Never mind the party, it’s time to work, says Sarkisian

Steve Sarkisian had a simple message for his players before the week’s first practice began: Focus on the game.

As for the festivities? Well, let the fans enjoy those.

It may seem strange that Sarkisian needed to remind his team to avoid distractions since they are playing the sixth-ranked Oregon Ducks. The intense rivalry between the Northwest schools should command vigilance.

“We like playing these guys,” said senior linebacker Cort Dennison. “It’s a fun environment, it’s fun on the field. There’s some heated discussions on the field always, but that’s what makes college football so fun and that’s what makes this rivalry so fun.”

And yet, Sarkisian has reason to worry about the attention of his players. Saturday will be the last game at Husky Stadium before it is torn down and renovated. Because of the historical significance, the university has gone all out for the event. Legendary coach Don James will perform the pregame coin toss, and his greatest team – the 1991 national championship squad – will be honored before kickoff. To top it off, it’s Senior Night and players such as Dennison, Senio Kelemete, Alameda Ta’amu, Jermaine Kearse and others will be honored before the game.

It’s a whole lot of pomp and circumstance that has little to do with the game.

“One of the unique challenges for us is to focus on the task at hand – and that’s playing the Oregon Ducks,” Sarkisian said.

That shouldn’t be a problem since the Huskies haven’t beaten the Ducks since 2003. Sarkisian appreciates the desire to celebrate history, as long as it doesn’t mess with his preparation.

“… In order for us to practice well we need to prepare well mentally and physically, emotionally. To do that we can’t get caught up in the things that are going on around us,” Sarkisian said. “Whether Lincoln Kennedy is in town or Steve Emtman is in town or it’s Senior Night and how many tickets are being given out to this person or Coach James is there. Our focus has to be on that game and that has to start (Monday).”

His team leaders understood the message before it was even delivered.

“We know that we need this game just like any other game, so we’re going to treat this game just like any other game,” said quarterback Keith Price.

Washington started slowly against Arizona, Sarkisian thought, because his players were too “jarred up,” letting their emotions lead them into mistakes and silly penalties. The Huskies simply can’t afford to come out sluggish against a dangerously efficient Oregon team.

“It’s going to be a fun week of practice; it’s going to be just a fun week in general,” Dennison said. “It’s going to be a week that I remember for a long time and it’s going to be a great game on Saturday.”

POLK WINS HONORS

In a relatively easy decision for Pacific-12 Conference officials, running back Chris Polk was named Pac-12 offensive player of the week. Polk, who rushed for 144 yards on 33 carries, and caught four passes for 100 yards, became the first player in Huskies history to have 100 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving in the same game. He also tied the modern school record with five touchdowns in one game. It was his 18th career 100-yard game, which broke the school record of 17 set by Napoleon Kaufman. Polk and Kaufman are the only Huskies to rush for 1,000 yards in a season three consecutive times.

UCLA safety Tevin McDonald earned defensive player of the week honors, while Stanford placekicker Eric Whitaker picked up the special teams player of the week award.

INJURY UPDATES

James Johnson’s season has been sidetracked by the same injury that submarined his sophomore season. The junior wide receiver suffered a high right ankle sprain in Saturday’s win over Arizona. Johnson did not practice on Monday and was in a walking boot. Sarkisian said on his KJR radio show that it seemed “unlikely” Johnson would play against Oregon.

Freshman cornerback Anthony Gobern saw plenty of playing time against Arizona, but was sidelined with a concussion. Sarkisian said Gobern is progressing on schedule and should be ready to play on Saturday.

Safety Justin Glenn, who sprained his foot against Stanford and didn’t play against Arizona, should be ready by Saturday.

“He just wasn’t quite right,” Sarkisian said. “He knew it. Even at halftime, we talked to him and he just didn’t feel quite right. We have enough depth at the safety spot to be OK. But I’d like to have Justin available this week so that we can really roll out our safeties and keep them fresh.”

EXTRA POINTS

Sarkisian will serve as the scout team quarterback this week. He did the same thing last season in order to get the scout team to play up-tempo like Oregon. … The Pac-12 announced that the Huskies’ game against USC next weekend in Los Angeles will kick off at 12:45 p.m. and be televised on FX network. … According to school officials, only 63,400 tickets have been sold for the Oregon game Saturday. … Sarkisian said he doesn’t have any formal plans for any of the 1991 players to come talk to the team.

