Washington's 0-3 record is a test of the team's leadership

Much of what the Huskies have presented on the field the first three weeks of the season has looked a little leaky, at best.

One aspect of the team coach Tyrone Willingham says remains relatively waterproof, however, is its leadership.

But an 0-3 start followed by a bye week, the coach said, is when that leadership will have to come to the surface.

"I think we are getting it [leadership] from a lot of places," he said. "And these next couple of weeks is where it will be most needed and most tested."

A 55-14 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday concluded an opening three-game gauntlet as tough as any team has faced. Now comes a week off to regroup for the heart of Pac-10 play, which begins Sept. 27 against Stanford.

And just in case his players needed reminding, Willingham told them again Sunday that there is still much to play for.

"We still have a prize out there," Willingham said. "We are only three games into the season with nine games yet to go. And if we can string together a pretty good run here, we will find ourselves to be a good football team at the end of the year."

Players said the uplifting message is what was needed, especially considering that the future of the coaches is being much discussed in the wake of the rugged start.

"My head has been hanging low and coach Willingham and coach [Ed] Donatell have really been helping me keep my head up," said redshirt freshman cornerback Quinton Richardson. "They've been nothing but positive, and I feel we can really build from that. I know it's tough for them right now so I feel like with that and everyone else believing in them and ourselves that we can really come back and bounce back and show everyone what we can do."

Added UW senior cornerback Mesphin Forrester: "We've only played one Pac-10 game so far. The last couple of years [the Pac-10 champ] has always had one loss or two, so we still have a shot at our goal, to be No. 1 in the Pac-10. We are still reaching for it."

The Huskies will work at more than staying positive the next two weeks, however. The Huskies will practice three days this week, using some of the time to get the younger players live-action experience through scrimmages. Although, Willingham noted, the Huskies have so many young players already playing, it won't quite be the normal bye week in that regard. The bye will also be used to let players with aches and pains recover and get to full health for the Stanford game.

And while the coach says there is much work to be done, he said the 0-3 start shouldn't overshadow what he says have been some good signs along the way.

"We've seen our football team offensively move the ball at times," he said. "This past ballgame, against what is clearly a good football team, we moved the ball and became our own worst enemy at times. What we've seen from our defense is the ability to get some stops. If we just eliminate some of the mental mistakes and physical mistakes in terms of missed tackles, we will put ourselves in a much better position than we've shown. We have not done all the things we need to do defensively, but if some of those things start to happen, we will become a much better defense."

Stoops not "whining" about injury

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said Monday that the Sooners were not "whining" about a play in the second quarter of Saturday's game at Washington in which defensive tackle DeMarcus Granger was injured while being taken down by three Huskies linemen.

Granger suffered a sprained foot on the play, which occurred one play after he had blasted through UW guard Casey Bulyca before the snap, earning a personal foul.

On the next play, Bulyca, Jordan White-Frisbee and Juan Garcia teamed up to take down Granger, with a punch or two appearing to be thrown in the process. ESPN commentator Mike Patrick said afterward that "there's no other word for that than payback."

Said Stoops: "It's unfortunate any time any of that happens. But there is always a lot of rough and tough play inside so nobody here is whining about it."

Notes

• Willingham said he didn't condone some pregame pushing and shoving between the two teams in the tunnel, which was shown by ESPN, but that "occasionally some of those things happen." Stoops said, "I didn't see any of that so I didn't notice it."

• Willingham said the team came out of the OU game in good shape, physically. Richardson and Jordan Polk each suffered knee contusions, but each should be back for the Stanford game.

• UW is first in the Pac-10 in converting third downs, 24 of 49 (49 percent) and last in allowing opponents to convert third downs, 25 of 37 (67.6 percent).