Not a fun day on Montlake as the Huskies have lost not only their leader, but a player that everyone really respected --- and that all of us covering the team really liked.

His injury is one of the most devastating I can remember.

Obviously, nothing can top what happened to Curtis Williams. But for the sheer magnitude of what it could mean to the team, and how it will affect everyone involved with the program, this is one of the worst injuries UW has endured in a long time.

From a personal standpoint, Isaiah was one of the most accomodating players I've had the pleasure to deal with during my time on the beat. I remember last summer when he was drafted by the Orioles in the late rounds. Not a big story, but something I thought was worth a little more than just one line in the paper. I put in a call to the UW media relations office asking if there was a way to get a hold of Stanback. I was told they'd call him and leave a message telling him to call me. Most of the time in this business when you are told something like that, the call never comes.

But about 10 minutes later, the phone rang and there was Isaiah, happy to answer my questions. He was always available to us in good and bad -- and obviously and unfortunately, there was a lot more bad the last few years than good. But Isaiah always stood up to all of it, usually taking more of the blame than he needed to, and it's that class that should be remembered more than his record or his stats.

As for what this will do the team, I think it will be tough, and Tyrone Willingham's motivational skills will be put to a severe test. It's tempting to think that maybe it will serve as a rallying point, though more practically, the team will sorely miss Isaiah's on-field leadership and his performance, especially against a team as good as Cal.

As for what UW does now, I think the coaches owe it to Carl Bonnell to give him a real shot, especially now that they have named him the starter. But I also think everything is up in the air now that they know Stanback is gone for good. If they think Jake Locker is their best option, than five games is more than enough season to pull the redshirt, especially with a bowl game on the line.

But even the best of true freshmen QBs struggle. The last true freshman QB to play at UW in a significant role was Marques Tuiasosopo. He was forced to come off the bench against Nebraska three games into the 1997 season and almost pulled that one out. But a little later in the year, when given his first start (again as an injury replacement for Brock Huard), he struggled a little bit and UW lost.

By the way, there's a lot of revisionist history on Tui out there. He was the backup QB heading into the season for a team that was ranked No. 2 in the country. I don't think it was a wasted year at all for him. Jim Lambright had to worry about winning games that year --- and not four years down the road ---with a team rated that highly, and he needed Tui in some key situations.

Back to the present, I think the best-case scenario is that Carl Bonnell gains everyone's confidence in practice this week and then plays well enough to hold onto the job, and Locker can keep his redshirt.

But if not, they need to decide quickly that Locker is the guy. If he's going to play, there's no use in waiting.

Washington coach Tyrone Willingham just announced on his weekly radio show that Isaiah Stanback will have surgery to repair his foot and will be out for the season.

Willingham said that "without surgery, they don't heal correctly so you have to go in and make repairs so he can be able to walk and run again.''

Asked if Stanback could be back by late December if UW were to make it to a bowl game, Willingham said "we are talking longer than that.''

Willingham said Stanback will have surgery at noon Tuesday.

Carl Bonnell will be the starter for UW Saturday against Cal. Johnny DuRocher is listed as the backup and Willingham said the coaches will consider all their options at the position, including Jake Locker. When he spoke to the media earlier today, he said that if Stanback were to be out for the year, it could change the thought process on playing Locker.

Willingham described the injury as a Lisfranc fracture. Here's a link to what that is.

We'll have more later.

Here's a little more --- the official release from UW on the injury.

As the release says, Stanback will wear a cast and limit weightbearing on the foot for 6-8 weeks following surgery. Normal rehabilitation can take 8-12 months, which will hamper his efforts to make it to the NFL.

Also, some additional info from UW officials. They said Stanback did not suffer a fracture, but that surgery is needed to insert screws and probably a small plate to stabalize the foot. They said it is similar to the injury that cornerback Derrick Johnson suffered in 2001, which caused him to miss the whole season. It is also the same injury that Donny Mateaki suffered in the spring of 2005. He recovered well enough to play that fall.

We will have more on all of this in the pages of the Times tomorrow, and on-line.

Tyrone Willingham's news conference is wrapping up and he gave no definitive word on the status of Isaiah Stanback. He said Stanback is having further tests today to determine the severity of the injury and could know more later today.

In his most clear comment on it, however, he said Stanback is at least out this week "and that might be generous.''

In a separate interview after his news conference, he said it was an injury to the foot that appeared to involve a lot of ligament tearing.

He said Stanback was wearing a boot and on crutches Sunday.

As for this week, he said Carl Bonnell will start with Johnny DuRocher backing up. As for Jake Locker, he said "all options will be considered.''

Locker has been working with the scout team since the start of the season, but he will likely get snaps with the regular unit this week. How he does, and how long Stanback is out, may determine what they decide to do. Also an issue is how well Bonnell does.

--- The Arizona State game Oct. 28 will kick off at 4 p.m. so it can be televised live on FSN-NW. That will be a local telecast.

--- As for other depth chart moves, Willingham said they are all performance related. In other words, Brandon Ala is making a run at the defensive end spot held by Greyson Gunheim. Willingham said Gunheim "struggled'' a bit with his play Saturday.

We'll have more here later.

The depth chart for Satuday's game at Cal was just released and it shows Carl Bonnell starting at QB with Johnny DuRocher as the backup. Isaiah Stanback isn't listed anywhere, meaning he's apparently out for this week.

There is also no mention of Jake Locker, with only Bonnell and DuRocher listed.

There is no mention in the release of any specifics regarding Stanback's injury, so we'll have to wait to find out more at today's news conference.

A few other interesting notes on the depth chart --- Brandon Ala and Greyson Gunheim are listed as co-starters at defensive end, possibly due to the injury Gunheim suffered late in the game; Jason Wells is listed as a starter at safety, indicating he will be back this week; and Dashon Goldson is listed as a co-starter at both cornerback spots, indicating he's moving back there this week. Kenny James is listed as the starter at tailback, indicating his health is fine.

Finally, Michael Gottlieb is listed again as the starter at TE. He started Saturday's game, though Johnie Kirton had been listed as the starter.