Imagine: You’ve got a new job as a widget salesman! Catch is, your predecessor had so much sales talent, he was known around the office, unironically, as “The Savior.” Your second-in-command is the son of one of the greatest salesmen of all time. And you? You’ve got no hype, no pedigree. Still want the job?
Keith Price did. Not widget salesman (that was a clever rhetorical device!), but quarterback of the University of Washington football team. A position occupied for the past four years by Jake “The Savior” Locker, and now vied for by Nick Montana, son of NFL Hall-of-Famer Joe. So how’s the Compton-raised sophomore done under the pressure of following a legend, and being shadowed by the son of another?
Oh, he’s only leading the nation in touchdown passes.
Price may not be better than Locker, but he’s sure playing like it. Last week’s Husky game against Nebraska provided an interesting chance for comparison. The Huskies played Nebraska twice last season with Locker at quarterback. In those two games combined, Locker completed just 9 passes, for 127 yards and 1 touchdown. In last Saturday’s game, Price completed 21 passes for 274 yards and 4 touchdowns.
There are reasons to believe that Nebraska’s defense is weaker this year, but there can be little lingering doubt that the unsung Price is a more proficient quarterback in UW head coach Steve Sarkisian’s pro-style passing offense than Locker ever was.
And Price is doing all this on two sprained knees. (“They’d probably have to cut off my legs to keep me from playing,” Price told a media contingent this week.)
Rooting for Locker, as perfect a physical specimen as has ever played quarterback, was never satisfying. Because of his overwhelming hype even before coming to Washington, you expected greatness from Locker–something that just wasn’t possible his first two years as a subject of the incompetent Tyrone Willingham fiefdom. Under Sarkisian, Locker had to learn a pro-style offense in just two years. Didn’t happen–though the NFL’s Tennessee Titans are so convinced of Locker’s ability to learn, they made him the eighth-overall pick in April’s draft.
Sarkisian has had much more success coaching Price. Maybe that’s because he and Price have a lot more in common–at least in their lack of pedigree and hype. Sarkisian’s dad not only wasn’t a football star, he’d probably never heard of the game when he came to the US from Iran at age 18. And Sarkisian was so lightly-regarded as a quarterback recruit that he began his college athletic career on the baseball diamond.
It was a surprise when Sarkisian named Price the starter during spring practice–most fans expected Montana to compete for the spot. But Sarkisian’s decision has proved to be an outstanding one.
Saturday, Price and the Huskies host Cal at Husky Stadium in a critical game for two teams scrapping for ground in the middle of the Pac-12 North Division. Cal’s pass defense is suspect–they allowed Colorado to pass for 474 yards two weeks ago. Yet the Huskies’ pass defense may be worse–they’re ranked 115th out of 120 NCAA teams in passing yards allowed per game. Vegas expects a close, high scoring game: UW is favored by one point, with the over/under set at 58.5. Bookies have pegged UW as just a one-point favorite.
