After struggling early, Locker throws two TD passes

Washington center Juan Garcia said when Jake Locker steps into the Huskies' huddle, the rest of the team immediately shuts up.

"He just takes over," Garcia said. "He controls the huddle. I don't even think of him as a freshman. To me, he's a senior. I think he's going to be a senior for four years in a row."

For a few moments early in Washington's scrimmage Saturday at Husky Stadium, however, Locker looked like what he is on paper — a redshirt freshman who has yet to take a snap in a college game.

He missed on six of eight passes at one point, generally with the ball sailing over the receiver's head, continuing the one spring-long pothole on his otherwise seemingly paved road to stardom.

"I missed high on two or three passes," Locker admitted, saying the problems he has had throwing the ball this spring have been because of footwork that still needs to be refined.

"I need to get my feet in the right position to throw the ball," said Locker, who also fumbled on a blitz in the early going. "I think I was kind of all over the place with my feet on those throws, so I need to get set and make sure I'm bending my front leg and really getting over the top of the ball. I think it's something I haven't had a lot of exposure to until I got here with five-step drops and three-step drops, so it's something I really need to work on during the summer."

But in defining the way Locker is becoming UW's leader, he shrugged off the early foibles and rallied to throw two touchdown passes and lead another scoring drive near the end of the scrimmage to highlight the day's play.

"That's the thing about Jake," Garcia said. "He started off like that, but the kind of player he is, he just doesn't accept failure."

It was that kind of day all around for the Huskies, however, with coach Tyrone Willingham saying that consistency continues to elude his team.

"That's it," Willingham said. "That's the word for this team. Obviously we're not there yet, but that's what we're seeking."

Scrimmages, though, tend to yield uneven conclusions since a good play for one side is a bad play for the other.

Unlike a week ago, when the defense had the upper hand throughout, the offense picked it up after a rough start.

The Huskies conducted six possessions of a two-minute drill early (the ball placed on the offense's 41 and 47 seconds on the clock) that yielded no punts, but only once did the offense get into field-goal range, which was missed.

Then came four drives with the offense pinned at its 3-yard line, that also yielded no scores — the No. 1 offense worked against the No. 2 defense and vice versa.

But then the offense got to try from the defense's 17, and finally hit paydirt, scoring on a 15-yard pass from Locker to Marcel Reece (who appears to be emerging as the team's go-to receiver and had four catches for 51 yards).

Locker later hit Louis Rankin with a 29-yard TD pass (after a penalty moved the offense back) and J.R. Hasty concluded another drive (led by Carl Bonnell) with a 4-yard scoring run.

Finally, Locker led UW on a 79-yard scoring drive capped by a 55-yard run by Rankin, who had 90 yards on 11 carries.

"He's a better runner this year," Willingham said of Rankin.

He also is undoubtedly the starting tailback right now with Hasty still working his way back after sitting out last season.

Hasty had 10 yards on eight carries, and while working with the No. 2 offense against the No. 1 defense didn't help, he also said, "I was a little rusty today. I wasn't hitting the holes and I was kind of tip-toeing around. That wasn't like me. But I'm going to look at the film and change my whole persona to step up my intensity to put on a show next week [in UW's Spring Game on Saturday]."

Locker finished 14 of 28 for 173 yards and the two touchdowns. He also had a 35-yard pass to senior Corey Williams, who finished with four catches for 57 yards in continuing a solid spring after battling injuries and inconsistency the last few years.

"I think he's on the rebound," Willingham said of Williams.

Notes

• Linebacker E.J. Savannah sat out the scrimmage after suffering what Willingham called "a little stinger."

• Receivers Quintin Daniels (knee) and Anthony Russo (hamstring) also sat out, which allowed walk-on Charles Hawkins to get ample time. He made several nice catches, including a 37-yarder from Bonnell.

• Bonnell was 10 of 21 for 87 yards and one TD.

• Locker had gains of 13, 11 and 10 yards running.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Read his blogs on Washington football and basketball at www.seattletimes.com/huskies