Tag Archives: Chris Polk

Washington Shocks ‘Huskers, 19-7, Captures Holiday Bowl Crown

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Posted by admin on December 31, 2010 – 7:30 am
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The Huskies were happy to be in the Holiday Bowl, and they showed it.

Behind a powerful ground attack led by Jake & Chris Polk–along with a history-making performance by the defense–the Huskies manhandled the Nebraska Cornhuskers 19-7 en route to their first bowl victory since the 2001 Rose Bowl.

Polk ran for 177 yards on 34 carries and Jake added 83 yards rushing to cap a 268 yard team rushing performance against a shell-shocked Husker team. The Husky defense held a strong Nebraska rushing offense to a pedestrian 91 yards rushing on 41 carries, effectively shutting down a rushing attack that had gained 383 yards vs. the Huskies just 3 months prior.

Washington started off fast as the Huskies capitalized on a Alameda Ta’amu fumble recovery on the Huskers’ first possession of the game, leading to a short Chris Polk touchdown run and an early 7-0 lead. The short drive featured a 16 yard reception by Jake on the first play from scrimmage, a play that got the Huskies to inside the 5 yard line.

Leading 10-7 at the half, the Husky offense started the second half much like the first and marched 53 yards in just 4 plays, keyed by a 26 yard Jake to D’Andre Goodwin pass followed by a 25 yard touchdown burst by Jake to take a 17-7 lead. From there, the Husky defense took the reigns and rendered the Huskers ineffective the rest of the game, racking up sacks, tackles for loss, an interception and even the team’s first safety in 7 years, a 2-point score after holding was called in the endzone.

The redemptive win caps a fantastic finish by a 7-6 Washington team that reeled off 4 straight wins, a record that will have the Huskies finish 3rd place in the Pac-10. And, while there have been countless variations of the same question to Jake–’do you regret the decision to come back for your Senior year?’–the victory will help solidify the answer that hasn’t wavered from the start.

“There were some frustrating moments, but this is the best way I could go out. I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Jake said after the game. “And to see the program off this way…I’m going to be their biggest fan from here on out.”

The story-book ending to the season and Jake’s collegiate career was a fitting end for a player and a team that has symbolized perseverance over the last 2+ years. And, it appears Jake finished the main goal he made when he started with the program 5 years ago: to get the Huskies back to their winning ways and relevance in the Pac-10.

Jake finishes his Husky tenure second only to Cody Pickett in total passing yards, attempts, completions and touchdowns. He is first in total rushing yards by a quarterback in Washington’s long history.

A complete statistical recap of the Holiday Bowl can be found here.

Jake, Huskies Take Apple Cup; Bowl Game Awaits

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Posted by admin on December 5, 2010 – 8:55 am
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One of the main reasons Jake came back to play at UW for his senior year was to be able to enjoy a postseason bowl game with his teammates. After a 35-28 win in Pullman over the Washington State Cougars, that mission has been accomplished.

Jake hit Jermaine Kearse for a 27  yard touchdown pass on a picture perfect fade route with 44 seconds left to break a 28-28 tie, lifting the Huskies to their third consecutive victory and third place in the uber competitive Pac-10 conference. With the win Washington ends the regular season with a 6-6 record, qualifying them for their first bowl game in 8 years.

 ”It’s something I had always hoped I would enjoy before I left here and it’s awesome to be a part of,” Jake said of getting to a bowl game. “It could be in Seattle I don’t care. It’s something that will be cool to be a part of. And to be honest I don’t know what comes along with it or what it is all about but I’m looking forward to it.”

The Huskies were led by a history making performance from Chris Polk, a 29 carry, 284 yard outing that included a 57 yard touchdown jaunt and numerous lengthy runs that helped keep Washington ahead of a surging Washington State team. Polk’s biggest run may have come on 4th and 1 of the game-winning drive, a 15 yard burst that led the Huskies to the final touchdown.

Jake  finished the game with 14 of 22 passing for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns, and had 9 carries for 29 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He also had a highlight worthy, 77 yard touchdown dash called back on a holding penalty in the first half.

