Washington Post-Game Notes
Husky Stadium – 9 degrees, cloudy, no wind. Nov. 13, 2021
• After going 5-for-5 tonight, the Huskies have scored every time they have reached the red zone. They have 21 touchdowns and 10 field goals in 31 trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line this season.
• Devin Culp caught his first career touchdown pass, while Cameron Davis rushed for his second career score.
Kamari Pleasant scored his first TD of the season, the sixth of his career.
• Carson Bruener eclipsed double-digit tackles (14) for the second time this season and has 37 over the last three games since getting inserted as a starter at linebacker. Jackson Sirmon added 11 tackles, the first time two Huskies had 10 or more in the same game. The combined 25 tackles equals what Bruener (16) and Sam Taimani (9) combined to amass at Stanford.
• Race Porter launched a career-high long 73-yard punt in the second quarter, which is tied for the seventh longest in UW history. It was the longest punt since Kiel Rasp connected on a school-record tying 82-yard punt in 2010. Conversely, the Huskies have not allowed a 70-yard punt since the 1989 Apple Cup.
• Alex Cook recorded his first career interception in the third quarter. It was the Huskies’ 10th interception of the season. It led to the Huskies third TD of the game and the sixth-straight time – excluding two game-ending interceptions – that the UW has scored after recording a turnover.
• Luke Wattenberg made his 46th consecutive start on the offensive line, the longest active streak among Huskies. He has played in 52 games with a shot at tying the all-time record of 54 shared by Greg Gaines and Keishawn Bierria by the end of the regular season.
- The Huskies have held their opponent to 35 or fewer points in 85 games, the longest streak in the nation.
- The captains for today’s game were Henry Bainivalu and Sam Taimani.
POST GAME QUOTES
Arizona State at Washington Post-Game Quotes Husky Stadium
Nov. 13, 2021
Washington Head Coach Bob Gregory
Opening Statement:
Our guys played as hard as they could. Fought to the very end. That is a good group of guys in the locker room.
What did you do on offense?
Simplified it. As you guys saw, we wanted to give Sam some touches, which we did, which he deserves. Less plays, plays that both quarterbacks could do easily. For the most part, we did pretty good. We could have done a little better offensively getting a spark.
I am not an offensive genius all of a sudden with this interim deal. All it was, was ‘Hey let’s try and get Sam in there and that could give us a spark. Let’s make sure we get some good plays that they both can do and simplify it.’
How difficult has this week been for you?
It has been a great week, actually. It has not been difficult in any way, when you are out there with these guys. This is what we do this for. This is it. It is easy when it is easy. When you are in the chaos of it all is the true measure. Our guys stepped up tonight and battled.
Washington DB Trent McDuffie
How has this week been?
It has been a week that the team has been able to take a step back and come together and find who we are. I know there is a lot of craziness but the guys in the locker room just counted on one another and the only thing we focused on was each other and going out there and playing our hearts out because that is all we can do and that is all we can control.
Are you stunned by what has been going on?
You never know what is going to happen. I think that all that is about is the response and how you go from here, how you bounce back, what you say, what you do with the team. For me as a leader, it is about going in and looking these young guys in the eye and telling them this is how college football can be and it is
on me to teach them that way so that next year and the years following they fix that thing and set a new standard for the team, because we know what the standard is and we have not lived up to it yet.
Washington OL Jaxson Kirkland
Anything change after your hot start?
First of all, I want to say how proud I am of this team given the unique circumstances we had to live in this week. It is not easy on our psyche coming in here each day with different coaches and what not. But I loved how we just locked arms and did better of the offense side of the ball this week. I just still think we can push over that mountain and get to that really elite level. We showed it in the first half that we can get stuff done.
How would you describe the week with the coaching changes?
I love Coach Lake. Last week what happened was upsetting, but this week we just had to lock arms as a team. I think the transition went well. We just had a new head coach. We have a tremendous staff of all of our position coaches so really the culture stayed the same. All the goals stayed the same. And I do love Coach Lake and think he is doing a great job around here.
