early when combined with the surprise element. Once Fresno adjusted, the option became less effective.
Is there a dependable kicker?
The indications aren’t good.
Evan Knudson instantly lost his place-kicking duties by missing from 37 and 38 yards, and Michael Braunstein inherited the job by hitting from 25 yards.
But that doesn’t make Braunstein the answer. These two exchanged top duties during camp too, invariably with one kicker losing the job rather than the other winning it.
Which young receiver will emerge as a dependable alternative to senior Charles Frederick?
No one did during camp, and no one did Sunday.
Frederick stepped comfortably into the No. 1 role, catching nine passes for 114 yards. But the No. 2 option was Tuiasosopo, who caught a career-high five passes.
Among the young wide outs, Quintin Daniels and Anthony Russo had two catches for 15 and nine yards respectively. Corey Williams, who looked so promising as the hero of the Apple Cup win over Washington State last November, was shut out.