Opportunity Knocks For Walk-Ons At UW

There is a better feeling within this University of Washington football team than the last one.

"We have people who want to be here," said Eric Bjornson.

"The team chemistry is there," said Napoleon Kaufman. "When we went on probation last year, too many people were worrying about going to the NFL, and not about the team."

The concern this season is not about the fairness of penalties or the propriety of a legendary coach leaving his team in the lurch. The concern is about starting off against USC, Ohio State, Miami and UCLA.

The Huskies know they might play well and still lose three of their first four games. But they know the fun is in the trying, of being on national television, of playing top teams, of forging upsets.

They have nothing to lose.

"Last year," said Bjornson, the senior wide receiver, "we said we had put the penalties behind us, but we hadn't. It was all anyone wanted to talk about."

But the probation lingers in other, more tangible ways.

If there is one word to describe the UW program, it is thin. Coach Jim Lambright considers the unthinkable: playing two true freshmen offensive linemen: Tony Coats and Benji Olson from South Kitsap High School.

Jesse Binkley, a walk-on linebacker, played on the second team behind redshirt freshman Jerry Jensen at last week's scrimmage, while starter David Killpatrick recovered from an ankle injury.

The Huskies are 11 scholarships below the NCAA limit of 85. They will need good fortune to keep from falling into a scholarship deficit similar to the one that hit Arizona State last year.

As was the case this year, the Huskies can offer no more than 15 scholarships next spring. Without the NCAA penalties, they could have offered 25.

"That's the difference right there," Lambright said. "We've always lost kids, especially those who didn't think they would play enough. In the past, we could replace them."

Washington would be in dire straits if it weren't for its walk-on program. Linebacker John Fiala, corner Scott Greenlaw and guard Jeff Aselin have stepped forward to play key, second-team positions and have been given scholarships. Free safety Ikaika Malloe, another walk-on, will get yet another scholarship.

But the question remains, are giving scholarships to walk-ons and junior-college transfers as good as giving them to prep All-Americans like Jason Shelley and Cedric White?

"What concerns me," said Lambright, "is that of the 10 players we weren't able to give scholarships to last spring, the three that would likely have become starters will be starting somewhere else."

The same will happen this spring.

Attrition takes different forms, from as tragic as the death of wide receiver Travis Spring to as senseless as the escapades of Shelley.

Defensive tackle Keith Navidi and wide receiver Damon Barry were lost to career-ending injuries. And on the weekend in 1991 when the Huskies took their biggest step to a national championship by winning at Nebraska, seven freshmen were injured in a car accident in Medford, Ore.

Of the seven, only three remain, starters Reggie Reser at corner and Eric Battle at offensive tackle, and reserve tailback Leon Neal. Flanker Joel Rosborough, free safety Richard Washington, corner Michael Stewart and linebacker Doug Barnes have left.

Brandon Bunch, Donald Willis, Tyson Pollman, Eteka Huckaby, Theron Hill, Curtis Bogan and Jeff Bockert departed for various reasons.

"We're putting more attention on what I call `the heart factor,' " Lambright said. "Who are the driven people, the leaders, the captains? The ones that will succeed?"

The good news for Lambright is that of those who enrolled in school in Washington's last full freshman class - 20 players in 1993 - all have stayed with the team except center Chad Yenchensky. Two other recruits, linebacker Jayson Bass and offensive lineman Willie Stewart were ineligible and didn't enroll.

Of that class, a number of players have already emerged: defensive linemen Jason Chorak and Sekou Wiggs, wide receiver Fred Coleman, quarterback Shane Fortney, linebackers Jensen and Darius Jones, running back Rashaan Shehee and safety Tony Parrish.

The Huskies are thin, but Lambright is tenacious.

"I remember being at Roosevelt High School talking Tom Turnure (long-time NFL player) into walking on," Lambright said. "Kids have to know there is more opportunity to play at Washington than in the past."

If not too much.