Quotables: Washington’s Steve Sarkisian

Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian on Jake Locker staying: “I thought we all handled it very well, with our coaching staff, with our athletic director, with his parents. We really tried to get him to a point where we could educate him on the decision, give him the facts, but let him make the decision. All along, he wanted to stay, but he wanted to get all the information. As physically gifted as Jake Locker is, he’s a better human being. How he handled that situation is really indicative of who he is as a person.”

Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian on having a great quarterback in the Pac-10: “Historically in this conference, the teams who have either won or been involved in the race have had that veteran leadership in that position. You have to find a way to win on the road. Generally speaking, when you have a veteran quarterback, he’s the one who can perform. Having Jake, as we go to Cal, as we go to USC, as we go to Oregon, we’ll take that advantage of having a quarterback who has been in those environments”