Oregon State @ Washington preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 14, 2009 ) Washington 21, Oregon State 48

The Washington Huskies (2-3, 1-1) won’t have to deal with the entire Rodgers’ clan when they host Oregon State (3-2, 2-0) in a Pac-10 Conference game Saturday night in Seattle.

Explosive wide receiver James Rodgers was lost for the season with a knee injury in the Beavers’ 29-27 upset win at Arizona last week.

James Rodgers had already accumulated seven catches for 102 yards and scored the Beavers’ first touchdown of the day before leaving midway through the second quarter after begin tackled in the end zone on what would have been a 56-yard touchdown catch. To make matters worse, the touchdown was negated by an ineligible receiver penalty.

James Rodgers, the older brother of Beavers' running back Jacquizz Rodgers, was sixth in the nation with an average of 176.75 all-purpose yards this season. He was one of the nation’s top return men and led the Beavers with 11 touchdowns this season.

The offensive burden now falls on junior Jacquizz Rodgers who leads the team with 481 rushing yards and has scored seven times on the ground.
James Rodgers’ absence will strain Oregon State quarterback Ryan Katz the most. Through the first five games of the season, Katz has out-played his preseason Heisman trophy hopeful counterpart at Washington in Jake Locker.

Katz (1,113 yards passing) has thrown nine touchdowns and only one interception while Locker, who remained at Washington despite being a sure-fire early round pick in the NFL draft last year, has eight touchdowns and three interception.

Locker has thrown for 1,145 yards in the five games, well below his expectations.

Last week, albeit in the rain at Seattle, Locker did very little in the Huskies’ 24-14 loss to Arizona State. He ran for one touchdown and threw for another but amassed just 209 yards with an interception, as the Sun Devils beat Washington for the seventh straight time.

Washington has become the only team that the Sun Devils can beat in the conference. ASU had lost 10 straight Pac-10 games heading into the matchup.

The Huskies got a fine night out from running back Chris Polk (18-110 yards), and De’Andre Goodwin caught eight passes for 78 yards and a score.
But that was the extent of the Washington offense. Locker was ill the night of the game and admitted having an IV at one point.

The Huskies have a demanding stretch in front of them. Oregon State is just outside the Top 25 and the next three foes are all ranked: No. 20 Arizona, No. 15 Stanford, No. 2 Oregon. They’ll have to win at least two of those games to reach six wins to qualify for a bowl berth.

Oregon State has won the last six meetings between the two teams. Last year the Beavers hammered the Huskies 48-21. Locker threw for 153 yards in the game with three touchdowns but the Rodgers brothers stole the show combining for four touchdowns.