Locker aces conditioning test

Tyrone Willingham and his coaching staff put the Huskies football team through conditioning testing Monday. It was brutal.

It wasn't a battery of drills or sprints timed with a stopwatch. Instead, there was a 300-yard shuttle in which two cones are placed 25 yards apart. The player does 12 runs between the cones, touching the cone at each turn. The test monitors intermediate anaerobic power – or how hard the player is sucking wind.

"It's not just a timed test, but it (records) the ability to bounce back under stressful conditions," Willingham said.

The player the coach singled out after the testing?

Sophomore quarterback Jake Locker.

"You are continually amazed by the effort of our quarterback. He had one of the fastest times in our conditioning test," Willingham said, declining to reveal the time.

"He shows that kind of resiliency and that's why he should be one of the better players in the country. He has that kind of mental toughness about everything he does."

BRING ON THE HEAT: Mid-80s temperatures are a little unusual on the shores of Lake Washington. So when Willingham felt the heat pounding down on his Huskies on Tuesday and Wednesday, he embraced it, calling it a "stress test."

"I love hot days," he said.

The players, dripping with sweat and making regular jogs for water, aren't as enthused.

"It's just hot," safety Victor Aiyewa said Wednesday.

Willingham said the more mental stress he can put on his players, the tougher they will be in games.

JOHNSON ON THE MEND: For the time being, sophomore Brandon Johnson has a hold on the starting tailback job, despite battling a surgically repaired knee.

After finishing with 51 carries for 196 yards and two touchdowns as a true freshman last season, Johnson fell awkwardly on his left knee during the spring and an MRI exam revealed a torn meniscus. It also showed an old tear in the posterior cruciate ligament. He underwent arthroscopic surgery May 7 and took longer than expected to mend.

Johnson said he is operating at full speed in practice, but Willingham doesn't believe his tailback is at 100 percent.

"He' not quite there yet ... but he's moving well, initially made some good runs, some good cuts," Willingham said.

Johnson is fending off redshirt freshmen Willie Griffin and Brandon Yakaboski, as well as true freshmen Terrance Dailey, Johri Fogerson, David Freeman and Chris Polk.

TAYLOR'S IN: Freshman defensive back Vince Taylor reported to camp Wednesday night and will begin practicing with the team Thursday aftermissing two days while the NCAA Clearinghouse reveiwed his transcript, he said.

"I'm already here," Taylor said late Wednesday night. "It was just some things with my transcript. I wasn't worried and it turned out out fine. I was surprised by it, but they told me why it was happening and I was like, 'Oh, that's cool.' "

A product of Bellevue's Eastside Catholic High, Taylor was one of four incoming freshmen not to report on Monday, the first day of camp. Running back Demetrius Bronson and defensive tackle Craig Noble are still trying to get in before the season begins and quarterback Dominique Blackman will enroll in January.

EXTRA POINTS: The third practice of camp was conducted in helmets, shoulder pads and shorts Wednesday. The NCAA requires teams to go without full protection until the fifth practice day. The team will go in full pads Friday, and then have the first two-a-day on Saturday. ... Freshman defensive linemen Alameda Ta'amu and Everrette Thompson worked with the projected starters. ... FSN announced it has picked up the Sept. 27 game against Stanford at Husky Stadium. It will kick off at 7 p.m. It will air on FSN, Fox College Sports and other regional networks. ... The UW's season opener is Aug. 30 at Oregon.

POSITION PEEK: TAILBACKS

PERSONNEL: There's a logjam, though only sophomore Brandon Johnson has game experience. The 5-foot-11, 207-pound power back had 51 carries for 196 yards and two touchdowns last season. He had a big game against Cal, racking up 121 yards and a score. Behind him are redshirt freshmen Willie Griffin, Brandon Yakaboski and three true freshmen. There's also a wild card in true freshman Chris Polk, who was initially recruited as a receiver. Turns out the player who rushed for 2,561 yards as a junior in high school might be the Huskies' best tailback.

POSITIVES: Running backs coach Steve Gervais can pick from a variety of styles. There are bruisers (Yakaboski) and grinders (Griffin), strength (Johnson) and sheer speed (true freshmen Terrance Dailey and David Freeman). Polk is going to find the field somewhere; his high school teammates called him "Reggie," as in Reggie Bush. He's definitely a plus.

PROBLEMS: Inexperience. Johnson played in 11 games last season, but was definitely second fiddle to Louis Rankin, who rushed for 1,294 yards. Can any of the newcomers hold on to the ball? Can they block? Can they make adjustments on the fly?

– Molly Yanity