For the complete box score, click here.

The Huskies now await word on which bowl game they will be heading to and who they will be playing. The most likely scenarios have Washington being selected by either the Alamo Bowl or Holiday Bowl, games that will bring a top tier, Big 12 opponent.

Jake Victorious in Husky Stadium Curtain Call

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Posted by admin on November 20, 2010 – 8:46 am
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Jake wanted to play with his teammates in his final game at Husky Stadium, no matter what his personal health was. His teammates made sure that he left a winner.

Behind 245 rushing yards by the terrific tandem of Chris Polk and Jesse Callier, the Husky offense got on track in the second half and took advantage of a suffocating and inspired defense to pull away from UCLA 24-7 in a rare Thursday night national ESPN telecast.

The Huskies, sporting their new all black uniforms, played a physical game on defense and made sure the offensive game plan protected their senior quarterback’s broken rib. Coach Steve Sarkisian was proud at how Jake fought through the injury to be on the field. 

“There is something unique about his game tonight, being that he went out there knowing he was injured and still played” Coach Sarkisian said. “He wanted to just play with his team and the play tonight was really evident of that. Jake was a part of our team and it’s pretty neat for him to come out of here with a win and feel great about it and knowing he can go play again next week at Cal.”

Jake only ran 4 times due to his physical limitations, yet leaped into the endzone for a 3 yard touchdown in the second quarter to tie the game at 7. Washington ran off 17 unanswered points in the second half to complete the scoring.

You can find a complete recap of the game here. The Huskies are at Cal next Saturday.

‘The Drive’ Redux: Jake Leads Huskies To Last Second Road Win Over #18 USC

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Posted by admin on October 3, 2010 – 7:06 am
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2 weeks after one of the toughest games of the college football career, Jake responded with quite possibly the guttiest and most clutch performance of his career.

A year removed from a game defining drive that brought the highly ranked Trojans down 16-13 in heart-stopping fashion, Jake and the Huskies had a chance for an encore performance. Down 31-29 with 2 1/2 minutes to get into field goal range and starting from their 23 own yard line, the Dawgs didn’t disappoint. After 3 consecutive incomplete passes, Jake hit D’Andre Goodwin for 18 yards on a crucial 4th and 11 to keep the drive alive. Chris Polk, Jake and the offense kept the rest of the drive on the ground to run the clock down, and with 3 seconds to go clutch kicker Erik Folk repeated his 2009 heroics to give Washington a 32-31 victory.

Afterwards, Jake described what he told his offense before they started the game winning drive. ”So when we got in the huddle I said ‘I love you guys. We’ve got one more down to continue this drive and give ourselves a chance to win this game.’ And there wasn’t one guy in the huddle that thought we couldn’t do it. I looked at each guy in the eye and saw confidence and that’s why I think we were able to convert.”

Jake ended the day with 310 yards on 24 of 40 passing and a touchdown, and also rushed for 110 yards on 12 carries. He also was able to shake off an injury suffered on the goal line early in the 4th quarter, a quarterback sneak that got the Huskies a crucial 1st down on 3rd and 1. The hard hit to the turf knocked him out of the next play, but back up q.b. Keith Price came in to throw a 1 yard t.d. strike to tight end Chris Izbicki to go up 29-28.  There was some concern Jake would be out for the rest of the contest, but he was back at it for the next offensive series.

 ”I knew I was coming back in the game,” Jake explained. “I just got my bell rung. I got a little woozy and fortunately was able to come back.”

 The victory ended a 32 game win streak for the Trojans when playing at home in the evening, and was in stark contrast to just 2 years ago when the Huskies lost 56-0 in L.A.

You can find a complete recap here. Also, be sure to follow Bob Condotta’s Huskies Blog for up to date news and player quotes.

Huskies, Locker fall to LSU; Show Promise

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Posted by admin on September 6, 2009 – 8:55 am
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The Huskies battled national power-house LSU for 4 quarters Saturday night, losing 31-23.

