Late Friday Notes

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times was able to speak with Tim Lappano today about the scrimmage. (Photo of Husky freshman RB Brandon Johnson)




Lappano said the main goal was for the scrimmage to be a lot cleaner than was Saturday's, when there were a handful of critical penalties and three bad center snaps out of the shotgun. "We cleaned that up,'' he said of the snaps. "We didn't have any of that. The snaps were as good as they've been all year.'' He also said the penalties were "down a lot'' with a couple of holding calls and one motion.


Brandon Johnson is earning his name as a returner and apparently returned a punt for a TD in the scrimmage as well as handling some kickoffs. But he also apparently is impressing as a short-yardage runner. Expect all four frosh RB's to see playing time this season. Lappano said Johnson has not fumbled once this camp and noted that he's a physical back who is "a way better inside runner than we thought. He runs the ball up in there hard for a small guy.''

Bob also had a chat with Ken Baer about the defense.


The biggest news was his assertion that there is little chance that CB Byron Davenport will be able to play against Syracuse. "I don't see any way he's going to be in there,'' Baer said. "I don't know how many practices he's had, not very many, and he's been out since then. That's just missing too much. You can sit on the sidelines all day and study and try to figure out what you are doing and think you do. But showing up and doing it live is a whole different ball game. So I don't see any way that's going to happen with him.''


It looks like freshman Vonzell McDowell will start against Syracuse according to DB Coach JD Williams in a conversation with Chris Fetters over at Dawgman.

He also said freshman Nate Williams is showing a lot of ability at strong safety but pointed out how young he is and that there's a lot to learn at that spot, as well. Expect Willliams to see a lot of action this Fall.


Molly Yanity of the PI reports on the QB situation.


The Huskies apparently have a quarterback problem -- a good one. Their No. 1 and No. 2 quarterbacks are both doing well and both played well in Thursday's scrimmage, Lappano said. Redshirt freshman Jake Locker is the unquestioned starter and Willingham and Lappano share the mindset that a one-quarterback system is the way to go. But fifth-year senior Carl Bonnell isn't going away


Don Ruiz of the Tribune chimes in about Brandon Johnson.


Lappanno might have sounded most fired up about true freshman Brandon Johnson who apparently runs far harder than you might guess from his size: 5-11, 195. Lappano seems to think Johnson's power and his ability to hold onto the ball could make him the Huskies' long-sought solution for their short-yardage offense.