Huskies expect James will play

SEATTLE – Washington offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said he’s optimistic that senior running back Kenny James will play Saturday despite his sprained ankle suffered last Saturday at California.

James wore a walking boot Tuesday, but Lappano said he thinks James will be ready to play against Arizona State.

“I think Kenny’s going to be OK,” Lappano said. “Even though he’s still walking around in a boot, he thinks he’s going to be at full speed by then and ready to go. We’re going to be optimistic right now.”

If James is unable to play, that would leave the Huskies with two tailbacks, Louis Rankin and Shelton Sampson. For Sampson, it could be an opportunity for which he’s waited.

“When my time comes, my time is going to come,” Sampson said. “The most important thing to me is just staying patient. … I’m going to take it when it’s supposed to come. Whenever I get in, I get in. Whenever I have the opportunity to get in, I’m going to do my best.”

Sampson, a senior, said he has no regrets about returning to the Huskies despite the fact that he has yet to get in a game this season. Sampson left the team last October, unhappy with being moved to cornerback, but returned this fall as a walk-on.

“I thought the whole time coming back, whatever happens, happens,” Sampson said. “It’s a great team and I wanted to be here in the first place. I saw it as an opportunity, and I still see it as an opportunity to play and do a whole lot of things and hopefully make it to the next level. I don’t have any regrets at all.”

Sampson’s carries have gone down each of his four seasons. He led the Huskies with eight rushing touchdowns and ran for 315 yards on 60 carries in 2003, but that dropped to 215 yards on 51 carries the next year. Last season, Sampson had 20 yards on four carries before leaving the team.

Locker backs up Bonnell

Lappano confirmed that freshman Jake Locker is the backup to Carl Bonnell and would receive “a few snaps” in practice while Johnny DuRocher would get “very, very little.”

Against Cal, it looked like Locker might play when Bonnell injured his left shoulder and he said that sent a jolt through him.

“I got pretty excited,” Locker said. “I got really warm. I got really hot. I was just making sure I was ready to go, tried to calm myself down. I thought I’d be a little more nervous at that point. I thought I handled I pretty well.”

TBS picks up UO game

The Nov. 4 game at Oregon has been picked up by TBS for a broadcast. The game will remain at 12:30 p.m.