Arizona State at Washington Post-Game Quotes Husky Stadium
Nov. 13, 2021
Arizona State Head Coach Herm Edwards
Opening Statement
(It was) a game for us where we dug ourselves a hole early and then we found a way to come back, especially in the fourth quarter. Give our football team a lot of credit. Give Washington a lot of credit too. They did a fabulous job of shutting us down the first three quarters of the game. They held us to 14 points and finally in the fourth quarter, we got some things going. It was one of those games where you fall behind on the road. We didn’t want to get into a passing game so much because of the weather conditions. Our strong suit is running the football. We didn’t get away from it. We didn’t deviate from it at all. I thought we made some big stops on defense in the third and fourth quarter. I think the third quarter was really good, when we came out offensively and scored on our possession to get the game that close again. From there, we got things going on offense and the defense did a pretty nice job. The last three minutes of that game — that’s college football. I say it every week. It’s not over. I kept saying that in my mind. It wasn’t over. It was not over. Give credit to our players and our coaching staff.
On 20-play scoring drive
We had a couple setbacks, but we continued to play and we dealt with the adversity, which I thought was good. (We) found a way to score the ball. To go on a drive that long and to take the lead, that really sparked us.
On running the ball on 20-play scoring drive
We felt going in that our strength right now of the offense is the ability to run the ball and Rachaad (White) has done a fabulous job of running. The more you see him carry the ball, the more you just kind of watch him and go “wow”. He got one called back on a foul. It’s a shame. He’s really literally carrying the offense on his back right now. The offensive line is doing a nice job of creating some running lanes for him. I thought Jaden (Daniels) did a nice job of making some big-time runs at the end on that long drive. The perseverance, getting down and dealing with adversity, I thought really said something about these guys. We got down 14 early and then we just kept pecking way and pecking away. The game never got away from us, but we needed to score, and the defense kept playing and playing. Finally, we got some scores. The defense, I thought, did a good job in the second half.
On if he has ever been part of a 20-play scoring drive
I can’t remember one. That’s a long drive. It’s just methodically moving the ball. It was just kind of fun to watch. We felt that we can run the ball, that’s our strength. The conditions made it difficult to throw it at times because the ball was slippery for both teams. It says something about the team in the fourth quarter and having to do that on the road. It says a lot.
On looking ahead to the rest of the season
It’s always the next week to prepare and win another game. That’s something we’ve always gone about saying. It’s always preparing ourselves so we can be in a position to win. That’s what makes the game so great. Every week you get a new opportunity.
On defensive adjustments during the game
What had happened was they hit the perimeter on us on some plays. We didn’t get it adjusted. We finally got it adjusted and slowed it down and then we got it back going again. They did a nice job of hitting us early with some perimeter plays. If you watch all those plays, they were on the perimeter. Whether they were screens or some kind of run on the perimeter, we got caught inside and we didn’t have contain and guys weren’t doing their jobs. We told them that we got to keep this thing inside and make them run inside. If we do that, we can stop them. We felt like our secondary could cover them. We did a pretty nice job of covering them. When you think about the pass defense, we did a pretty nice job of not allowing a lot of big pass plays. Once we adjusted, we felt like we had a chance.
Arizona State Running Back Rachaad White Have you ever had a game like that before? Honestly, that’s probably the best win in my life.
Was that a gut-check win especially how the game started?
I just looked in the guys’ eyes and it’s so amazing because it makes me feel on the sideline that we have a comfort level with one another and we believe in one another, so when we hit adversity, we attack it better.
Arizona State OL LaDarius Henderson
You ran the ball every time in the last touchdown drive, what’d that feel like?
That felt amazing. Just knowing you can just run the ball whenever you want to and get the yards, it’s an amazing feeling. I feel like that’s what complete domination feels like. As an offensive lineman, if we could do that every game for the rest of my life, I’d be so down for that.
How’d you keep yourself from not quitting?
I felt like we did not blink at all. 14-0, didn’t blink. 17-7, didn’t blink. I could just tell because I’ve been on teams where you’re down, or even up, and the moral of the team is down. But we were down, and everybody was so locked in and just energy was high, and the energy never took a dip. And that’s why we were able to perform the way we performed tonight.
Can you talk about the 20-play drive? It was like an OL drive.
I was so tired to be completely honest. I was so tired. I was looking at the D-Linemen and was trying to act like I wasn’t tired. But I was tired. But you have got to fight and finish.
Arizona State DL Tyler Johnson
How was defense, even though it didn’t start all that great?
Obviously, you’re going to feel down, like ‘What’s wrong? What are we doing?’ But at the end of the day, you play the next play and if you keep sticking to your keys, doing what you’re doing and doing what you’re coached, something is going to happen in your favor.
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