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Highly touted running back J.R. Hasty, a top recruit from 2005, has left the UW football program. Hasty was slated to be the primary backup to senior Louis Rankin this season, but it just didn't work out. Hasty was actually passed on the depth chart by true frosh Brandon Johnson for the Oregon game last week, and that was the final straw.

If you aren't familiar with Hasty, he was an all-state running back out of Bellevue High School, a football power in the state of Washington. His senior year alone he rushed for over 2500 yards and set a state record with 50 rushing TD's. He came to UW as a highly rated recruit in 2005 and redshirted, all the while claiming scout team player of the year honors. Hopes were very high that Hasty was the real deal. But Hasty disappointed many last fall when he surprisingly became academically ineligible before the year and had to miss the 2006 season. Hasty got his act together and rejoined the team this year, but for reasons that some still don't understand, he never saw significant action.

You may recognize the last name, Hasty. As in, the son of long-time NFL defensive back James Hasty. While J.R. didn't have a whole lot to say on Thursday, father James didn't hold back his feelings about Tyrone Willingham and the UW program:

J.R. Hasty did not practice Wednesday, Willingham said. James Hasty said his son was pondering his future, but that he was "appalled" that no one from the coaching staff called to determine if Hasty was safe.

"No one called to even ask about his whereabouts. No 'Are you safe?' 'Are you OK?' 'Why aren't you at practice?' That was the most appalling thing," he said.

"It was appalling to see them play with kids' heads like that," James Hasty said.

The Huskies do have the luxury of depth at this point, as Brandon Johnson and fellow frosh Curtis Shaw will now be the primary guys behind Rankin. But the loss of Hasty isn't a good sign for Willingham. Hasty was regarded as one of the top players in the state when he came out of high school, and one of the big criticisms of Willingham thus far is that he has had trouble getting the true elite talents in-state to play at Washington. The Seattle Times ran a story yesterday about the state of Washington and the recruiting going on at UW, and how important it is for UW to win the recruiting battles at home. Time will tell if this will hurt Willingham with the various high school programs around the state, but some may view this as a coach running a player off the team for various reasons. Most likely Hasty will head for division 1-AA, possibly Montana, but his final destination is not yet known. In the end, it's too bad Hasty didn't work out at the Pac-10 level.

Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart put on a performance for the ages at Husky Stadium on Saturday, as the Ducks racked up a mind-boggling 661 yards of total offense on their way to a 55-34 win. The Husky defense surrendered an amazing 465 rushing yards, the second-most allowed in school history. That puts UW's rushing defense at 118th in the nation, giving up a disturbing 241.7 yards per game. That 241.7 yards per game average is on pace to be the second-worst rushing defense in school history. Obviously, the defense has issues.

But lost in the defensive embarrassment Saturday, the UW offense finally put up some respectable numbers. With 34 points and over 400 yards of total offense, they kept things interesting as they had the score tied through three quarters before Oregon salted this one away with their relentless running game.

This week the Seattle media has really been praising young Jake Locker, with many claims that this was the QB's best game of the year. If you look at the end-result of 34 points, over 400 yards of total offense and the fact that he threw four TD's, it's hard to argue that point. Or is it? While Locker did finish with 257 yards passing, and also ran for 78 yards, the one big thing that you worry about is a continuing issue with accuracy. Even with the praise, he still completed just 12 out of 31 attempts, good for a 39% completion percentage. Again, hard to argue with the TD passes, but the accuracy issue is haunting the UW offense. Locker is still last in the conference in passing efficiency and passing yards per game, and he's still under 50% in his accuracy (47.5% completion percentage). The sliver of hope is that you did finally see Locker unleash the deep ball, hitting on TD passes of 83, 43, 38, and 26 yards, impressive any way you slice it. The deep pass is now officially part of the UW offense. But no offense can fully live on the chance the long balls will work every week. So if Locker can just improve on the fundamentals and hitting the underneath stuff a little better to keep those drives alive, there's no telling how much better he can get the rest of the year.

While UW limps into the bye week on a three-game losing streak, there was some good personnel news this week. Jordan Murchison, a defensive back who's anger issues landed him in jail for a short time when he had a pair of violence related charges against him this year, has returned to the Husky football program. Murchison is now practicing with the team, and should be eligible to play in UW's next game at ASU on 10/13.

According to Molly at the P-I:

Murchison agreed to a stipulated order of continuance, or a "deferred prosecution," to wrap up a domestic violence charge from June. If Murchison adheres for two years to guidelines set forth in the order, the charge will be dismissed. Those guidelines typically involve counseling and the mandate to avoid additional trouble with the law. Failure to comply usually leads to a harsher sentence than what would have originally been levied.

Murchison is a welcome sight for the UW defense, and once he can shake off the rust, should be right back into the mix at cornerback. Newcomer Byron Davenport has battled some nagging hamstring issues, and while he has finally been able to play the last few weeks, they really need help back there. UW has been considered thin at corner since spring ball, and Husky fans are certainly hopeful that Murchison can provide that much-needed depth. Let's hope for Murchison's sake that he keeps his anger under control. Tyrone Willingham's reputation is great in regards to having solid citizens on his team, so he must be satisfied with Murchison's situation to the point that he's willing to let him back on the team.

