A game without Locker
I originally wrote this following last week’s game. I can say that I was a bit worried about the huskies using their backup quarterback. But seeing as they won, it seems to me that it wasn’t a bad thing at all. That’s not to say that Locker’s injury was a good thing, but that the team held up admirably.
Husky Quarterback was injured the game on November 10th against Oregon State in Corvallis. Doctors diagnosed the injury as a stinger and a trapezius muscle strain; a “neck sprain” as Coach Ty Willingham described it to reporters after the game.
Locker, a UW Sophomore, was second in the nation for yards rushed by an NCAA quarterback, with 807 yards in ten games. With three games left in the season, Willingham told reporters that he wouldn’t rush Locker back into action. Doctors have determined that Locker’s injury is not permanent and he began physical therapy the day after the injury.
While many on the team have been expressing that it seems like Locker wants to play again this season, there is a clear message from both Willingham and Locker that he wont be playing until the doctors give the ok; which might means he probably wont be playing the rest of the season.
Last week Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times predicted that Willingham was preparing backup quarterback Carl Bonnell to play last Saturday’s game against California and it prediction turned out to be correct. Bonnell was able to keep up the pace of the game, not letting off for a minute. The fowl weather at the start of the game seemed to slow down California and give the Huskies a sizable lead the Bears were not able to overcome.
While the UW’s 4-7 record is not good enough to get into a bowl game this year (for the fifth year in a row); with the win on The Huskies moved from being the lowest ranked team in PAC10 Football to the number seven slot above Washington State and Standford. I will be attending the Apple Cup which will be played next Saturday at 4 p.m. at Husky Stadium and it should be quite an interesting game. While doctors have cleared Locker to play, commentators seem to think that he will not re-appear until next season.