Locker had a renaissance night after almost a year removed from last year’s season ending injury, throwing for 321 yards and 2 touchdowns on 25 for 45 passing,locker-lsu-2 including a handful of throws out of bounds to avoid the rush. He also made some key scrambles for first downs, rushing for 51 yards on 12 carries, and was impeccable leading the 2-minute offense before halftime and at the end of the game.

There were some positive performances all around for the Huskies, a game in which they outgained the Tigers by 157 yards.

Chris Polk ran for 90 yards on 21 carries, freshman James Johnson caught the first touchdown of the season on his way to 6 catches for 63 yards (some of them key first downs), and Kavario Middleton had a career high 5 catches and a touchdown.

Washington also got solid performances from running back Johri Fogerson, wide receiver Devin Aguilar, and punter Will Mahan. The defense also had a good night, holding their own against a highly-touted SEC offense with a ton of playmakers.

For more details, check out the coverage of the game:

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times recap here.

Some quotes from the game. Les Miles said of Locker: “That Jake Locker is mobile and accurate. They designed a nice scheme that complements what he does.

Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times breathes some fresh air in his breakdown of the game. 

Another view of Jake Locker’s impact on the game.

Heraldnet’s review of Locker and the game.

Isportsweb.com’s post game review.

Locker Sharp in Scrimmage

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Posted by admin on August 23, 2009 – 7:39 am
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Jake Locker continued to show his comfort in the new offensive scheme, finishing 12 of 19 for 181 yards and a t.d. during Saturday’s scrimmage in front of a couple of thousand people at Husky stadium. 

The scrimmage included good news all around for the dawgs, as the the team had solid plays on offense, defense and special teams. The wide receivers performed well, as Jermaine Kearse, Jordan Polk and freshman James Johnson made some great plays. Kearse had quite a showing with some catches in tight coverage and a touchdown grab from Locker. Polk showed his speed on a nice reverse run and a couple of catches over the middle, and Johnson continued to impress as he snagged a couple of Locker throws as well, keeping the chains moving.

At running back, the 5 deep of Griffin, Fogerson, Bronson, Polk and Shaw shifted between the ones and the twos regularly. Shaw had the biggest day of all, almost hitting 100 yards for the day, including a shifty 50 yard run where he showed off the speed that made him an important weapon in 2007.

On defense, Everette Thompson had a good day for the second team defense, and the starting linebacking trio of Savannah, Butler, and Foster were all over the field making plays. Quinton Richardson also had some good defensive plays in addition to his kick off return for a t.d.

Overall, a good scrimmage that left the team relatively unscathed as they move towards the September 5th kickoff with LSU.

Locker Impresses, Purple Team Cruises in Spring Game

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Posted by admin on April 26, 2009 – 3:36 pm
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Over 10,000 Purple and Gold clad Husky fans took in the Spring Game Day festivities and got to witness the return of some old faces, a new coaching staff, and a healthy starting quarterback.

From Sonny Sixkiller to Marques Tuiasosopo and Lawyer Milloy to Shane Pahukoa, tons of former Husky players were treated to a 33-0 shutout pitched by the Purple team over the White team.

The weather cooperated and was a balmy 53 degrees at the 1:30 start, and the purple team wasted no time as Jake Locker drove them down and ended up running into the endzone from 10 yards out. Locker finished the day completing 16 of 18 passes for 200 yards with 2 touchdowns and the touchdown run, a crisp and efficient day that saw no injuries on either side.

Defensive Coordinator Nick Holt described his thoughts on Jake’s performance to Bob Condotta of the Seattle times, “He’s gotten a lot better, especially this last week of spring. He has a real working knowledge of the offense and is comfortable with what they are trying to get done. He’s always been an excellent athlete and how he’s really developed into quite the quarterback and he’ll only get better now.”

Coach Sark also had positive thoughts about Locker’s day: “I thought Jake was really sharp. He’s playing much more relaxed that he was early in spring. He’s just delivering the ball, he’s comfortable. I thought a little bit there in the third quarter he got stuck in the pocket a couple of times. We’ve been hammering home to him, ‘Stay in the pocket, stay in the pocket.’ Now we’ve got to let him go a little bit and let him play football. But I thought he had a nice game.”

