After just under a month of practicing the Washington Huskies are in full game mode. Games every Saturday for the most part and weekly Monday press conference. Here are some quotes from HC Kalen DeBoer.
THE GAME:
The Washington football team pens the 2023 season this Saturday, Sept. 2, vs. Boise State. Kickoff is at 12.30 p.m. PT and the game will air on ABC television.
The game marks the start of the Dawgs’ second year under head coach Kalen DeBoer, who led the U to an 11-2 record and the No. 8 final ranking in the AP Top 25 in his first season in 2022. The game also marks the 10-year anniversary of the re-opening of renovated Husky Stadium. On Aug. 31, 2013, the UW beat Boise State, 38-6, to mark the occasion, fol lowing a 21-month rebuild. UW enters 2023 ranked No. 10 in the preseason AP ranking and No. 11 in the preseason coaches poll, while the Broncos received votes in both. The following Saturday, the Dawgs play host to Tulsa
QUICK HITTERS:
Washington enters the 2023 season with the nation’s second-longest active winning streak among Power 5 teams, with seven victories in a row to end last season… only Georgia, with a 17-game run, has a longer active streak … not counting the four-game 2020 season, the Huskies have won 10 or more games in four of the last six seasons… the current UW roster includes players who list hometowns from 19 different states, as well as in German.
UW’s 119-man roster entering the year includes just 15 players in their final year of eligibility, along with 29 true freshmen, 15 redshirt freshman, 35 sochomores and 25 juniors, meaning that 79 of 120 (essentially two-thirds) enter the 2023 season with three or more years of eligibility remaining… all 11 full-time coaches from the 2022 staff have returned for 2023 _ three current U assistant coaches played football for Boise State: Julius Brown, Scott Huff & Lee Marks.
HOME OPENERS:
The Huskies are 97-29-5 in home openers whether the first game of the season or not), a percentage of 760. Washington did not play any home games in the 1890 or 1883 seasons. That mark includes a 28-game streak of home-opener wins that ran from 1908 to 1935. Before falling to Air Force in the 1999 home opaner, Washington had won 13 straight such games since having fallen to Oklahoma State on Sept. 7, 1965. The Huskies had won their last 11 home openers, dating back to a loss to No. 11 LSU in 2009, prior to a loss to Montana in the 2021 debut. Last wear, UW beat Kent State in the 2022 opener.
KALEN DeBOER Selected Quotes
“Alright. Game week. Finally here. 28 days – not quite, but close. 28 days since we started this thing with fall camp. It goes really slow and I think the guys are like ‘hey it’s never going to come’. And then all of a sudden the last week or so it’s right on us. The guys are fired up. Certainly ready to hit someone else besides themselves.
Looking forward to a great week of practice. Excited to see Husky Nation out there. I know it looks good as far as what the crowd is going to be and excited to see them all out there in full force. Home field advantage is certainly a big thing and Husky Nation does a great job of making us feel at home here.”
ON REDSHIRT FRESHMAN PARKER BRAILSFORD STARTING AT RG
“I think in Parker’s case – I mean there’s going to be a rotation. I expect a rotation of some type similar to maybe what we did last year. It’s competitive. Parker’s been right there for much of camp and we’ve talked about him often even going into the spring. Two things. I think (offensive line) coach (Scott) Huff does an awesome job of building a room where these guys support each other. I don’t know the exact conversation he had with him. But I know that right after that those guys when they met with him walked out of it and they were all hugging. Maybe it wasn’t high-five’s but hugging each other and confirming that they’re going to be there to support each other. That’s just the type of room coach Huff has built. And that’s the type of guys that are in that room where it is a competition to get on the football field and there’s some really good players that are looking to get a couple spots.
When the decision is made they trust in the coaching staff that there’s a reason for that decision and we’re going to be open and transparent and communicate well with them. There’s a support they’re going to have for each other and I love to see that. It’s not just at o-line. You see it at other positions as well. It’s easy to say you’re a team-first guy and then all of a sudden adversity hits you and you’re not where you thought you were. Then you really truly see it lived out in situations like this where guys who are truly team-first guys there to support Parker and excited for him in this opportunity.”
RUNNING BACK SITUATION
“Well I think… with Dillon (Johnson) we brought him in for a reason. He has continued in fall camp to climb and grasp the offense. I think he’s done a good job of that especially the last week or two. He’s got a support system around him just like we talk about Parker. Where guys are happy for his reps. I think there’s other guys that are going to figure in. We’ve been talking about Will Nixon a lot going back to the winter when he put on some really good weight. Just stayed the course and kept the faith that his time is coming.
He’s going to get those opportunities. I’ve even see improvements in the last two weeks since CD (Cameron Davis) has gone down. So, that group it won’t be just two. I think we’re going to find opportunities to give everyone their shot very similar to how we did it a year ago. As the season goes along you kind of become a little more focused on the guys who consistently are getting the job done.”
HIS FEELINGS FROM LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR
“I think every season is a new year. I’ve learned that. I’m confident with our team, always. Every year. No matter what my role was as head coach or coordinator. You know that, hey, a new season you’re excited – I don’t want to say anxious because I’m just excited to get it going. As far as how comfortable I am with the guys I think when you know – a year ago I felt like I really knew when we went on the field what we were going to get. I felt that. But you don’t know for sure. Now I feel I’m more comfortable with the consistency and effort that I know we’re going to bring. Does it mean that everything is always perfect? No. We know that. That’s going to come as we face even with week one here very good opponents. We’ll certainly get challenged.
But I do feel confident we’re going to have a response. When it comes gut-check time these guys are going to dig in and they’re going to do it for each other. When you have that mindset it’s amazing what you can accomplish. We saw that throughout the (last) season. When it got tough these guys relied on their brotherhood, the family. Those values that we have. The toughness. We held each other accountable. Those things are going to continue to show themselves this fall and I’m much more comfortable where that’s at having been through it the second time.”
ON MICHAEL PENIX JR LEADERSHIP AND THOSE BEATS HE GAVE TO THE TEAM
“Yeah. He saw this as an opportunity to do something for his teammates. He just loves these guys. There’s a reason he came back, right? The development that he expects to have in his second year here and how that can lead to a higher status when it comes to the NFL. All that. But in the end he loves his experience. He loves his teammates. He’s really just grown as a leader. There’s just times. He’s been through it now six times of fall camp.
There’s just times when you know I can be a lynchpin and just pull everything together and he did that. It was really cool to see. Our guys love him for it. It’s just exciting. He always has his little creative piece. He is who he is. He is who he is. The way he wanted to do it I’m like ‘Mike, this is all yours’. However you want. He wanted to come out there and he wanted the horn and he wanted to do all that kind of stuff. It was set up by him. When he got up in front of the team he spoke how Michael Penix Jr. speaks. It’s open and honest and full of excitement. Our guys love the competitiveness he brings to the team each and every day. How serious he takes the success that we want to have this year. But they also see him for just a great person who they enjoy being around. He’s a great friend to all them. It was a really cool thing.”
DeBoer ANNOUNCES TEAM CAPTAINS FRO 2023 SEASON
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