Saturday, December 19, 1998
Lambright has a lot
By Pat Bigold
of Aloha for Hawaii
Star-BulletinWashington Huskies coach Jim Lambright got off a flight from Seattle yesterday afternoon grinning from ear to ear.
It's easy for Lambright to warm up to Hawaii. His team played here last year in the Jeep Aloha Bowl and he recruited here as an assistant coach.
But you'd wonder what Lambright was grinning about if you looked at his season diary.
Injuries and youth controlled the fate of the 1998 Huskies, who arrived yesterday to prepare for the first Jeep Oahu Bowl on Christmas Day.
Lambright, in his sixth year as head coach, realizes he's lucky to have coached a 6-5 team and even secure a bowl berth.
"It's the most injuries since I can remember," said Lambright who has been affiliated 30 years with Washington.
The unranked Huskies will pit their spread passing offense against the option attack of No. 16 Air Force (11-1) in the late game of a bowl doubleheader. Colorado and Oregon will hook up in the Jeep Aloha Bowl.
Putting a consistent lineup on the field has been a problem all year as the Huskies have had 10 starters miss a total of 27 games during the year due to injury. Even quarterback Brock Huard missed two games.
To make matters worse, speedy sophomore receiver Ja'Warren Hooks, who is Washington's best deep threat and also a track standout, has gone home for the holidays.
"He's at home because of a shoulder rehab. He hurt both shoulders during the season," said Lambright.
Lambright said that he agreed with doctors who determined it would be better for Hooks to miss the bowl game.
"We've played nine true freshmen and one-third of our points this year were scored by true freshmen," said Lambright. "Freshmen, redshirt freshmen and sophomores are the dominant group this year."
Lambright said walk-ons like, Hawaii's only active Husky, 6-foot-1, 230-pound Moanalua High graduate Ken Walker, have played important roles.
Walker, who gets high marks from Lambright, is a backup inside linebacker.
"He's played a real strong backup role for us, and immediately transformed into a special teams player," said Lambright.
It's unusual for a freshman walk-on to see action, but Walker started a game against Utah State and saw lots more action against Nebraska and Oregon State. He had a team-leading eight tackles against Oregon State.
"This is a great program for walk-ons," said Walker.
Washington, which suffered sanctions for violations the NCAA detected under the stewardship of Don James, has 46 players who were originally walk-ons. Of those, 17 have seen playing time this year.
"It's been one of the things that saved us during the sanctions,'' said Lambright.
Walk-ons who play key roles for the team include halfback Joe Jarzynka, receiver Dane Looker, and linebacker Todd Johnson.
"If you are going to play an option like Air Force, you want a chance to get ready for it because you don't see it," said Lambright. "This gives us weeks to get ready for it the first time. And we hope we can build on it."
Former St. Louis School lineman Petrocelli Kesi, who has his undergraduate degree, is working as a student assistant coach while studying for a degree in sociology and anthropology.
Kesi works with the tight ends.
"This is a young team," said Kesi, who played for the Huskies between 1993 and 1997. "They're just puppies learning to bark. But when they bite, people will know them."
Yet another local face getting off the plane was former Kamehameha star Ikaika Malloe, who now works as a Huskies graduate assistant.
Lambright said he will probably be making five visits to prep football players' homes while here.
"This is a really good year in the islands for recruits," he said. "I know the numbers we're going after this year are probably more than we have in the last 10 years."
Iolani School's record-breaking running back Joe Igber is known to have been offered a scholarship by the Huskies. He will make a campus visit.
