Midnight links: Cal remembers ugly loss to Huskies last season

Another Tuesday means media availabilty for the Huskies’ defensive players and coaches. Until then, links:

--- Our story in today’s newspaper looks at Jeff Lindquist’s role, which Chris Petersen said will continue to be “unique.” An excerpt:

At 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds, Lindquist, a fourth-year junior, is indeed a unique option as a ballcarrier. He rushed 16 times last season for a net of 63 yards and two touchdowns, and Petersen has made it clear that he wants Lindquist to have some kind of role on the team despite not being the starting quarterback.

But with true freshman starter Jake Browning already impressing in his first three collegiate games — he threw for 368 yards and two touchdowns Saturday, and is averaging 9.5 yards per pass attempt — it’s worth wondering if the Huskies are ever better off with him on the sideline, considering Browning was a big reason UW was able to move the ball into the red zone in the first place.

“You know, we’ve got to be able to use all of our people in creative ways,” Petersen said Monday. “I thought (offensive coordinator) Jonathan Smith did a great job of being really creative with our offense. We had a really difficult, blitzing team that throws a lot of different blitzes at you, and he did some things to keep those guys off balance, and made our passing game explosive.

“So it’s going to be continually, how do we use our people to keep people off balance? Whether that (Lindquist package) continues or not will kind of be week-to-week.”

Browning’s performance, it seems, isn’t necessarily a factor in such decisions.

“It depends what play we’re calling,” Petersen said. “Jake’s not better than some of our other guys at some of the plays, so we’ll try to put our best personnel out there.”

--- If you missed it yesterday, here is our first look at Cal.

--- California eyes a measure of revenge for last season’s 31-7 loss to the Huskies in Berkeley.

--- Three answers and three lingering questions about UW from Adam Jude.

--- The AP has a story about Jake Browning’s early accomplishments.

--- Art Thiel writes about the Huskies sticking with young guys along the offensive line.

--- Washington State has a bye this week, but it certainly won’t be a break.

--- Arizona State is still searching for consistency.

--- ASU quaterback Mike Bercovici seeks another big game against USC.

--- It’s still not clear whether Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright will return for this week’s game against UCLA.

--- With Josh Rosen at quarterback, UCLA gives opponents a different look.

--- Who’s going to play quarterback for Utah and Oregon when the teams play each other this week? Don’t worry about it.

--- Tacoma’s Sefo Liufau is growing up as Colorado’s quarterback.

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Midnight links: Cal remembers ugly loss to Huskies last season."