UW quarterback Jake Locker leads Huskies vs. Sooners

Jamie Plenkovich thought this might be one time he would finally catch his former star pupil, Jake Locker, feeling a little sorry for himself.

The one time he'd have to buck up the quarterback who led a Ferndale High School team coached by Plenkovich to the state title in 2005.

Instead, when the two talked earlier this week on the phone, Plenkovich found no need for consolation despite a difficult loss Saturday to Brigham Young.

"I said 'hello,' and it's the same old Jake on the other end," Plenkovich said. "I told him at the end of our conversation that adversity shows character, and that his character never ceases to amaze me. I thought he might be pretty down after that game. But he was upbeat. He'd already moved on. He was excited to play Oklahoma."

Washington and the Sooners play today at 4:45 p.m. at Husky Stadium.

The kickoff will mark an end to a week in which Locker found himself the main topic of college football conversation when he was called for an excessive-celebration penalty with two seconds left after scoring a touchdown to pull UW behind BYU, 28-27. The penalty resulted in a 35-yard extra point that was blocked, denying UW a chance to win the game in overtime.

The penalty received much criticism, with even the likes of Charles Barkley weighing in to rip the Pac-10 officiating crew that made the call.

Plenkovich, however, thought he saw something in the action that led to the call — Locker's youthfully exuberant tossing of the football into the air after he scored — that might herald good things to come.

"I'm seeing him so much more confident in what they are doing," Plenkovich said. "He's playing a little more aggressively, especially throwing the football, than he did last year, and you're also seeing him play with a little more emotion, which tells me he's more confident in what he's doing on the field. It's a lot more how he played with us and the confidence he had playing at our level."

And if the BYU game wasn't a turning point in the standings for the Huskies, maybe it will prove to be one as a player for Locker, who led the Huskies 76 yards in 17 plays in 3:24 to score the apparent tying touchdown. It was a drive in which all of his talents were on display. He converted a fourth-and-10 by running 13 yards, and a second-and-19 by scrambling out of pressure and throwing on the run for 20 yards to D'Andre Goodwin.

Locker did miss a couple of throws on the drive, something he acknowledged later. Still, despite a couple of drops and overthrows, he was 17 of 32 for 204 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions, while rushing for 62 yards on 18 carries, scoring twice on the ground.

The result, though, was another loss — the Huskies are 1-11 in the past 12 games in which Locker has started, following a 2-0 beginning to his career (Carl Bonnell started a win over California late last season).

Locker accounted for all but 71 yards of UW's offense last week with either his feet or his arm, again raising the question of whether he's being asked to do too much.

"Until we really start running the football like I know that we're capable of doing, I think that there still is a little bit [of asking Locker to do too much]," offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said.

Lappano said before the season he hoped Locker wouldn't have to run as much as last season. Instead, he has 34 carries in two games — more than all but four other players in the Pac-10, all running backs, and about three more per game than last season (when he averaged 14.3 carries).

Lappano notes that UW had only one designed quarterback run in the offense against BYU, the rest either read options or scrambles (or sacks) in which Locker kept the ball.

"I think it's probably too many, but he's got to do what he's got to do," Lappano said.

Lappano says that despite Locker's passing completion of 48.3 percent, not much above the 47.3 of last season, he thinks the quarterback is throwing more accurately, especially on short and intermediate routes.

Locker said he felt it coming together on that last drive.

"We made a lot of strides," he said. "Just that belief that we are good enough to do that."

The Huskies might need more than belief today against a No. 3 Oklahoma team. The Sooners have an explosive offense led by sophomore quarterback Sam Bradford that will be a threat to score every possession against a reeling Huskies defense. That will put that much more pressure on Locker to put up points against a relatively young Sooners defense that figures to present some openings for the Huskies.

"We've got to match their offense," Lappano said.

For the full 60 minutes this time.

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