Previously on FanHouse: Arrest Thins Out UW Secondary

Ohio State came to Seattle on Saturday and basically pushed the Huskies around. They were the faster, more physical team that day, and there is no argument who the better team was when the scoreboard flashed zero's. Jim Tressel's defense in particular was very impressive, and despite over 100 yards rushing for UW QB Jake Locker, the Buckeyes gave up only 14 points to UW in a punishing performance. But did Ohio State's defense cross the line?

You hate be a whiner after the fact, and that if they really were against the rules, they would have been called by the officials....but....the tape doesn't lie. It's hard not to see some of this and wonder exactly what the refs were thinking (or, likely not thinking). Give this first one about a minute in, and you'll see the head-twist, plus more after the jump:

Everything was great back on Signing Day 2007. UW had it's best class in years, and certainly Ty Willingham's best class at UW. Many services had UW ranked in the top-30 in the country, including 29th at Scout.com and 4th out of 10 in the conference. But that was back in February. It's a whole different story in July.

UW is on the brink of losing two WR recruits for the 2007 season in Devin Aguilar and Anthony Boyles. Both players came in under the minimum requirement on their last round of ACT test scores, so they are likely out for this fall. Likely is the key word here, as both players are planning on retaking the test in mid-September, and should either player achieve a passing score, they could still enroll at UW.

However, as Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times reports, both players will likely redshirt, even if they do achieve their qualifying test score.

While Husky Nation continues to anticipate the dawn of the Jake Locker era, there is one player lost in all the hype. Senior QB Carl Bonnell is still around, in case anyone forgot, and per the Seattle P-I's Jim Moore, Bonnell has shown some fight this spring. While many might think he would simply lay down following the news that Locker was going to be the starter and anticipated savior of the Husky football program, well, Bonnell had other ideas, turning in a relatively strong performance this spring despite recovering from a gruesome non-throwing shoulder injury. Offensive coordinator Tim Lappano sure sees good things out of Bonnell this spring:

"He has closed the gap," Lappano said. "I'm not trying to start a quarterback controversy, but I'm really pleased with the way Carl is throwing the football.

"He could have thrown in the towel and complained and moped around, but this is the strongest he's played since I've been here. He's made this thing a race."

Bonnell came off the bench last year in place of the injured Isaiah Stanback, and had some real up and down moments. Some games were exciting, including the O.T. loss at Cal where he threw for 284 yards, but it's hard to overlook that Bonnell also threw a season-high five interceptions in that game. But there were some real lowlights as well, as Bonnell also struggled mightily against the Stanford Cardinal, a game UW lost despite being a 19-point favorite and could generate only three points for the game, a game many pegged as one of the lowest points in the modern history of the program. However even though he took a beating that week, he still scraped himself together and rallied the following week by throwing for 271 yards in the Huskies 35-32 win over in-state rival WSU in the Apple Cup.

It was basically more of the same yesterday as UW now has spring scrimmage number two in the books. More of the same as in more of the same inconsistency that the Husky offense has shown thus far, more than anything else. That was Ty Willingham's assessment yesterday when asked about being consistent:

"That's it," Willingham said. "That's the word for this team. Obviously we're not there yet, but that's what we're seeking."

The one theme we keep hearing is that QB Jake Locker hasn't been sharp this spring. Even though the stats were unofficial, by Times beat writer Bob Condotta's tally, Locker missed on seven of his first 11 passes, but rallied to finish 10 out of his last 17 with a couple of touchdowns. His final numbers were 14-for-28 for 173 yards and two TD's. Not all-conference numbers to be sure, but not too bad either considering it's just the second scrimmage of spring. The down note is that all accounts had Locker sailing some passes high in the early going, and alluded to an issue he's had all spring with his footwork being the main reason. However Locker did show off his wheels yet again, gaining 43 yards on nine carries as he continues to show he'll be a legit dual threat from the QB position this year.

The best performer on offense yesterday continues to be maybe the best offensive player of the spring so far, as RB Louis Rankin had 90 yards on just 11 carries, including a 55-yard TD run. Rankin also had a 29-yard TD catch as he has improved in his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. Rankin totaled only 13 catches last year, but that was still good for fourth on the team. We've said it before, but consistency is the only thing separating Rankin for a big senior season.

As spring ball hits the halfway point for UW, there are many positions still up for grabs, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. E.J. Savannah made some headlines today, as he is now listed as the #1 guy at weakside linebacker, passing the starter heading into spring, Chris Stevens, on the depth chart. We touched on Savannah earlier this spring, and how Willingham was looking for more out of the young linebacker. Sure enough, his spring has catapulted him up the depth chart.

Today's Seattle Times has a feature on the defensive positions not yet settled. While backups are sought at defensive tackle, the biggest questions remain in the secondary. Roy Lewis (pictured) is a likely starter at one corner, but the starter on the other side still appears to be an open issue. Willingham alluded to the openings in the secondary yesterday:

"The real competition, especially at probably two of the four positions, is yet to come," Willingham said. "The real competition arrives in the fall."

Lewis is an intriguing player. He registered 66 tackles last year, a pretty high number for a corner, and is set up for a big senior year. He initially played at San Jose State and started a handful of games as a true frosh in 2003, and then transferred to UW the following year. In 2005 he was voted the most improved defensive player on the team, where he had 47 tackles while starting 7 games. With the loss of Dashon Goldson and C.J. Wallace in the secondary, Lewis is going to be a key figure in the secondary next season.