HUSKIES’ OPPONENT THIS WEEK

NO. 6 OREGON (7-1 OVERALL, 6-0 PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE)

7:30 P.M. SATURDAY, HUSKY STADIUM

TV: FSN/ROOT SPORTS RADIO: 950-AM

COACH: CHIP KELLY (28-5, THIRD YEAR)

Last week: Ducks beat Washington State, 43-28

Against the DUCKS: Washington leads Oregon in the all-time series, 40-58-5, but the Ducks have won 12 of the past 16. The last time Washington beat Oregon was in 2003 when Shelton Sampson and Kenny James both rushed for over 100 yards in a 42-10 victory. A year ago, the Ducks rolled to a 53-16 win when UW started then-freshman QB Keith Price while Jake Locker was out with a rib injury.

Washington connections: Senior all-conference tight end David Paulson was a high school standout at Auburn Riverside and an All-Area selection by The News Tribune. Starting junior offensive tackle Nick Cody played at Hockinson High School, while junior defensive lineman Nick Morrison played at Cascade High School in Everett.

Did you know: In 2007, under then-coach Mike Bellotti, the Ducks rushed for a school-record 465 yards and racked up 661 yards of total offense – both the most Washington has surrendered – in a 55-34 win. Lacey’s Jonathan Stewart ran for 251 yards in that game.

Scouting report: The Ducks suffered a disappointing loss to then No. 4 and current No. 1 LSU in the opening game of the season. Since then, Oregon has dominated opponents, scoring more than 45 points per game and winning seven games in a row. The Ducks lead the Pac-12 in rushing, averaging 309.2 yards per game. With a trio of lightning-fast running backs – LaMichael James, Kenjon Barner and De’Anthony Thomas – the Ducks are averaging 7.2 yards per carry, which is tops in the nation. Quarterback Darron Thomas has been solid this season, but a knee injury against Arizona State sidelined him against Colorado. No matter, the Ducks simply called on Bryan Bennett, who might be a better runner. Bennett came in for the second half of last week’s win over Washington State and sparked the offense. Kelly won’t say who will start Saturday, but it figures to be Thomas, who seemed to be just a little rusty after missing a game. Defensively, Oregon is allowing 21.2 points per game, and has been middle of the pack in total defense. However, that’s partly a product of being on the field so much because of the Ducks’ quick-strike offense. Junior safety John Boyett leads the team in tackles and is the Ducks’ best defensive player. Senior linebacker Josh Kaddu has 31 tackles this season, including 71/2 tackles for loss and five sacks. The Ducks have played a relatively easy schedule since LSU, but this starts a three-game stretch featuring Washington, Stanford and USC in consecutive weeks.

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing, Att, Comp, Pct, Yards, TD, Int
Darron Thomas, 163, 100, 61.3, 1380, 18, 5
Bryan Bennett, 45, 24, 53.3, 361, 6, 0

Rushing, Att, Yards, Avg, TD
LaMichael James, 108, 905, 8.4, 8
Kenjon Barner, 79, 560, 7.1, 7
De’Anthony Thomas, 40, 340, 8.5, 4

Receiving, Rec, Yards, Avg, TD
De’Anthony Thomas, 25, 382, 15.3, 6
Lavasier Tuinei, 24, 335, 14.0, 7
David Paulson, 14, 168, 21.0, 3

Punting, Punts, Avg, Blk
Jackson Rice, 29, 47.4, 0

Field goals, Att, Made, Long
Rob Beard, 2, 2, 30
Alejandro Maldonado, 5, 3, 37

2011 SCHEDULE

Sept. 3 lost to LSU, 40-27
Sept. 8 def. Nevada, 69-20
Sept. 17 def. Missouri St., 56-7
Sept. 24 def. Arizona, 56-31 *
Oct. 6 def. California, 43-15 *
Oct. 15 def. Arizona St., 41-27 *
Oct. 22 def. Colorado, 45-2*
Oct. 29 def. Wash. State, 43-28*
Saturday at Washington*
Nov. 12 at Stanford *
Nov. 19 vs. USC *
Nov. 26 vs. Oregon State*

* Conference game

Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483
ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports