Husky Football | Hopes and holes await UW in '08

The Huskies have a coach for next season.

Now the question is whether they have a chance to get Tyrone Willingham the seven or eight victories he will almost certainly need to survive into 2009.

Willingham said Wednesday after it was announced he will remain at Washington that the Huskies are "poised to do some good things."

And the thought that Washington could be ready to turn the corner also was a reason why athletic director Todd Turner and president Mark Emmert decided to keep Willingham.

Still, despite improvement in some areas this season — namely, an offense led by quarterback Jake Locker, who will be a sophomore next year — prospects for 2008 remain murky.

Locker helped lead UW to 380 points, 29.2 per game, the most since the 2002 season, which was the last time the Huskies had a winning record. But that couldn't overcome a defense that gave up a school-record 446.4 yards and 31.6 points a game.

Locker and six other offensive starters are set to return, including four on a line that progressed markedly this season if center Juan Garcia decides to come back for a sixth season. But the Huskies will have to replace their top five receivers as well as running back Louis Rankin, who became the first UW 1,000-yard rusher in 10 years.

Offensive coordinator Tim Lappano, however, says he thinks the lack of experience at the skill spots can be overcome if some promising newcomers mature quickly. Two incoming freshman wideouts who were ineligible this season, Devin Aguilar and Anthony Boyles, are expected to enroll in the winter quarter and provide an immediate boost, joining the likes of holdovers Curtis Shaw and D'Andre Goodwin, who both saw spot duty this year.

"Those guys are really talented," Lappano said of the receiving group. "I know what we're getting, and they can play. They can make some plays. We'll be OK there."

Lappano is just as confident about the running-back situation, pointing to freshman Brandon Johnson, who rushed for 121 yards against California, and sophomore J.R. Hasty, who Lappano said did some good things in practice after returning to the team.

"Our backs, we're pretty good there, too," Lappano said.

The key question will be improving a struggling defense. Coaches knew there were some depth and experience problems in a few areas, particularly the secondary, but hoped that a veteran front four could make up for it. Instead, the line didn't play as well as hoped, exposing the other problems.

Six starters return on defense, but only one on the line.

The big question, however, is who will be coaching the defense. Defensive coordinator Kent Baer could be replaced.

Willingham said Wednesday he is open to all options in trying to improve the defense.

"Whatever it is, we will find the right thing to do to make us a better defense," he said.

Washington will return its punter and kicker but will have to find new returners, with Rankin and Anthony Russo graduating.

The schedule will again be a tough one despite the presence of seven home games, the most since 2003. The Huskies will be home against Notre Dame, Brigham Young and Oklahoma in nonconference play while the Pac-10 schedule flips with UW traveling to USC, Cal, Oregon, Arizona and Washington State, and getting Arizona State, Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA in Seattle.