The Monday Morning Wash

You hate to see something like this happen, but it looks like Husky center Juan Garcia has suffered a serious leg injury which puts his participation in jeopardy for the 2008 season. Garcia went down after being twisted up in a pile during a scrimmage at the Dempsey indoor on Friday. He was carted off the field ten minutes later on a golf cart, and will have an MRI this morning to help evaluate injuries to his knee and ankle. Hopefully Juan will be able to make it back for the Fall.

If Juan is out the starting job at center likely goes to backup Matt Sedillo, but UW could also take a long look at shuffling one of the other guards such as Ryan Tolar over to the position in the Fall. UW has a lot of depth on the offensive line, but potentially losing your top lineman, and top senior on the roster is disconcerting.

In a perfect world Juan would be working out for NFL scouts right now in anticipation of the 2008 draft, but he decided to come back for a sixth year to help boost his draft ranking because there were quite a few good centers coming out this year. In hindsight staying was probably still the right decision for him because he really needed another year of competition because of previous injuries.

There should be official word on Juan's injury next time the media meets with Willingham. Lets all hope he will be able to play this Fall.

Running Back

The Huskies are down to only two healthy running backs this week. Willie Griffin, and JR Hasty are getting all the reps with Brandon Yakaboski, and Brandon Johnson sitting out with minor injuries after being tweaked last week. Look for Chris Polk, and curtis Shaw to get some extra work at running back to help fill the void. Both those guys are scheduled to play a lot of slot this season in addition to receiver, but having some experience at tailback is a good thing. Both Yakaboski and Johnson are day to day and could be back later in the week.

Defense

One of the bright spots this Spring has been the attitude that Ed Donatell has brought to the defense. The talent is the same of course, but the style of play has changed dramatically. Hard to tell exactly how they will line up this Fall since when the media is invited they keep it strictly 4-3. Look for a lot of change ups come game day next season as Donatell disguises the Husky defense to fool the opposition. Washington fooled nobody the last couple of years under Coach Baer, so Husky fans will really like what they see this Fall from Donatell.

As I said earlier this month, the linebacker, safety, and defensive end positions should be improved by next Fall. Question marks are still out there in the interior defensive line, and at cornerback.

Talking about cornerback the kid who has had the best Spring so far is Matt Mosley which is no surprise to me because he comes from one of the greatest traditional bloodlines in Husky history, the Carr family. That is right, he is a direct descendant of Luther, Gary, and David Carr who were husky stars in the 50's, and 60's. His mom was a track star at UW, and his uncle was a player, and assistant coach.

On the interior defensive line Tyrone Duncan has emerged as a potential starter to flank Cameron Elisara who will also start for the first time next Fall. Johnnie Kirton and Deshon Matthews are also in the mix getting plenty of time this Spring.

Jake Report

They say Jake is throwing the ball better this Spring, but he still hasn't reached the point where the game has slowed down for him, once it does you will see a Heisman Trophy candidate. The weather has been terrible this Spring which has made it difficult on the young receivers, and their QB.

For any athlete, once the game slows down, they start seeing everything out on the field in slow motion. Unless you have experienced this as an athlete it is very hard to explain it to a sports fan. It is that advanced perception which allows a star athlete to see the field completely and make the decisions that win football games.

Last year the game was being played at real time, or even quicker in Jake's mind which is very common for any kid getting his first shot at starting. When the pressure comes so do the mistakes.

One way to slow things down for him is to limit what you do out of the playbook. For Oregon's Dennis Dixon it was a recipe for success in 2008. Think about it, the Ducks didn't run too many different types of plays, they kept it simple, and they kept doing it till you figured out a way to stop it. It took 4-5 years for things to slow down for Dixon.

Year of the Flea

You love it when young kids make their move, and D'Andre Goodwin has made his this Spring and will be the #1 receiver and kick returner in the Fall. Goodwin's two years of preparation have put him a couple of notches above the rest of the receivers on he team this Spring. Expect very big numbers out of this kid next Fall. What excites me the most is he will be one the leagues most exciting punt return men next year which is a facet of the Husky game which has faded over the last five years.

Baseball

California's David Cooper hit a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth to drive in Mark Canha with the winning run a the eighth-ranked Bears beat the Washington baseball team, 5-4, Sunday at Evans Diamond. The win gave the Golden Bears a 2-1 win in the weekend series and improved their record to 26-10-2 overall and 7-5 in Pac-10 play. The Huskies fell to 24-14 overall and 4-5 in the conference.

Walter Harrison Passes

To generations of Husky football fans, Walter Harrison is remembered as the 1942 University of Washington athlete of the year, a second-team All-American and an All-Coast team center.
He was celebrated in newspaper headlines and cheered at a home football game when he was a 1999 inductee into the Husky Hall of Fame.

Husky Women's Basketball Team Battling Major Attrition

The number of players who have left the Washington women's basketball team since just before the start of last season has grown to five.

When Kali Bennett, a 6-foot-5 freshman center from Ventura, Calif., told coach Tia Jackson last week that she was leaving, it meant four members of what had been a highly touted, six-player recruiting class would not return for their sophomore seasons. Also, it was learned over the weekend that Dominique Banks, a three-year letter-winning guard who redshirted last season, will not return for her senior year. Banks is scheduled to graduate in June.

Guard Candice Nichols of Carson, Calif., left after appearing in two exhibition games before the start of the 2007-08 season. Center/forward Jess McCormack of New Zealand -- considered the cornerstone of the recruiting class -- departed with four games to play after telling Jackson she was going to quit at the end of the season. Guard Katelan Redmon of Spokane -- the team's leading scorer -- announced her departure shortly after the season.

Crew

Washington crews won eight of nine races Saturday, including a victory by the top-ranked men's varsity eight over No. 15 Oregon State in a dual regatta on the Montlake Cut. The Huskies handily won all four men's races, topped by a convincing decision in the featured race. The UW varsity eight was competing in Seattle for the first time since winning the national championship last spring. The Huskies' homecoming was happy as they steadily pulled away from the Beavers to win by several lengths.

The top women's crews battled the length of the course. They were virtually even through 1,500 meters before the Beavers took a sprint that helped them edge the eighth-ranked Huskies by two seats. Oregon State finished in 6:38.3 and UW was second in 6:39.9.

Golf

Senior Zach Bixler and sophomore Nick Taylor each carded final round scores of even-par 70 to pace the Washington men's golf team on the last day of the U.S. Intercollegiate at Stanford Golf Course, Sunday, as the Huskies finished the tournament in 11th place at 50-over 890.

Tennis

Senior Andy Kuharszky went out with a win in his final home match, helping the 32nd-ranked Husky men's tennis team to a 7-0 sweep of Oregon at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.

Softball

Two UCLA pitchers combined to hold No. 22 Washington to just two hits as the fifth-ranked Bruins picked up a 4-0 win in a Pac-10 Conference game on Saturday at Husky Softball Stadium. UCLA improved to 38-5 and 10-2 in the Pac-10, while the Huskies fell to 25-16-1 and 4-7 in conference play.