UW Notebook | Locker slated to come back for Apple Cup

Jake Locker could have played Saturday, getting medical clearance from Washington doctors. And he clearly would have if the Huskies had asked him.

"But should he have played? No," said UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano.

So the Huskies held him out, giving the start to Carl Bonnell, who practiced all week as the starter and turned in a workmanlike effort as the Huskies beat Cal 37-23. With the weather often rainy and Locker's running ability absent, the Huskies went with a power running game and Bonnell threw just 19 passes — UW hadn't thrown fewer in a Pac-10 game since the 1998 Apple Cup.

"He did a masterful job of running and controlling our offense," said UW coach Tyrone Willingham.

Locker suited up and said "it was fun" watching the team have success. "We were playing well all day so I just tried to encourage the guys," said Locker, who suffered a strained neck last week at Oregon State in an incident that also left him with a numb left arm for a few minutes before being taken to a hospital.

Locker progressed quickly through the week, with his neck regaining most if not all of its mobility, but Lappano said "we just didn't feel he was quite ready to go yet."

He'll be ready next week, however, according to Lappano.

"He'll play," Lappano said. "That will be impossible to keep him out."

Despite the statements of coaches that Locker might play against California, UW players said they knew all week he wouldn't.

But the cat-and-mouse game might have helped throw off Cal.

"Through most of the week we didn't know whether Locker was going to play or not," said Golden Bears linebacker Anthony Felder. "So we practiced like he was going to because he was their starting quarterback."

A star is born?

With Louis Rankin sitting out the last quarter-and-a-half with a bruised hip and a sore wrist after rushing for 224 yards, the Huskies turned to true freshman Brandon Johnson, who had 121 rushing yards. It was the first time two UW runners rushed for 100 yards in the same game since last year against San Jose State when Rankin and Isaiah Stanback did it.

Johnson rushed for 82 yards in the fourth quarter as the Huskies ran out the clock with ease.

"I whispered in his ear as the last drive was going on, 'Hy, a star is being born,' " said UW center Juan Garcia.

Johnson entered the game with just 55 yards for the season but said he just tried to "just hit the hole and go," a straight-ahead style that has impressed coaches.

Oregon opener?

UW athletic director Todd Turner said before the game he is attempting to tweak a few games in the 2008 schedule to create a bye — the Huskies are scheduled to play 12 games in 12 weeks, which coaches say is hard on the players. One option being worked on is to move the game at Oregon for Sept. 13 to Aug. 30 and then move the Oklahoma home game from Sept. 20 to Sept. 13. Turner said he is also working on moving a game to Dec. 6. None of the moves figure to involve the Apple Cup, however.

Jackson hurt

California receiver DeSean Jackson left in the second quarter with a thigh contusion.

"He was pretty swollen, obviously couldn't play in the second half, but it's nothing that serious," Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. "Hopefully with some rehab and some treatment and stuff like that, he bounces back and he's ready for the Stanford game [in two weeks]."

Jackson, also the Bears' punt returner, finished with four catches for 31 yards and a 23-yard punt return. Backup safety Brandon Hampton replaced Jackson on punt returns, and officials ruled a UW punt glanced off Hampton's leg with 35 seconds left in the first half. The Huskies recovered and scored with 12 seconds left to take a 28-20 lead.

Notes

• UW's Ryan Perkins kicked a career-longest 45-yard field goal. His previous long was 42 yards.

• Huskies starting cornerback Byron Davenport missed the game after suffering a bruised thigh Thursday.

• UW won the turnover battle 3-0. The Huskies admitted, however, they might have caught a break when Bonnell was sacked in the third quarter and the ball appeared to go backward on a play in which he was called for intentional grounding, with officials apparently blowing the play dead.

Bonnell said "yeah, I thought it did" go backwards. "I should have just ate it and not had the possibility of a turnover."

• Garcia is listed as a senior but can return for a sixth year of eligibility.

After the game, however, he left open the possibility that he might not by saying "there's a good chance I'm coming back."

• California redshirt freshman James Montgomery, who had once committed to UW, caught his first collegiate touchdown pass in the second quarter to cut UW's lead to 14-13.

When he was a senior at Rancho Cordova (Calif.) High School outside Sacramento, Montgomery wanted to be a part of the same recruiting class and offense as UW quarterback Jake Locker. But he eventually signed with Cal to be closer to his family.

"I can't really say anything about the decision," Montgomery said. "It was about my family and stuff like that, so there was no animosity between me and the coaches."

• California hadn't lost five games in a season since 2003.

Staff reporter Tom Wyrwich

contributed to this report.