“They want me to give the routes a shot, but at the same time they never told me they want to take away my ability to run the ball,” Locker told the Seattle PI. “I’m just comfortable in the offense. I know what I’m doing and I know where I’m going. I’m confident.”

The notable stars of the day other than Locker was Willie Griffin, who scored a 29 yard touchdown on a short pass from Locker (sprung by a great block by Devin Aguilar), Chris Polk, Jermaine Kearse, and Demetrius Bronson. Anthony Boyles also looked solid, running some good routes and making some nice catches for the white team. On defense, Donald Butler and Mason Foster had good games, with Foster registering a couple of sacks, and on the white team Trenton Tuiasosopo was all over the field making tackles. 

The game ended with a final drive that was highlighted by a 25 yard gain by Chris Polk (one play after coming down awkward), a 19 yard gain by Polk, and finally a 8 yard touchdown catch by Jermaine Kearse. It was a great way to end the day and Spring Camp.

The game acted as a first glance of the new coaching staff for many Husky fans, and the days events were just the start of what fans can grow to expect with the new regime’s open-door philosophy and focus on fan involvement. “It was like a breath of fresh air”, said Jerry Pugnetti, a long time Tyee season ticket holder who experienced the Spring Game for the first time. “It feels like a dark cloud has been lifted and that we get to start over from scratch. I’m excited.”

The new uniforms were unveiled in the east endzone on mannequins, and had a mostly positive reception. Numerous fans stopping by to check them out really liked the clean look to the retro-inspired jerseys with the block numbers and the stripes down the legs. On display were the traditional home purple jerseys with gold pants and the away white jerseys with the gold pants. A third ensemble was a new one: all white uni’s with purple lettering. The helmets did not change.

There are many other articles describing different points of view on the Spring Game:

Nick Daschel of Buster Sports.com quips that if “Locker is this sharp, the Huskies have a chance in 2009.” 

The Tacoma News Tribune echoes that Locker’s performance was a good sign for the Huskies.

Game Notes

Players seeing game action:

1st Team Offense: Locker, Bruns, Izbicki, Griffin, C. Polk, J. Polk, Kelemete, Kearse, Aguilar, Middleton, Bronson, Habben, Ossai, Tolar, Schaefer, and Fancher

1st Team Defense: Butler, Foster, Glenn, Williams, Mosley, Richardson, Fogerson, Ta’amu, Huppert, Te’o-Nesheim, Elisara, Matthews, Jones, Walker

2nd Team Offense: Fouch, Boyles, Sylvester, B. Johnson, Shaw, Chidiac, Togi, Freeman, Leonard, Ikehara, Hayes, Rosborough, Christine, Scott, Shugert, Armelin, Savant, Kanczugowski

2nd Team Defense: Aiyewa, Persley, Gobern, Logan, Amosa, Houston, Galbraith, Wood, T. Johnson, Long, Ferleman, TJ Poe, Noble, Remington, Duncan, Tuiasosopo, Roussel

Note: Please stay tuned for pictures to be loaded, which will be found on the “Gallery” page of this website.

Locker Excels in Saturday Scrimmage

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Posted by admin on April 19, 2009 – 6:47 am
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Jake Locker was 10-16 for 133 Yards and a TD in Saturday’s 75 minute scrimmage at Husky Stadium, as he led the 1st teamers to a couple of scores. Ronnie Fouch, Mason Foster, Devin Aguilar and Anthony Boyles also had solid performances, as did Chris Polk and Demetrius Bronson. Go Huskies.com Spring Football blog details some of the notes and statistics for the day–you can find that blog here.

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times also reports that the Offensive Line looked good on Saturday. “As a whole, there was an emphasis to run the ball a little bit, and we were able to establish a pretty good running game,” Jake told the Seattle Times. “We were able to gain positive yards on first downs, especially, and put us in manageable down and distance, and that helped our offense really flow today.”