UW's Locker is no passing fancy

Take away one pass from this loss. Store it in your hope chest. Remember it a year from now, two years from now, when Jake Locker's face is on every magazine cover and his name is on everyone's Heisman Trophy list.

Driving late in the first half, down 3-0 to Ohio State, Washington was mismanaging the clock. Letting precious seconds slip by and creating a nervous hum at Husky Stadium.

Second-and-10 at the Ohio State 23, nine seconds left. The coaches told him to throw to the end zone and, if nobody was open, throw it away.

Freshman quarterbacks panic in these situations. They try to do more than they should. They make drive-killing mistakes.

But Locker hung in against the fierce Buckeyes pass rush and found Anthony Russo in a seam in the end zone and gave Washington a 7-3 halftime lead against the 10th-ranked team in the country.

"At times, in games like that, you've got to be able to step up and make a play," Locker said.

This is the future. Vince Young with a better arm. Matt Leinart with quicker feet.

But it is the future. It isn't the present.

Washington lost to Ohio State on Saturday 33-14. Locker threw three interceptions and spent the last minutes of the game on the bench as coach Tyrone Willingham gave backup Carl Bonnell some snaps.

Stardom doesn't happen this quickly. It doesn't happen this easily. One redshirt freshman with the head and the heart to be the next greatest thing on campus can't corral all of his talent and toughness just like that.

He can't learn at warp speed.

Jake Locker is good, but he's still a kid.

And the Huskies are better, but they're not back.

"That was a fast look, and he's never seen anything like that," offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said. "They didn't do any of that at Ferndale, and he didn't see any of that in the first two games."

Locker carries the hope of a campus, a city, a state on his broad shoulders. He is the prime reason the fourth-largest crowd in Husky Stadium history packed this aging beauty of a football venue for his trial-by-fire with Ohio State.

And against the Buckeyes and their active, angry defense, Locker was very good and very wild. Think Randy Johnson in 1993.

"There's still a lot of things that I have to learn," Locker said.

In this transitional season, Locker will be the story every week. He will be blogged to kingdom come and analyzed like the White House's Iraq policy.

"You've got to remember that he's a freshman and this is the No. 1-ranked defense in the country," Lappano said of Locker and Ohio State. "But he is going to be fine. He'll learn. I think the biggest thing is seeing the speed of the game from that defense.

"He's a competitor. He's a winner, and I don't care what happens, if all the bloggers come out and say he didn't play very well. He's not going to worry about that stuff."

Locker is a highlight film and is a cautionary tale.

He is Yin and Yang.

"I just think there were some things that we didn't see that are going to happen. It's unfortunate that a couple turned out to be turnovers," Willingham said. "But you're going to have some of those."

Take the second quarter.

Locker juked past Marcus Freeman, broke through Larry Grant's attempt at an arm tackle, got around the corner and ran 20 yards to the Ohio State 8.

He sprinted out of bounds, onto the running track and raised his arms to the fans, who responded wildly to his commands. This is what Locker can do to a crowd.

Then on third-and-goal, his ill-advised shovel pass was intercepted by All-American linebacker James Laurinaitis. The drive died.

"Against the No. 1 defense in the country, he's going to have some breakdowns," Lappano said. "And they make you do some things you're normally not going to do."

Locker took and then he gave away.

He outran Grant and got to the corner, then tiptoed down the sideline. On the same drive, with his team down only 17-7, he locked on to his receiver and didn't see Laurinaitis for another interception.

He ran for 102 yards and threw for 153. He completed 16 of 33 passes, but threw three interceptions. He moved the Huskies into the red zone, but got them into the end zone only once.

Locker got a look at greatness against Ohio State. He faced the best defense, the best athletes he has seen in his life.

But hang on to that first-half touchdown pass. Heisman candidates make that play. First-round draft picks throw that ball.

That pass, at that moment, pointed the way to Jake Locker's future.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists