He cornered UW’s job
SEATTLE – Washington fans needn’t worry when freshman Vonzell McDowell Jr. lines up as a starting cornerback in Washington’s season opener at Syracuse.
He may not have a lick of college football experience, but the Rainier Beach High product has gone on the road to play a big-time opponent before. In fact, McDowell learned all about the pressures of the road when his high school team traveled east all the way to, um, Pasco.
Ok, so maybe a drive over the Cascades isn’t quite a cross-country flight, and Edgar Brown Stadium might be a slightly less hostile environment than the Carrier Dome, but ready or not, McDowell is poised to start Friday’s nationally televised game.
Barring a drastic change between now and Friday night, McDowell will become the first true freshman to start at cornerback for the Huskies since fellow Rainier Beach standout Nate Robinson started six games in 2002.
Addressing a large media contingency Tuesday McDowell indicated that he was nervous but that he was ready.
Less than a year removed from high school football, McDowell never imagined he would be playing such a big role so soon.
“I never really thought about it,” he said. “I though I would have just been on the sideline getting used to it, getting the feel for it. I’m getting thrown into the fire pretty early, but I asked for it. I’m ready for it, too. … Hopefully, I can do my job and not mess up on Friday.”
The answer to the question, “How does a freshman become a starting cornerback?” sounds like something from the old Johnny Carson bit on the Tonight Show when he played the character Carnac the Magnificent.
The answer: a hamstring, a night in jail, and a groin.
The hamstring belongs to UCLA transfer Byron Davenport, who suffered the injury in the first week of camp. Davenport has recently increased his participation at practice, and coach Tyrone Willingham said that he has about 60 percent chance of playing. Even if Davenport can play, McDowell will start, Willingham said.
The night in jail? That was cornerback Jordan Murchison, who was arrested the day after Davenport was injured for missing a court date for a felony assault charge. The junior college transfer has been away from the team since.
A third blow came to the secondary over the weekend when walk-on cornerback Cory Nicol, who had been battling McDowell for the starting job, left the team. Nicol said a groin injury suffered while in junior college, one that required surgery, was causing too much trouble for him to play.
To be fair, McDowell has been praised by teammates and coaches for the progress he has made in the short time he has been a Husky. He wouldn’t be in this position if they didn’t think he could handle it.
“I have the utmost confidence in Vonzell,” said senior Roy Lewis, Washington’s other starting cornerback. “He may be young, but one thing Vonzell does, he competes. He loves to compete, and you can’t coach that, you can’t teach that. Let’s just hope that he can go out there and block out the fact that it’s his first game, that it’s big college football, and just play to his ability.”
Lewis is one of several players helping McDowell with the transition to college football.
“Roy, (safeties) Mesphin (Forrester) and Jason (Wells), those are like big brothers to me,” he said. “They’re back there giving me clues and a lot of hand signals on what to do. Just listening to those guys is making it a lot better.”