Top > Sport > 2004 > September > 2004-09-20

Enduring a storm with calm

Winds of change needn`t blow apart Huskies -- ask Frederick

SEATTLE -- There`s good reason Husky wide receiver Charles Frederick comes across like the calm in the eye of a storm.

He`s been there.

The senior co-captain just heard from his parents in West Palm Beach, Fla., where power returned Sunday after a nine-day blackout at their Lake Worth home following Hurricane Frances` powerful jolt.

Though the family house was spared major damage, downed trees knocked out phone and power for more than a week in the area 40 miles north of Miami.

Frederick himself remembers the howling winds of Hurricane Andrew when he was in grade school.

``It was blowing so hard,`` he remembered Monday in the safety of the Don James Center on the UW campus, ``that you could lean over (at about a 45-degree angle) and not even fall. It just held you up.``

He and his Florida buddies dealt with that the only way they knew how.

They teed up a golf ball, put the wind at their back, and let `er fly.

``Never did see that ball again,`` Frederick said with a laugh.

So it is that the talented senior now sits in Seattle and sees the storm circling his offensive unit, feels the winds of change involving a new quarterback, hears the thunder of unhappy fans ... and figures all is well.

``Practice has been good this last week,`` said Frederick, one of Washington`s bright spots in the Fresno State loss with nine catches for 114 yards. ``We limited the mistakes we made last game. We just took those mistakes and got rid of `em.``

Maybe it`s blind faith. Maybe it`s the optimism of youth. Or maybe Frederick knows something the rest of us don`t when he says the Huskies will be just fine with Casey Paus or Carl Bonnell or Isaiah Stanback under center.

``Our quarterbacks can handle themselves,`` Frederick said. ``They`re all great players. Whatever they tell us to do on the field, we`re going to follow them every step.``

The Huskies had a long bye week to think about how to eliminate the mistakes that killed them against Fresno State. Coach Keith Gilbertson said the extra practice time most helped the freshman Bonnell, because he has the furthest to come in terms of experience.

But with Stanback slowed by an ankle sprain and Bonnell limited by his newness to the program, Gilbertson gave a lukewarm nod to Paus as his signal caller.

``We`ll probably start Casey and see what happens,`` Gilbertson said. ``I think Casey is still No. 1, but Carl got a lot of work last week.``

In other words, if Paus struggles as mightily as he did against Fresno State, Gilbertson just might hand the keys to the kid from Kentwood.

But here`s the thing. No matter who plays quarterback, the Huskies must employ a more conservative game plan than the one that saw 48 passes flung in the opener. What Gilby needs is to find a signal caller who won`t cost him the game, then let his running attack and defense do the dirty work against a UCLA squad that isn`t nearly as physical as Fresno State.

The Bruins gave up a crushing 426 yards on the ground in a 31-20 loss to Oklahoma State and 208 more in a 35-17 victory over a lousy Illinois club last weekend.

It doesn`t take Albert Einstein to figure out how the Huskies can best reduce their quarterback anxieties in the 4 p.m. showdown Saturday at Husky Stadium.

If Gilbertson needs suggestions, he should look no further than sophomore tailback Kenny James, who rushed for 75 yards on 17 carries against Fresno. James watched in wide-eyed amazement when Oklahoma State`s Vernand Morency gouged the Bruins defense for 261 yards on 29 carries.

``You see a running back go for 260 against an opponent you`re playing,`` said James, ``and you get the mindset of, `Yeah, I can go out there and do the same thing.```

James knows his team threw more than it wanted against Fresno State after falling behind. He`s aware of the storm brewing around him.

``There was a lot of focus on the quarterbacks last week and there`ll be a lot of focus this week,`` he said. ``But you can`t change what happened in the past. I still have confidence in all of them. They have the ability to lead us to a successful season.``

Yet James is among those with an idea of how to deflect some of that scrutiny.

``We all know the running game hasn`t been up to par the last couple years,`` said the sophomore out of Dos Palos, Calif. ``It`s my job and the team`s job to get it back where it should be. If we work hard and have confidence in it, I think the running game can be much more effective.

``It`s real important for us to come out and play smash-mouth football,`` James said, ``and help take the pressure off Casey or whoever is out there.``

So there it is. Washington`s best chance is to surround its new quarterback with more powerful forces, like an improved running game and a punishing defense. Then perhaps Paus or Bonnell can calmly sit in the eye of the hurricane and have the time to bring along their own games at their own pace.