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Times reporter Bob Condotta keeps the news coming about the Montlake Dawgs.

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August 15, 2007 8:56 AM

On turnovers, and more

I wrote about Washington's quest to try to get more turnovers this season as my main story today.

It's not accurate to say it's a "renewed emphasis'' or anything like that since every team I've ever been around has done all it can to get turnovers, including this one. But I found it an interesting topic given who much trouble UW had getting turnovers last season --- as I pointed out, UW gained just 14 TOs, which ranked last in the Pac-10 behind even Stanford.

Most amazing to me was UW's fumbles recovered --- the Huskies got just four last season, fewer than all but one other team in the country. Amazingly, UW's opponents fumbled 19 times (with the Huskies officially credited with forcing 13) so in some cases, the ball probably just didn't bounce UW's way.

Get that number going in the other direction just a little and it could mean really good things for UW this season.

Making all this even more interesting is that UW defensive coordinator Kent Baer oversaw the Notre Dame defense that in 2002 recovered 33 turnovers, a key reason that team went 10-3. As Baer said in the story, he's not coaching much different . It all seems to indicate that as with most things in football, there's not just one easy answer. It takes coaching, players and a little luck all together.

ALUMNI REPORT
Not much out there today, but I did find a couple of things:

--- This story says Isaiah Stanback still has a lot to learn about playing receiver. Shouldn't really be a surprise, howevere, given he hasn't played the position since 2003.

--- Dane Looker is out a week or so with a back injury.

--- This Q-and-A on the Jaguars contains some decent analysis on Reggie Williams' situation.

--- Benji Olson is still slowed by a bad back.

The Huskies are set for two practices today so check back later for more from Montlake.

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