its going to be fun seeing how our defense matches up against some bona fide All-Star candidates (Saturday night on ESPN, live from Death Valley)
UW features 3 of them on offense:
1) #17 Keith Price, QB
- in the opener, he was 25 of 35 (71.4%) for 222 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs...and he had completions to 9 different receivers
- last year, in his first season as a starting quarterback (replacing 1st Round pick Jake Locker), he was #8 in the NCAA with 33 TD passes (and only two QBs that beat him are back this year: USC's Barkley and UGA's Murray)... and he was #6 in the NCAA in passer rating, min 20 att/game (and nobody that beat him last year is back this year, although USC's Barkley was just a hair behind him). he broke the UW single-season touchdown passes record with 33, beating the old record by five... his 3,063 passing yards ranked No. 2 in UW history... and he set the UW school records for season completion percentage and pass efficiency
- his best game last year was his bowl game vs RGIII & Baylor and he looked every bit as good as RGIII, completing 23-of-37 (62.2%) for 438 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, and rushing for an additional 3 TDs and 39 yards (his seven TDs responsible for were an NCAA record for a bowl game, as were his 42 points responsible for)
2) #88 Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE
- in the opener, he had 9 catches for 82 yards
- as a freshman last year, he came 7 catches and 53 yards shy of breaking the UW single season records for receptions and receiving yards by a TE set by 1st Round pick TE Jerramy Stevens in 2000...and he's already only 4 TDs shy of the UW career record for most career receiving TDs by a TE
- a year ago out of high school, he was rated the #2 TE in his class by both Rivals and Scout, he was #32 on the Scout100 and #39 on the Rivals100, he was a US Army All-American, yada yada
- now he is the #1 rated TE in his class by NFL Draft Scout, a Preseason All-American, and getting plenty of praise from the media, for example College Football News' 2012 preview says: "Watch out for Seferian-Jenkins to blow up into a household name. ... the sophomore was basically toying with Huskies defenders in the spring. He’s already on the same page with QB Keith Price, which could result in double-digit touchdown catches in 2012. Seferian-Jenkins is one of those rare tight ends, who leaves after three years, and gets drafted in the first round the following April."
- as a recruit, he had offers to LSU, Alabama, Southern Cal, Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Florida State, Florida, Miami, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Clemson, Stanford, UCLA, Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon State, etc
- he also played for the UW basketball team last season a la Jimmy Graham
3) #2 Kasen Williams: WR and punt returner
- in the opener, he had 6 catches for 75 yards and a TD
- he's the most highly touted recruit in UW history...was the Parade National Player of the Year ("It was pretty obvious that he was No. 1 to us," said Parade associate editor Emmet Sullivan), was MaxPrep.com's National Athlete of the Year, on the USA Today All-USA First Team, a Parade All-American, a US Army All-American, rated the #2 WR in his class by Scout.com, etc...won 3 state championships in football (Fall 2007-2009), 2 state championships in the high jump (Spring 2009, 2011), one state championship in the long jump (Spring 2011), and two state championships in the triple jump (Spring 2010-2011)
- had offers to LSU, Alabama, Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Oregon, Notre Dame, Arkansas, Florida State, Florida, Nebraska, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Stanford, UCLA, Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon State, etc
-his father was a 4-time letterman WR at UW from 1979-1982
-College Football News' 2012 preview said this about him: "What to watch for on offense: Kasen (Williams). Of course the Huskies were disappointed to see receivers Jermaine Kearse and Devin Aguilar graduate, but second-year sophomore Kasen Williams is going to be better than both ... One of the nation’s top recruits of 2011 played like it in his first season out of high school, catching 36 passes for 427 yards and six scores off the bench. At 6-2 and 216 pounds, with the burst to elevate high into the air, he has the natural skills to beat defensive backs in so many different ways. ... He’s an explosive all-around weapon, with the 6-2, 216-pound frame and bounce in his step to create mismatches with opposing defensive backs. He’s on the brink of a monster second season in Seattle. ... In Williams and (TE) Seferian-Jenkins, the Huskies boast a pair of second-year players poised to abuse defensive backs and linebackers as if it’s a bodily function. Both are wonderfully gifted young athletes, with the size-speed combos to create separation, and give (QB) Price the window he needs to make connections."
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