Time Is Now for Huskies to Get Sam Huard on the Field
The University of Washington suspended football coach Jimmy Lake for a week. Fired offensive coordinator John Donovan for good. Wished linebacker MJ Tafisi well on his way out of the program.
One after another, in a week of continuous turmoil and staggering change in Montlake, these were fairly straightforward developments involving Husky football that left no mystery whatsoever.
Then there was this fairly direct and obvious question that arose in the aftermath: Is Dylan Morris still the starting quarterback?
Acting offensive coordinator Junior Adams chose to provide a fairly vague response, which, in itself, was telling: "We're going to see where we are with that."
No more guarantees of Morris playing time that have stretched back to the beginning of fall camp, when Lake christened him as the unequivocal starter, and have continued throughout an uneven season.
Ah, finally some mystery that will keep people guessing coming into Saturday's Arizona State-Washington football game at Husky Stadium that presents itself with dark clouds, literally and figuratively, hanging overhead.
Dylan Morris or Sam Huard?
According to the UW Daily, these Husky quarterbacks rotated running the No. 1 offense during the week.
Finally.
Considering the lack of team success, the UW should have been doing this all along when things began to fall off.
Morris' performance has been less than stellar in his second go-round in running the offense and Huard is the highest-rated quarterback to ever enter the program.
Considering the dismal John Donovan offensive schemes forced upon Morris, maybe the Huskies did Huard a big favor by sparing him from being rushed, sacked and damaged nonstop.
Yet you don't put a 5-star quarterback on the bench like he's just another true freshman. You don't mention the word "redshirt" around him. That's so old school. You use whatever resources are available to win in the present, not the future, and that includes taking the wraps off Huard's golden left arm.
Now don't completely discard Morris. Let him start. He's functional at times. He'll make a great backup at some point. But get Huard on the field and let a new air-minded era begin.
If nothing else, the Husky fan base needs something to dull the pain of too many setbacks, far too little offense and now a coaching shakeup that has staggered anyone remotely interested in this team.
The Huskies already lost one high-profile quarterback, Ethan Garbers to UCLA, during this offensive mess. Two would be unconscionable.
Play Huard.
Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Husky Maven stories as soon as they’re published. Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.
Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated
Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven
