Super Bowl Update

By Kshell

The Washington Huskies who are 1-0 weren't feeling like a team who is 1-0 on Monday when they heard the news that junior tailback Jesse Callier and medical redshirt sophomore Hau'oli Jamora are done for the season due to ACL tears. The Huskies have experienced the injury bug early this year as Steve Sarkisian must find a way to overcome such injuries. In the offseason the Huskies lost two-starter at offensive guard junior Colin Porter for his career due to shoulder injuries. The Huskies lost senior wide receiver James Johnson to start this season as well. The depth at running back really takes a hit as Deontae Cooper was injured for the third straight season as he'll miss his third straight year. Now the Huskies for the second straight year will lose defensive end Jamora. Running back which was already thin loses Callier for the year as he was supposed to take over for the departed Chris Polk. On top of that the Huskies lost right tackle Ben Riva in the first half to a fractured arm and he'll be out for a while as well. When you add it up the Huskies have lost five starters and a key contributor due to injuries.

One of the many defensive stars in the 2010 Holiday Bowl 19-7 upset win over #18 Nebraska Cornhuskers was Jamora. In that game he had three tackles for loss while recording a sack. He was projected to be the Huskies best pass rusher for the next three seasons. Instead he has played in only four games since that game as he'll miss basically his second straight season. The good news for the Huskies is they have Andrew Hudson and Josh Shirley who can provide pressure on the quarterback so this injury isn't as devastating as it was last season.

The bad news is Jamora is a good pass rusher and I was looking forward to seeing him, Hudson and Shirley on the field at the same time. Also Jamora has already proven he can play at the college level recording four sacks his freshman year. He didn't play much in the first Nebraska meeting when the Huskies lost 56-21 while starting in the 19-7 upset win. Jamora had one of the more dominant defensive efforts for the Huskies in bowl game history. Losing him is a big blow to this defense as they could have had some nice pass rushing situations with him on the field along with Hudson and Shirley. At least the Huskies are prepared for this loss due to recruiting defensive ends pretty heavily the last two years.

With Chris Polk playing in the NFL this year this was supposed to be Jesse Callier's big breakout season. Instead his year ends before he even has a chance to carry the ball. When Keith Price hit Callier in the flat who was wide open everyone figured he would score a touchdown then he fell for after a gain of nine yards with nobody around him. At the time many in the stadium and watching on t.v. figured Callier just slipped. Instead that is when he tore his ACL ending his season with just two receptions for eight yards before even carrying the ball.

Losing Callier is a big blow and the Huskies now are pretty thin at one of the most important positions in football. With Polk leaving to the NFL and now injuries to Callier and Cooper this position is dangerously thin. Callier was supposed to add some speed to the running game, while being a nice receiving threat out of the backfield. He was a guy who can run the wildcat and has shown in the Holiday Bowl he can pass the ball well too completing a 16 yard pass to Jake Locker to open up that win. Callier was also good on kickoff returns and losing his versatility is a major blow. I don't know if the Huskies have anyone on this roster capable of doing the things that Callier can do while I do think there are guys in place who can do the things that Jamora can do. With Callier out Sarkisian must find a way to replace him as the running game against San Diego State won't get the job done going forward.

In Sarkisian's first three years he has mainly featured only one running back in Chris Polk. Look for him to try and do the same with Bishop Sankey. Sankey carried the ball 22 times while the next leading ball carrier was Erich Wilson who had only two carries. That is fine for a Chris Polk who had proven to be durable and successful. While Sankey had a mixed bag of a game. In the first half he was great but in the second half he was shut down plus had a costly fumble.

 Sankey is a four-star recruit and is only a sophomore. I felt like Sankey was going to emerge anyways as the guy over Callier all along so hopefully he can do that. Sankey has  good speed and runs with power. Sankey also showed in the San Diego State game he is good at picking up the blitz as well. So far Sankey has yet to show he can be a threat out of the backfield. Now look for Sarkisian to use Erich Wilson some to spell carries as he had two carries for 22 yards including a 17 yard run last week. If Wilson can continue to do that he will earn more carries. Sarkisian might have to think outside the box to produce a running game as well.

Sarkisian might produce a running game by having his super talented true freshman safety Shaq Thompson play some offense. Thompson who started as the nickel back played some safety, corner and outside linebacker this past game. He looked great out there in his assignments and was a much needed presence on the defense which they haven't had for a while. Thompson is 6'2" and weighs 230 pounds.

The reason Thompson might be an option for some carries was he was a terrific running back for Grant Union high school out of Sacramento, California. Thompson as a senior ran for 1,134 yards(9.45 YPC) with 15 touchdowns on only 120 carries. As a junior he ran for 1,882 yards(11.48 YPC) with 25 touchdowns on 164 carries. My issue with using Thompson is that he is so valuable on defense and you don't want to throw so many things onto a true freshman so early. If Thompson were a junior or even a sophomore I'd be more up for it.

