SEATTLE – The Huskies may have to open the 2019 Pac-12 Conference schedule without their most veteran offensive linemen.

On Thursday, head coach Chris Petersen said senior center Nick Harris is “week to week” after suffering an apparent leg injury in the home opener last Saturday against Eastern Washington.

Harris played only 11 snaps in the 47-14 victory over the Eagles at Husky Stadium. Redshirt freshman Matteo Mele replaced the senior lineman and took the final 72 snaps of the game.

“He did pretty good. There’s some stuff that you would – for a first time going out there I was proud of him,” UW offensive line coach Scott Huff said Wednesday referring to Mele.

Since his true freshman season in 2016, Harris has played more snaps (2, 185) than any other current OL for Washington. Most of his starts, 1,129 to be exact, have come at right guard and not center.

Fifth-year senior left tackle Trey Adams is the next closest lineman (1,109 snaps), and could potentially pass Harris if he cannot go Saturday against Cal. During fall camp Huff focused particularly on developing the Huskies depth in the trenches for such scenarios.

However, the third-year assistant noted this week that the most valuable player on offense for UW could be another fifth-year senior.

“Both those guys can play,” Huff said, options behind Mele at center. “Henry Roberts is may be the most valuable on our team in terms of all the stuff he can do. He’s money.”

Roberts, a former three-star recruit out of nearby Bellevue High School who signed in 2015 – the first ever commit that resulted in Petersen tweeting out a “Woof” – has taken 252 career snaps across all but one OL position.

Center.

Based on the number of snaps Mele took against EWU (72) all indications are that Roberts is viewed by the staff as the second choice behind the redshirt freshman. But that if a scenario were to arise that called on UW to turn to a third center Roberts would be the choice.

Three Reasons Why Washington Will Improve to 2-0

1 - If Eason is Efficient ... UW enters its week two matchup with the California Golden Bears as a 13.5-point favorite, a surprisingly high line even despite the strong offensive performance in the home opener. Presumably the justification is that junior quarterback Jacob Eason is as good as his numbers indicated last week, if not better.

Eason completed 27 of 36 attempts against the Eagles and threw for a personal career-best four touchdowns and 349 yards in the win. Cal however possesses a much higher caliber of defense than the Huskies saw against the Eagles.

He threw just one incompletion in his first 10 attempts of the game and made only a handful of questionable throwing decisions against EWU. If the UW offense and Eason can replicate similar numbers early against Cal and jump out to a double-digit halftime lead it should bode well for the home team.

2 - If UW can Chase and pressure the Golden Bears signal-caller... The Huskies were able to get home and record four sacks in week one, more than twice the number UW opened the 2018 season with against Auburn.

Senior defensive lineman Benning Potoa’e was credited with two sacks while fellow senior Josiah Bronson and junior BUCK linebacker Ryan Bowman each finished with one. No matter the who, UW has to apply pressure on Garbers and force his decision making early and often.

In the Golden Bears 27-13 victory at home over UC Davis last Saturday, Garbers was never sacked but pressured seven times. The Huskies have a superior defense in comparison to the Aggies and if they are able to enforce their will it should help towards a victory.

3 - If the Huskies keep the turnover number at zero... Simple. Eason and the offense kept the ball safe with no drive-ending penalties. Similar to the first two keys the Huskies have to do the obvious and not lose the game as now departed quarterback Jake Haener did in Berkeley last October.

UW led when Petersen made the decision to replace his four-year starter in Jake Browning with the redshirt freshman Haener. It resulted in a pick-six for Cal linebacker and Spokane, Washington native Evan Weaver who made a brash comment regarding the UW culture after the win.

If Saturday is any form of payback, maintaining a non-turnover culture on offense is where Washington must start.