Huskies stay quiet about QB race
SEATTLE – University of Washington offensive coordinator Tim Lappano knew one thing for sure after the Huskies’ final fall scrimmage Thursday.
“We’ve improved obviously since the spring game. That’s easy to do, right?” Lappano joked Friday. In Washington’s spring scrimmage earlier this year, the only scoring was an Evan Knudson field goal.
And while details were limited following Thursday’s scrimmage, both Lappano and head coach Tyrone Willingham seemed to agree on many of the same aspects that were impressive, and when approached by reporters, Lappano also knew what question would be asked.
“Don’t ask about the quarterbacks,” he said. “You know there’s nothing I can say about that.”
Lappano, taking a similar line from the Book of Willingham, said each quarterback made some good throws and throws they shouldn’t have made.
“For the most part, we were making good decisions, throwing the ball on time and throwing it accurate,” Lappano said. “We probably dropped a few too many balls, but other than that, I thought we executed well. We didn’t make a lot of stupid mistakes and we didn’t make a lot of glaring penalties. That’s really good to see.”
Lappano agreed with Willingham that Louis Rankin was the most impressive running back and Sonny Shackelford was impressive at receiver and added that it would be fair to call Shackelford a starter.
“He’s had a great camp,” Lappano said.
“It all started this summer with him. He bought into what we were trying to tell our receivers what it would take to play in this offense. For the first time, he stayed here this summer, he changed his body in the weight room, he worked hard running routes.”
Lappano on Husky Stadium
The team engaged in a “mock game” Friday, mostly allowing coaches to test out communicating from the press box to the field and other smaller details. Lappano’s impression of Husky Stadium’s high press box?
“If we have an earthquake, I’m done,” he joked. ‘It’s a great view. I think it’s the best I’ve ever been in in the NFL or college.”
One thing Lappano saw from the box was a tired team. He said the team looked slow, but said it was normal after a tough camp and he expects the next couple days will allow the team to rest its legs.
Hasty still in the mix
Despite good depth at running back, Willingham and Lappano both say freshman J.R. Hasty is still in the mix for playing time. He’s competing with Rankin, Shelton Sampson and James Sims Jr. for time. Junior Kenny James is also in the group but has missed nearly the entire camp with a shoulder injury.
“He did a couple good things yesterday,” Lappano said of Hasty. “He made a mistake early; I think he was a little bit jittery, and then he made a couple nice runs. We’ve said from day one, if you can help this team for 12 games, we’re going to play you. We’re not going to waste a guy and play him a couple snaps for the first four or five games and not play him anymore. He’s going to have to be in the mix, but I would say he’s still in the mix because he does some good things.”
Kirton still learning
Redshirt freshman Johnie Kirton, who has moved from tailback to tight end in the last week, is still in a learning process, according to Lappano.
“He’s still a little bit not sure what he’s doing all the time,” Lappano said of the former Jackson High star. “That’s hard to move to the tight end spot from the fullback position and a little in the halfback position. He’s still unsettled there a little bit and that’s normal, we know that. It will take him a little while to really get comfortable. What I like about him is he’s improving every day. As long as he does that, there will be time for him to help this football team a lot this season at tight end.”
Lappano said when the team cuts its play book this week to prepare for Air Force, it should help players like Kirton who are still learning a position or the offense.