Locker's Last Second TD

Courtesy of Rob Carlson.

KJR 950's Ian Furness on Costa Injury

Ian spoke with Jay Allen, Sports Director at Portland's KXL 95.5 "The Game" - the Ducks' flagship station.

Allen said Costa "tweaked" his knee during a closed practice at Autzen Stadium. It is unknown if it is the same knee in which he suffered an ACL tear last year. Allen said his sources are calling the injury "serious", which seems to be the catch word of the day.

Today's practice was scheduled to be open, but was closed after the Costa injury.

Costa, the Redshirt Sophomore didn't play last year after blowing out his knee in practice. Costa played a little as a frosh, and then redshirted after the injury.

Costa, 6'1" 215, is a mobile quarterback who relies on his legs to run the Chip Kelly spread.

If Costa goes down, the Ducks will likely turn to Justin Roper, who was impressive in the Duck's Sun Bowl win last year, going 17-30 for 180 yards and four TD's in the 56-21 win over South Florida.

True frosh Chris Harper, a true dual threat QB, has also been pressing for playing time.

"Harper was highly recruited out of Wichita, Kan. He's very athletic, but also very green," Allen said.

"If Costa is out, Roper is your starter, but we will be seeing Harper a lot sooner than later," Allen said.

More on Costa

Addicted to Quack is reporting a "serious" knee injury for Costa, wondering if it's an ACL. They also hypothesize that this may be an elaborate hoax to throw off the Huskies...

Ducks' QB suffers knee injury?

We're hearing reports that Nate Costa, the Ducks' presumed starting quarterback suffered a serious knee injury last night, causing the Ducks to close practice to the media.

More to come.

Shaw out

Sophomore WR Curtis Shaw has left the team, Tyrone Willingham said today. Shaw will return to California to address unspecified family issues.

Shaw, along with Sophomore D'Andre Goodwin was one of two returning recievers who've caught a pass in game action.

One of the fastest players on the squad, Shaw returned kicks and ran the ball a handful of times early in the season before switching to wideout halfway through the season. Coaches said they envisioned Shaw filling a James Rodgers-like role, running the ball out of the backfield on fly sweeps and reverses, while running routes downfield in the passing game.

Willingham left the door open for Shaw's eventual return.

Who is Victor Aiyewa?

Victor Aiyewa, 46, pressures the USC punter Greg Woidneck last season, resulting in a blocked punt by Roy Lewis, 28. Photo courtesy Daylife.

With gameday less than 20 days away, we thought it appropriate to begin a position-by-position look at new faces at the top of the Husky depth chart. What better place to begin then the secondary, which has been overhauled by new D-Coordinator Ed Donatell.

I was listening to Softy's show on KJR this morning, and for the second time in three days Mahler interviewed the hard-hitting sophomore from Texas. After noting that both of Aiyewa's parents are of Nigerian descent, Softy dubbed Aiyewa "The Nigerian Nightmare" (with apologies to Christian Okoye, I'm sure) and proceeded to tell his audience to expect stardom from the second-year defensive back.

Aiyewa told Softy that he was a true student of the position, siting the fact that he'd read Jack Tatum's book and studied tape of Sean Taylor, Bob Sanders and Lawyer Milloy, among others.

Aiyewa played in all 13 games last season - mostly on special teams, but vaulted to the top of the depth chart (along with fellow sophomore Nate Williams) after a strong spring, displacing returning starters Jason Wells and Mesphin Forrester.

As we prepare for the Aug. 30 opener, we open our series detailing new projected starters with a look at "The Nigerian Nightmare".

Who: Victor Aiyewa, 19, Soph, Sugarland, TX.

Measurables: 6'1", 209 lbs

Prep background: Aiweya only played one year of organized prep football, but earned first team all-district honors at safety in highly competitive 5A Texas football.

Aiweya had strong high-level interest from several schools, with reported offers from Arizona State, Baylor, Louisiana Tech and UAB. Rated as the #89 safety prospect by Scout.com.

Husky stats: One of nine true frosh to see action last year, finished the season with nine tackles - six solo, three assists. Saw all of his action on special teams.

Quotes:

Ed Donatell stated in an ESPN interview that Aiweya "gave us some impacting hits (during Spring ball)".

Donatell has stated repeatedly that he prefers a bigger back line, which likely factored in the promotions of Aiweya and Williams. Donatell told Rivals the following:

"When you're bigger, you match up better with big people. Oregon has big people and USC has big people," explained Donatell. "Guys are willing and on a proper path of development. You can't just flip a switch, but they are improving. We have heard from our team leaders that they got some good reps in over the summer and that they have made yet another step."

Polk sees himself at running back

One of the most exciting developments out of camp so far has been the decision to move highly-touted freshman Chris Polk to running back. This spring, the former USC recruit played slotback/WR.

However, Polk was rated the fourth best running back in the country by Rivals last year, and considering the wide array of freshman recievers on campus and the lack of depth in the backfield (where Brandon Johnson is the only returning tailback to have carried the ball in game action)this may have seemed like a no-brainer to those who follow the program. That being said, it still is encouraging that the coaching staff was quick to make the change.

GoHuskies sat down with Polk yesterday, and he admitted that he is more comfortable in the backfield:

I see myself better at running back because I've only played receiver for two years my whole life. I'm more comfortable at running back, but I also see myself helping at wide receiver, too, because of the way I run after the catch.

As camp progresses, it will be interesting to see if Polk overtakes Johnson on the depth chart, as Ty has said that Johnson has struggled to overcome the effects of the knee surgery he had earlier this spring.