University of Washington’s head coach Chris Petersen spoke with the media Monday afternoon and reviewed his teams 38-3 win over the Oregon Ducks Saturday Night at Husky Stadium and preview his teams Friday night ( 7:30 p.m PT) game at Stanford (6-3, 5-2).
On short week and what the challenge that presents?)
“The challenge is the quick turnaround. As of now we’re on a normal schedule coaching-wise, game-planning and those type of things. Obviously we’ve got to be smart with the guys in terms of not wearing those guys out. We practiced a long time so far this year. It’s also a unique offense we’re going to face. How about that? It’s a unique offense but what everybody ran five years ago, whatever it is, but it’s different, so you’ve got to practice and you’ve got to practice hard. That’s one of the big challenges this week.”
(on Stanford’s Bryce Love)
“He’s just one of those guys that’s really fast, strong, keeps his legs going at all times. He’s hard to tackle. He bounces off, runs through hard tackles, really powerful. Obviously he’s got really good vision. The way they put all those big offensive linemen and you’re not sure where the crease is going to be and he always finds it.”
(You are officially No. 1 in the country on defense. What do you appreciate about what the defense not only this year but the last few years?)
“I think our coaches do a great job, first and foremost. There’s enough variety there, enough subtlety there. Maybe from just watching from the stands you wouldn’t think there’s a lot, but there is a lot. Our guys usually know what they’re doing and can play really fast. Have done a good job recruiting over there. And those kids have good mojo. They play good. That’s one of the things that, if you’re going to have a good team, to me it’s always going to start out on defense. We’ve had good defenses for a long, long time. Everybody likes to talk about offense, complain about offense or brag about offense, but I think it always starts on defense.”
(How important is communication for great team defense? How can you teach that in practice?)
“It’s team defense. Everybody has their job and when you have somebody not getting out of position, the next guys don’t have to overcompensate or try and do somebody else’s job. That’s when you get in trouble. They know where they are supposed to fit on run plays, on wide run plays, on screen passes – when they have to run and get there they know where they are supposed to be and they know where their help’s coming from. They practice that every single day and they do a good job of doing their job and that helps.”
(You are officially No. 1 in the country on defense. What do you appreciate about what the defense not only this year but the last few years?)
“I think our coaches do a great job, first and foremost. There’s enough variety there, enough subtlety there. Maybe from just watching from the stands you wouldn’t think there’s a lot, but there is a lot. Our guys usually know what they’re doing and can play really fast. Have done a good job recruiting over there. And those kids have good mojo. They play good. That’s one of the things that, if you’re going to have a good team, to me it’s always going to start out on defense. We’ve had good defenses for a long, long time. Everybody likes to talk about offense, complain about offense or brag about offense, but I think it always starts on defense.”
(How important is communication for great team defense? How can you teach that in practice?)
“It’s team defense. Everybody has their job and when you have somebody not getting out of position, the next guys don’t have to overcompensate or try and do somebody else’s job. That’s when you get in trouble. They know where they are supposed to fit on run plays, on wide run plays, on screen passes – when they have to run and get there they know where they are supposed to be and they know where their help’s coming from. They practice that every single day and they do a good job of doing their job and that helps.”
GAME NOTES
Friday nights contest will be the Huskies final road game of the season. The UW moved up to No. 9 in the latest AP top 25 and No. 8 in the coaches’ poll while Stanford, which lost at WSU last Saturday, dropped out of both rankings, though the Cardinal received votes in each.
Following the Stanford game, the Dawgs close out the regular season at home vs. Utah (Nov. 18) and Washington State (Nov. 25).
In last years game, No. 10 Washington handed Stanford a 44-6 defeat in front of a packed Husky Stadium, the Car-dinal’s worst loss since a 41-3 setback against Arizona State in 2007. Stanford’s only touchdown came late in the third quarter on a 19-yard pass from Ryan Burns to JJ Arcega-Whiteside.
Washington’s Dante Pettis set the NCAA record for career punt returns at nine Saturday night when he returned an Oregon punt 64 yards for a TD in the second quarter.
Standford running back Bryce Love ranks first nationally with 182.0 rushing yards/game. Love’s 2,465 career rushing yards rank ninth all-time at Stanford. Tyler Gaffney is eighth with 2,500 yards, and Mike Mitchell is seventh with 2,550.
