Rogers Doesn't Want to Hear How He Hasn't Thrown a Pick

The Husky quarterback reveals himself to be highly superstitious.

Will Rogers so far has avoided the frustration of throwing a Husky interception. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Seated at a table taking questions, Will Rogers' demeanor was just fine until a media wise guy changed everything with what seemed like a casual inquiry. The University of Washington quarterback next proceeded to let out a deep sigh, touch his chin, tilt his neck, scratch his head and offer a nervous laugh.

Rogers finally answered the question with a declaration.

"You going to jinx me," he said.

If it wasn't clear before, Rogers, the Mississippi State transfer, is a highly superstitious player, uncomfortably so.

It was as if someone had started talking to him about throwing a no-hitter while it was still in progress.

Or, God forbid, they put him on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

No, in the case, the intent was only to put him on the front page of an SI website.

"Have you ever had a stretch like this without throwing an interception?" Rogers was pressed.

"I was waiting for someone to say it," he responded with a groan.

The reason for this now labored back and forth was this kid who currently ranks as the SEC's second all-time leader in career passing yards (12,315) has gone through his first five UW games and 147 attempts without serving up the ball to the opposition, without getting picked off, without creating a turnover.

While Rogers never really did fill in the blanks here, the answer, with a little bit of research, was sort of -- while he went no more three games without throwing an interception at Mississippi State, multiple times, he had long stretches of 158, 182 and 230 passes without giving it up in Mike Leach's Air Raid offense.

"Obviously in my four years at Mississippi State, we threw the ball a lot and every now and then you're going to make a bad decision -- when you throw it 50 times a game," Rogers said.

While in Starkville, he was picked off 28 times in 1,876 pass attempts, but threw no more than 9 interceptions in a season. He had 67 attempts in a game against Memphis and 61 against Ole Miss without a pass theft.

Will Rogers looks for a receiver during the Apple Cup. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Throughout it al in the South and into the Northwest, Rogers maintains a strict regimen of pregame superstitions to help get him in an accurate mode. He always listens to the Tracy Lawrence country song of "Time Marches On," a soothing mix of guitars and violins, on the bus ride to the stadium. Getting dressed in his uniform, he puts on his left sock first without fail, then his right one, followed by his left shoe, and then his right one.

Rogers, who's completed 110 of 147 passes for 1,354 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Huskies entering Saturday's Michigan game,, asked everyone to "knock on wood" for him, now that this sensiitive subject had been broached. He wasn't really kidding either.

"I'm definitely trying to take care of the ball, week in and week out," Rogers said, before turning his attention to his original inquisitor. "If I throw an interception, it's on you."

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