The Huskies got some good news regarding quarterback Keith Price: A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed no structural damage to his sprained left knee.
Should Price heal to the point he resembles a reasonably uncompromised athlete in practice, it’s probable the redshirt sophomore will be cleared to start Saturday afternoon at Oregon State.
“There is some swelling that we will have to assess,” coach Steve Sarkisian said during a Pacific-12 conference call, “as this week moves forward.”
There is something else the Huskies need to assess: Is a victory over the Beavers worth the risk of Price limping into the Apple Cup – or perhaps even missing it altogether – on Nov. 26?
I don’t think it is, which is why Price should remain on the sideline Saturday. He’s been nursing some injury or another throughout the season – knee sprains, a left ankle sprain, a bruised left shoulder – and while Oregon State doesn’t boast the kind of future NFL players who overwhelmed the Huskies’ offensive line last week at USC, it’s likely the brittle quarterback will be clobbered in Corvallis, and clobbered more than once.
If Price hits the ground hard Saturday, the odds he’ll take the field at something approximating full strength in the Apple Cup will be reduced from Maybe to No Way, No How, Never Gonna Happen, Fuhgetaboutit.
Were a bowl berth at stake against the Beavers, Sarkisian might be in a quandary about the prudence of playing his ailing quarterback. The reality is: Nothing’s at stake. Washington is traveling to a second-tier bowl game, perhaps in San Diego, maybe San Antonio, possibly San Francisco.
Winding down the season on an upbeat note is a necessary ambition for any coach, as is the assurance of improving his team’s record from a year ago. The Huskies have expectations of finishing the regular season at 8-4 – they went 6-6 in 2010 – and they have a decent shot at a 9-4 overall record.
“I want our guys,” Sarkisian said the other day, “to regain their sense of urgency.”
But again, what’s more urgent: Beating Oregon State, or beating the Cougars? If I’m Sarkisian, I’m taking a chance on backup quarterback Nick Montana managing the offense through a winnable game Saturday, with the payoff producing an effective Keith Price in the Apple Cup.
It’s not as though the UW coach is unfamiliar with the drill. Last November, Sarkisian concluded the best way to nurse Jake Locker through a broken rib was to keep him on the bench at Oregon. Granted, the scenario was different – prohibitive underdogs, the Huskies’ only hope was to avoid humiliation at Eugene – but the strategy worked.
Locker’s day of rest revealed a re-energized quarterback against UCLA, California and Wazzu.
Still, a commitment to a running game, behind durable workhorse Chris Polk, was responsible for the winning streak that delivered UW to the Holiday Bowl. More recently, Polk’s contribution to the offense was minimal in the defeat against Oregon, and he was relegated to an afterthought at USC, where he carried the ball all of nine times.
Polk would be happy to carry the ball nine times in the first quarter. So let him. Get back to the basics of a ground attack built around a superior running back.
Which is yet another reason to start Montana: The redshirt freshman, who has little college-football experience other than some garbage time acquired in blowouts, demands a dumbed-down gameplan. Handing the ball off to Polk, or making him the target of short, high-percentage passes in the flat, both fits that gameplan while returning the Huskies to their philosophical roots.
As a former quarterback and offensive coordinator, Sarkisian relishes the chess-board challenge of calling plays that surprise a defense – and he should, he’s good at it – but there are times when too much thinking can be an impediment. There are times a head coach must acknowledge the obvious, and resist the urge to advertise himself as a genius.
One of those times is Saturday, when Sarkisian will have the opportunity to keep his injured quarterback out of harm’s way. Here’s hoping the Huskies’ first play is a Montana handoff to Polk.
And if the Beavers stuff it for no gain?
Let the Huskies’ second play be a Montana handoff to Polk. Make it a trend. No tricks, no deceit. Rely on toughness and true grit, and the belief a healthy Keith Price can return, a week later, for the one game on the schedule that screams of urgency.
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