There is real hope for Washington.

Unlike the false variety of hope that has permeated WSU’s locker room this year, the Huskies have legitimate reasons to be proud of themselves this season and to be excited for 2010.

Provided Jake Locker returns, the UW will again have one of the best quarterbacks in the country at the helm of its offense.

Offensive playmakers like James Johnson, Devin Aguilar and Jermaine Kearse will continue to get better.

Even the oft-painful-to-watch defense should get better under the intensity of coordinator Nick Holt.

It all looks good for the Huskies.

But where things look the most promising is with a 5-foot-11-inch, 210-pound running back named Chris Polk.

Polk made a big statement against the Cougars with a 130-yard performance and by becoming the first freshman running back in UW history to rush for 1,000 yards. He now has 1,019 this year and is 35th in the nation in yards per game. And Polk has one more game left against Cal to add on to his totals.

The craziness of Toby Gerhart or craftiness of Jacquizz Rodgers aside, Polk is one of the better running backs in the Pac-10, and he’s just a freshman. Think on that for a second.

We will have three more years of a running back that could become the best at his position in the Pac-10. Now that’s amazing.

“He’s got plenty of upside. He’s a guy who is still learning,” UW head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “But the one thing he has is physical and mental toughness. The ability that when things aren’t always blocked great, he fights through it. He continues to fight.”

We’ve seen that from Polk all season: the way he puts his head down and pushes his small-but-explosive frame forward; the way he manages to get those extra couple of yards, even with a mass of defenders blocking his way. Heck, on one play Saturday it looked like Polk tripped and fell over a WSU lineman, but he still managed three yards.

“He hasn’t had a bunch of runs where it’s just big gaping holes and he’s running for yards,” Sarkisian said. “He’s earning his yards. I think the next step for him is his ability to play at the second level, in the open field once he clears the line of scrimmage, and his creativity with his running style.”

Maybe I’m looking to next year a bit too soon, what with a game against the Bears still on the schedule. But after such a feel-good Apple-Cup victory, it’s hard not too.

And Polk will be an integral part of the rebuilding Huskies. He will be the running back that gives Washington that extra edge. And if, as Sarkisian suggests, he manages to lift his game to the next level, we could have a really special something brewing in Husky Stadium.

Polk has given every UW fan some real, tangible results. And now some real, tangible hope.

Reach columnist Allen Wagner at sports@dailyuw.com.