Another option is wide receiver Jaydon Mickens on those fly sweeps that Sarkisian liked to call for Callier he could use Mickens. Mickens could also be used in the wild cat package. As a senior in high school he ran for 378 yards(4.61 YPC) with 13 rushing touchdowns and he also threw for 238 yards on the season. So Mickens could take off running out of the wildcat or complete a pass if need be. Again the downside to that is the Huskies due to injuries at the receiver position are starting Mickens. Like Thompson he is a true freshman so putting him as a starting wide receiver then having him in this role is throwing a lot at a true freshman this early in the program. I think Sarkisian uses both very little in the running game and quite frankly I don't blame him either.

Ultimately, Sarkisian can't let injuries derail the Huskies chances of taking that next step. For defense losing Jamora hurts but they have guys ready to fill the void for him so that loss won't hurt as badly as some think. Far as Callier's injury goes that will hurt as much or as little depending on what Sankey does this year. Had Callier been out for the year the past two sesaons Husky fans would be annoyed but not pressing the panic button because they knew Polk could carry the load. Sankey has nobody who can push him which worries me because fumbling in the red zone is not acceptable and neither is rushing for less than two yards a carry in the second half. I expect Sarkisian to give 90% of the carries to Sankey, 5% to Wilson and the other 5% to Thompson , Mickens and Kevin Smith on trickery. The Huskies have to be able to run the ball this year if they wish to take the next step. They simply can't be like the 2002 Huskies team where Cody Pickett set every passing record but the team only went 7-6 while going 4-4 in conference play. This year hasn't been a fun start for the Huskies dealing with injuries. Hopefully players can step up and make an impact so when these guys return in 2013 the Huskies will be just that much stronger than projected.

By Kshell

On national signing day whenever you land a four-star running back from the state of California you are excited. Deontae Cooper was one of 11 four-star's for the Washington Huskies 11th ranked 2010 recruiting class. Cooper led the state of California in rushing during his junior and senior seasons and his future appeared very bright for the Washington Huskies. Instead the hardest working Husky has been dealt some bad luck in his time at Washington. Before the season even began in 2010 Cooper who looked great in the spring game blew out his left ACL, heading into 2011 he blew it out again for the second time. Now Cooper who was poised to be an inspirational story for his hard work and perseverance  was tragically hurt once again tearing his right ACL this time. Life can be cruel to anyone at any given time. We've seen talented stars get big money then eat their way out of the league, can't stop breaking the law, or just have a piss poor attitude. For Cooper he was the hardest working guy in the weight room and despite his injuries he always had a positive attitude. This wasn't supposed to happen to him as he will have three more ACL injuries than carries at Washington.

In High School for Citrus Hill out of Perris, California. As a junior he ran for 2,953 yards with 47 touchdowns. During his senior year had a game where he ran the ball 59 times for 412 yards with four touchdowns. The Huskies had beaten out Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Fresno State, Nebraska and Stanford. The Huskies fans will never have a chance to experience what Cooper could have done due to his ACL tears. For Steve Sarkisian who has recruited well recently this doesn't hurt his program. This just hurts seeing a hard working good kid taken down by injuries. I'm not an emotional guy in sports but I'm truly sad for Cooper this isn't fair at all. Just like life can be cruel in this case it is awful. Cooper came into this class as a four-star 19th ranked running back and came into this class with fellow three-star Jesse Callier. Due to Sarkisian recruiting this doesn't sting as much as it should far as the team goes but this still hurts so much.

The Huskies are still in good shape since fellow three-star Callier has produced. Callier is a junior now who has spelled Polk the last two years. Callier came in as a three star recruit in the 2010 class and produced right off the bat as a freshman.
Callier as a freshman had 413 yards rushing (5.4 YPC) with 18 catches with 98 yards (5.4 YPC). Callier ran for a career high 107 yards against UCLA in a 24-7 win on a special ESPN thursday night game.

Callier also started off the Holiday Bowl upset with a 16 yard pass to Jake Locker. Callier also had 733 kickoff return yards.

As a sophomore Callier battled injuries and thus his production fell off. Callier had just 260 yards rushing (5.5 YPC) with a touchdown. He had seven receptions for 65 yards and had 576 kickoff return yards. With Callier the Huskies are in good shape it is just rather unfortunate to see Cooper go down this way and was really looking forward to seeing how he'd do.

With the news today this doesn't hurt the Huskies program as they have Callier, Bishop Sankey plus other guys coming off redshirt seasons. This just hurts as a fan to see this guy go down this way. I was hoping to see what Cooper was going to give us after hearing so much about him these past three offseasons. At some point you are going to have to call it quits. I know Cooper isn't a quitter but it appears football isn't in the cards for him. This is a terrible day for the Husky fan base seeing Cooper go down once again the hard working kid we all had hopes of seeing. For Cooper due to his work ethic you know he'll be successful in life and for that he has a lot to be proud of.