UW Football | Locker will try to learn from mistakes

Before Saturday, it had been 1,015 days since Jake Locker played in a football game his team lost.

So when the Huskies were defeated by Ohio State 33-14, it reacquainted Locker with a feeling he'd like to have forgotten for good.

"I've always hated losing since I was a little kid," said Locker, who last tasted defeat as a junior at Ferndale High when the Golden Eagles were beaten by Bellevue in the Class 3A state title game Dec. 4, 2004. "Anytime you lose, it's hard. I hadn't experienced that in a long time, so that was definitely a tough one."

Not that he plans to let it get him down for long. UW coaches say one thing they don't worry about with their young quarterback is how he bounces back, something they fully expect him to do in time for the 7:15 p.m. game Saturday at UCLA.

"He's not a head-hanger or anything like that," offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said. "He can weather that. He'll be OK."

That certainly was the case Monday as Locker was more worried about finding the ways to correct the mistakes that cost the Huskies against Ohio State.

Many of those mistakes came in a passing attack that remains anemic, especially by the standards of the high-flying Pac-10. The Huskies have thrown for just 555 yards in three games, the fewest of any of the nine conference teams that have played three games.

There are reasons for the low numbers beyond ineffectiveness — UW didn't need to pass against Syracuse and grew conservative late in the Boise State game, and Ohio State has one of the best defenses in the country.

"I don't think our passing game is where we'd like it to be," said UW coach Tyrone Willingham.

Willingham, though, said the problem is bigger than Locker.

"It was not one of his better performances to date," Willingham said. "But we've got to put a team around him that doesn't make some of the mistakes that we made. It is never just the quarterback."

Willingham said Locker has completed 55.8 percent of his passes (43 for 77), a total that would be higher if not for a half-dozen drops the past two weeks.

Still, Locker acknowledged Monday he needs to continue working on his reads and his touch, having thrown a few passes a bit too high against the Buckeyes.

"In high school I kind of just threw everything as hard as I could and it worked out some of the time," Locker said. "Still, I had some times [in high school] that it would go off [a receiver's] hands, that sort of a thing, but it just wasn't that big of a deal. So that's one of those things you have to learn, which passes to put a little extra on to get it in there — sometimes you have to do that. And then there are a lot more times you have to put a little more touch on it and float it over the top to give your guy a little bit easier time to make a catch."

Locker threw three interceptions Saturday, one on a shovel pass. Of the other two, Locker said he never saw Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis drop back into coverage on an interception in the third quarter, and coaches said his interception in the fourth quarter was simply a misread.

The Buckeyes harassed Locker more than UW's first two opponents, but he said he didn't think added pressure from Ohio State was to blame for his mistakes.

"I feel comfortable when I'm out there," he said. "I don't feel like I'm under pressure. I'm not noticing the rush. I'm able to keep my eyes downfield. I made a couple of reads that were wrong, so obviously I need to work on that a little bit. But for the most part, I felt comfortable in the pocket and being able to recognize what the defense was doing."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com.