After being trounced in Tucson by the Arizona Wildcats, the Washington Huskies return to the friendly confines of Husky Stadium this week to take on the No. 13 Stanford Cardinal. The matchup features the Pac-10's two best NFL prospects at the quarterback position in Andrew Luck and Jake Locker.
Locker comes into the game still battered, with weeks of hits taking their toll. Just before last weekend's game against Arizona, it was revealed he had a case of bruised ribs, something head coach Steve Sarkisian downplayed before and after the game. For his part, Locker was confident he'd be at full strength this weekend (via The Seattle Times' Bob Condotta).
"I'll be able to play,'' Locker said.
He talked a little more openly about his injuries saying that his ribs are "pretty sore,'' --- though Sarkisian denied that any are broken. He also is dealing with the thigh bruise suffered against Arizona State.
Condotta noted Locker is again following the same practice schedule as the last two weeks, taking it easy early in the week and sitting out during team drills.
Jake Locker took part in the early portion but again sat out the team drills --- similar to the last two weeks. Nothing really different than what would be expected, and everyone says he will play, so just more precautionary to keep him out of the team stuff, when he would be most at risk of getting run into.
The loss was demoralizing for the fanbase, leaving many searching for answers and wondering what's going on with the inconsistent squad.
The story of Saturday's game isn't that we lost - it is how we lost. Aside from the first series of the evening which resulted in a nice touchdown drive we weren't competitive at all with the Wildcats even though they were playing a backup quarterback.
The Stanford Cardinal came out of last weekend unhappy with their performance after dropping the Washington State Cougars 38-28. The Cougars, winless in the Pac-10, are improved, but Stanford expected to blow them out of the water.
Rule of Tree's Scott Allen looked back at the victory."We just didn't play up to our standard," said Luck, who called Stanford's performance a little disappointing.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh was more critical."It really comes down to just some guys not doing what they were supposed to be doing, and at times it looked atrocious," he said.
The San Jose Mercury's Jon Wilner took a look at the Locker-Luck matchup this weekend and the NFL implications it may have.
At least a dozen NFL scouts will be at Husky Stadium on Saturday to watch one of the most-anticipated quarterback duels of the college football season: Stanford's Andrew Luck against Washington's Jake Locker.
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But for all the NFL eyeballs in Husky Stadium, the Locker-Luck showdown might not be the most entertaining in the Pac-10 this season.
Andrew Luck and the Cardinal take on Jake Locker and the Huskies this Saturday at 4 p.m. on Versus.