I know there's news of potentially a couple new Huskies, and I'll get to that soon.

But wanted to pass along the information this morning of one Husky who has decided to leave the team --- backup quarterback Ronnie Fouch.

Fouch today confirmed rumors that he has decided to transfer, saying he will enroll Tuesday at Indiana State University, coached by former UW assistant Trent Miles.

Fouch, who would have been a junior next season, said the reason is simple enough --- he wants to go somewhere where he has a good chance to play immediately. With Jake Locker returning for another season, Fouch seemed destined to serve another season as a backup at best, and would have been in a battle with Keith Price and incoming freshman Nick Montana for those duties. Fouch, Price and Montana then figured to have a stiff competition for the starting job in 2011 when Locker departs.

"Me and the coaches have been meeting all week and we were discussing my future and what would make me happy,'' Fouch said, "And they wanted what was best for me, and they told me they would help me with whatever decision I made, and I chose to do this because I felt like it would make me the most happy and give me an opportunity to play.''

Fouch said he has no ill will toward anyone at UW, that it was strictly a decision based on playing time and wanting to make the most of his remaining college career --- Indiana State is an FCS school so Fouch will be immediately eligible and have two years remaining.

"I had a positive experience at UW,'' he said. "Nothing negative happened, and there's no negative reason why I left. I left just to go somewhere where I could get a lot of playing time and compete and get a chance to be on the field. The hardest thing for me was leaving my best friends on the team. Those guys were like my family. It's a great coaching staff that came in. I didn't have any conflicts with the coaches, It's just a matter of me being happy and on the field and I felt like this is what would make me happy, being on the field and playing.''

Had Locker declared for the NFL Draft, Fouch would have been the leader heading into the spring for the starting QB job, though Price and Montana would have been in competition, as well. With Locker coming back, Fouch's chances at playing time in 2010 loomed as more remote.

"Me and Jake are really close,'' Fouch said. "So I'm very happy that he's coming back, and he has a chance to do a lot of great things with that team. They are moving in the right direction. But with Jake coming back, obviously I wouldn't get the playing time that I would like. But that didn't really have a huge factor on me because me and him are such good friends. I was happy for him. I wasn't mad or anything like that.''

Fouch said he came to a final decision this weekend. He said he picked Indiana State because of his relationship with Miles, who was a UW assistant from 2005-2007 and just completed his second year as head coach of the Sycamores.

Indiana State went 1-10 last season and had lost 33 games in a row before beating Western Illinois in October. ISU will open next season at Cincinnati before moving into games against FCS foes.

"As soon as I got my release he was the first one I called,'' Fouch said of Miles. "It's a great opportunity for me to go play somewhere.''

Fouch is a graduate of Redlands East Valley High and signed with UW as part of its Class of 2007. He enrolled early with UW shy of depth in 2007 and served as the third team QB while redshirting. He then was the backup in 2008 and started eight games after Locker suffered a season-ending injury. He completed 113 of 250 passes for 1,339 yards, four touchdowns and 13 interceptions, thrown into a tough situation as the Huskies finished out an 0-12 season under Tyrone Willingham. (Here are his UW stats).

With Locker healthy, he was again the backup in 2009 to Locker but played sparingly, seeing action in four games as a quarterback, He was also the team's holder and got down a high snap on a crucial FG in the fourth quarter of the win over USC.

His depature means the Huskies will have to depend on either Price or Montana if something were to happen to Locker. (And I should add walk-on Taylor Bean remains on the roster, as well).

Montana said last week he will enroll at UW in time for spring practice, which will give him that much more of a chance to emerge as the backup.

Fouch becomes the third player known to leave the Huskies since the start of the new school year. The others were LB Kurt Mangum and WR Vince Taylor.