Keith Price didn’t want to consider the question. The Huskies quarterback wouldn’t entertain the possibility of not playing Saturday in UW’s Pacific-12 Conference opener against California.
“Oh no, I’m playing, I’m playing,” he said. “I’m playing this week.”
For a time it looked like he might not finish last Saturday’s 51-38 loss to Nebraska after suffering a left knee sprain in the third quarter. Price had already sprained his right knee against Eastern Washington in the Huskies’ season opener.
“Oh no, I was going to keep playing,” he said. “I was never going to sit on the bench at no point in that game. It was just a sprain.”
So what would it take to get him off the field and out of the game?
“They’d probably have to cut off my legs,” he said chuckling.
At this point, it might be the only thing that hasn’t happened to his legs this season.
Three games in, Price hasn’t been 100 percent healthy since the first half of the Eastern game.
“He’s sore, but that’s football,” coach Steve Sarkisian said. “You learn to live through some of the injuries and the pain and whatnot that you have.”
But that may be underplaying it slightly. Price was clearly bothered by the leg late in the game against Nebraska. At one point, he left the pocket to run, started limping and had to slide.
“Maybe he didn’t know how … severe it was till he went to scramble there really late in the game when he was up through the middle and it was wide open and he felt like he couldn’t open up and go,” Sarkisian said.
Price felt it on Sunday.
“(Sunday) was tough, but today I can walk around and bend it,” he said.
Price said his right knee is about 90 percent healthy and should be 100 percent by the end of the week. But his left knee is just “40 to 50 percent,” he said.
Price practiced Monday wearing a heavy plastic brace on his left knee, while he had his right knee taped up. He moved gingerly on the left knee. Simple handoffs and dropbacks were somewhat of a chore.
“I’ll be fine,” Price said.
Still, the injuries have taken a dimension away from Price. He’s been able to elude the pass rush, but the knee injuries haven’t allowed him to get out and run and make teams pay.
“It’s taken a lot away,” he said. “I can’t lie. I haven’t been able to run.”
And running is a big weapon in his quarterback arsenal.
“I never imagined playing without my legs,” he said. “That used to be a big part of my game. But I will be all right.”
He’s been better than all right this season. He’s passing for an average of 230 yards per game and has thrown for 11 touchdowns, which is tied for the lead in the nation.
SARKISIAN STILL IRKED
Two days after a passel of controversial calls by officials in Nebraska, Sarkisian was still shaking his head.
“Extremely frustrating,” he said. “But there’s nothing you can do about it. You have to be concerned with the things that you can control. There is nothing you can do about it.”
He and his team need to do something about overcoming those types of calls after they happen, he said.
“I think as a football team we (let the calls get to us), coaches included,” Sarkisian said. “I am a passionate guy. I want to do everything I can for our kids to give them the best chance to win. And I felt like there was a point there that maybe my emotions got the best of me because I didn’t feel like it was right. But I’ve got to show more composure if I want our kids to show more composure.”
So how will he pass that on to the players?
“You talk about it after the game – like we did,” he said. “And we’ll talk about it again today, and understand that’s out of our control. If they want to call us for excessive celebration or catch interference, or sideline interference … this is the hand we’re dealt. Let’s go play with it.”
INJURY UPDATES
Running back Jesse Callier did not practice Monday. Sarkisian said Callier banged his knee in the game, and started feeling pain behind the knee.
“It’s kind of an odd injury,” he said. “He’ll be day to day as well.”
Sarkisian said freshman Kasen Williams will likely take Callier’s spot on kickoff returns this weekend.
Safety Nate Fellner, who missed the Nebraska game with a strained hamstring, practiced, but did not participate in any team drills. In his absence, junior Justin Glenn started and racked up 15 tackles.
“He had a tremendous game,” Sarkisian said.
Fellow safety Taz Stevenson (knee) also did not practice. Linebacker Princeton Fuiamaono and wide receiver James Johnson were both shaken up briefly in Saturday’s game, but both practiced fully.
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports/
HUSKIES’ OPPONENT THIS WEEK
CALIFORNIA (3-0 OVERALL, 0-0 PAC-12)
When: 12:30 p.m., Husky Stadium
TV: Root Sports. Radio: 950-AM, 850-AM
Coach: Jeff Tedford (75-42 in his 10th season)
Last week: Beat Presbyterian, 63-12
Against the Huskies: These two are the only teams that have been continuous members of what is now the Pac-12 Conference since it was founded in 1916. They first played each other in 1904. They have met 91 times, with Washington leading the series 49-38-4. Last season, UW beat California, 16-13, in Berkeley.
Washington connections: Huskies offensive line coach Dan Cozzetto coached at Cal for two seasons (1990-91) under head coach Bruce Snyder. Cozzetto also worked with Bears offensive line coach Jim Michalczik at Oregon State in 2000-01. The Bears have three players from the state on their team. Trevor Guyton, who played two years at Redmond, is a starting defensive tackle. Fellow defensive lineman DeAndre Coleman played at Garfield, while punter Jed Barnett went to Union High School in Camas. Washington has 11 players from the Bay Area, including Travon Brooks (Oakland), DiAndre Campbell (Oakland), Ross Dolbec (Orinda), Ken Egu (San Francisco), Travis Feeney (Richmond), Anthony Gobern (Fair Oaks), Scott Lawyer (San Jose), Marcus Peters (Oakland), James Sample (Sacramento), Ben Teichman (Danville) and Jordan Wallace (Sacramento).
Scouting report: The Bears are 3-0 after wins over Fresno Stae, Colorado and Presbyterian. A year ago, Cal fell apart when senior QB Kevin Riley was lost early in the season to an injury. This year, Buffalo transfer Zach Maynard has taken over the quarterbacking duties from Brock Mansion. He has not only played well but given the team confidence. Maynard has thrown nine touchdowns in three games. The Bears have a solid running back in Isi Sofele. The Bears again are solid defensively, led by Guyton. Senior linebackers D.J. Holt and Mychal Kendricks lead the team in tackles.
Did you know: The pass-and-catch battery of quarterback Maynard and receiver Keenan Allen are half-brothers. They both grew up in Greensboro, N.C., where they were raised together by their biological father.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
PassingAttCompPct.YardsTDsINT
Zach Maynard 954951.672493
RushingAttYardsAvg.TD
Isi Sofele622824.54
C.J. Anderson12887.32
ReceivingRecYardsAvg.TD
Keenan Allen2030115.12
Marvin Jones1729617.43
Anthony Miller56813.62
PuntingPuntsAvgBlk
Bryan Anger1242.91
Field goalsAttMadeLg
Giorgio Tavechhio2240
2011 schedule
Sep. 3Def. Fresno State, 36-21
Sep. 10Def. Colorado, 36-33 (OT)
Sep. 17Def. Presbyterian, 63-12
Sep. 24at Washington
Oct. 6at Oregon
Oct. 13vs. USC
Oct. 22vs. Utah
Oct. 29at UCLA
Nov. 5vs. Washington State
Nov. 12vs. Oregon State
Nov. 19at Stanford
Nov. 25at Arizona State
Home games in bold.
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