Huskies prepare for challenge

SEATTLE – Jordan Reffett looks at spring practice a little like payday.

Hours of winter conditioning – done. Four months without hitting anyone – finished. The next three weeks is time to cash in for Washington’s senior defensive tackle.

“Guys have been working all winter long. Guys have goals, they want to play, they want to start, they want to make big plays,” Reffett said. “This is a chance to make big strides in their performance.”

The next three weeks had better be highly profitable for the Huskies, as perhaps the most challenging schedule in school history awaits them come fall.

Washington begins its spring practice on Monday, and while most of the focus will be on freshman quarterback Jake Locker, the issues coach Tyrone Willingham faces in finally getting the Huskies back to a bowl game go deeper than who takes snaps from center.

“The reality is I probably haven’t equaled where I hoped we would be. I thought we would be that bowl team by now,” Willingham said. “The reality of where we can go is still very much out there. We can get to be a really, really good football team again.”

Washington finished the 2006 season 5-7, short of its goal of reaching a bowl game – an accomplishment that appeared plausible after a 4-1 start. But the Huskies closed 1-6, with narrow losses at Southern California and California, and an inconceivable 20-3 home setback to Stanford that ended any bowl hopes.

The Huskies were bolstered by their 35-32 win over Washington State in the Apple Cup that kept the Cougars bowl-less as well.

“It has the ability to kick you into gear for your off-season,” Willingham said. “It put a good taste in our mouth.”

Willingham’s main areas of concern this spring include replacing a pair of starters on both the offensive line and at linebacker, building depth in the secondary and hoping his two running backs don’t get run down.

Locker’s move to the top of the depth chart at quarterback isn’t simply because of off-season shoulder surgery to Carl Bonnell, the Huskies starter for the final five games last season. Willlingham said other areas of Locker’s growth showed him enough that if the season started now, Locker would get the nod.

Teammates are excited by Locker’s prospects, even if he’s never taken a collegiate snap.

“I’m not worried about Jake Locker,” Reffett said. “Jake Locker is the man in my eyes.”

But there won’t be many bodies for Locker or Bonnell to hand the ball off to this spring. Washington has just two tailbacks on its roster – senior Louis Rankin and junior J.R. Hasty. Rankin led Washington with 666 yards rushing and had four rushing touchdowns last year, while Hasty has yet to run the ball in college, hampered for one year by academic problems.

Help will arrive for the backfield when fall camp begins with four incoming freshman.

“I never really practiced like this in high school. It’s going to be a lot of reps,” Rankin said.

Juan Garcia, Ben Ossai and Chad Macklin return along the offensive line, but Washington lost both starting guards. Competing for one of those spots will be 6-foot-8, 375-pound junior Morgan Rosborough.

Across the ball, the defensive line returns all four starters, and should play a significant role in helping decide who starts on the offensive line.

“I think that needs to be solidified this spring, and I think the defensive line plays a huge part in that,” Reffett said. “We’re going to go out there and try to beat them every day.”

Behind the defensive line is another area of transition. Gone at linebacker are Scott White and Tahj Bomar, with Dan Howell the only starter back. Half the secondary returns, but the Huskies lost two of their most talented defensive players in safety C.J. Wallace and cornerback Dashon Goldson.

Washington concludes its three-week run with the annual spring game on April 28. After that begins the countdown to the Aug. 31 opener at Syracuse.

From there, the schedule only gets tougher, with a home schedule of Boise State (Sept. 8), Ohio State (Sept. 15), USC (Sept. 29), Oregon (Oct. 20), Arizona (Oct. 27), California (Nov. 17) and Washington State (Nov. 24).

“We were close to being a bowl team last year. Obviously we did not make it, but our goal does not change,” Willingham said. “We have to get to one and the time is now. There is no better time than now.”