Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast

It's a short week, but that doesn't mean the content slows down. Not a chance. The Dawgman guys - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - got up bright and early to give their final thoughts on Washington's Friday night game at Oregon State. They've absolutely dominated the Beavers in Corvallis the last three times they've been down there, but are they playing well enough to dominate a fourth-straight time?

The guys break down what they expect to see from the Huskies on both sides of the ball, what they need to correct after a couple of really tough losses to Oregon and Utah at home, and basically how they believe the Huskies will react in a matchup they need to win to become bowl eligible.

Now that there are only four games left in the season, provided they do hit that magic number of six wins, will the coaches play more of the true freshmen? Will a player like Ty Jones, who is redshirting this season, make his season debut? With the redshirt rule now that you can play up to four games and still retain your year of eligibility, there's no reason the junior receiver from Utah shouldn't play.

How are they going to move the chains when they are statistically poor on third down conversions? Will Jacob Eason be able to shake off the critical pick-six against the Utes and build on the positive things he was able to do in that game? Will Salvon Ahmed be asked to imitate Myles Gaskin and carry the ball 20-25 times against the Beavers? How are they going to keep Oregon State off the field in key situations late in the game when they failed to finish off Oregon and Utah when they had a chance to? So many questions about this Washington team right now, and they are the kind of questions you'd be asking after a couple of weeks into the season, not going into the tenth game. It's been that kind of a challenge for Chris Petersen and the UW coaching staff.

It's season-opener eve, so that means it's time to talk hoops, and specifically Washington-Baylor. So to do that, Dawgman.com's Chris Fetters went straight to the source and caught up with Head of Hoops Aaron Beach. They talked a little bit about the individual talent that will be on display in Anchorage at the Armed Forces Classic, specifically the trio of Quade Green, Jaden McDaniels, and Isaiah Stewart. They are the three big new faces of Washington Basketball that will be unveiled to the world on ESPN on Friday night.

Beach talks about what it means to get Green, a sophomore transfer point guard from the University of Kentucky, immediately eligible and how it should impact Mike Hopkins' lineup. Fetters also picks Beach's brain about McDaniels, the 6-foot-9 Federal Way wonder kid who showed against Western Washington in the Halloween exhibition win that he's a player that can truly impact the game on both ends of the floor.

And is Stewart, the former five-star burger boy from New York, by way of Indiana, a guaranteed double-double performer down low for the Dawgs? Beach thinks so.

Fetters and Beach also talk about some of the things Hopkins is tweaking within his system, notably putting some man defense in to complement the zone he brought with him from Syracuse. How much will they use it? Will it be just something they show from time to time as a change-up, or will we see a lot of it? They give their opinions on that, and Beach reveals his game prediction at the very end, so make sure you listen all the way through!

Every week we get in touch with our counterparts to get the low-down on Washington's next opponent. Since this week it's the Oregon State Beavers, so we reached out to BeaverBlitz.com's Publisher Angie Machado to get the scoop. Angie has been around the OSU program for years and no one is more connected than Angie.

So Kim Grinolds spoke to Angie about the football revival under Jonathan Smith, how the former Beaver has been able to get it accomplished to date, her takes on OSU quarterback Jake Luton and the Beavers offense, as well as what's going on with their defense.

Angie also talks about the atmosphere that should be expected Friday night on Dad's weekend, and she also throws out a couple food recommendations in Corvallis for UW fans heading down for the game.

It's about the consistency of play, physical and mental stamina, and - when it all boils down to those critical moments - stepping up and making a play. And it's the job of the coaches to get the players in positions, both mentally and physically, where they can make those plays.

That's what Washington Head Coach Chris Petersen talked about Wednesday ahead of UW's road game versus Oregon State Friday night. There was little talk of the matchup between mentor and protege (former UW OC Jonathan Smith, now OSU's Head Coach), as Petersen knows both staffs are game-planners and there's too much on tape to be 'chasing ghosts', as he calls it. Instead, it's about staying disciplined to your keys and going out and cutting it loose and just playing the game.

It's a message Petersen has had to hammer in to the team each week, as the results have not matched expectations. Not within the team, and certainly not on the outside. Petersen was asked about fan frustration Thursday, and he understands it's part of the deal. He's got no problem with fans ripping on coaches and the like, because the only time he's aware of it is when the media makes him aware of it. According to him, he's too busy trying to fix problems to allow the outside distractions to creep in.

And there's plenty to fix. He talked about finding that consistency, how they can figure that out in practice, and what it's going to take to find a win Friday. He also gave his take on the state of the Pac-12 now that Oregon and Utah have made the top-8 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.

He talked about the defense and who is stepping up, players like Trent McDuffie, Levi Onwuzurike, and Tuli Letuligasenoa. He was asked about how Jacob Eason has bounced back from a mixed game versus Utah and whether or not Petersen has talked to Eason about his future.

"His future is two days from now," Petersen said, matter of factly.

In talking with the Washington players and coaches Tuesday, it was clear they are more ready than ever to get back on the football field and right more than a few wrongs caused by close back-to-back defeats to top-12 teams at home. Doesn't matter if it's a short week, they're ready to go through what it takes.

The coaches will obviously adjust to whatever they need to do in order to get as much preparation in as they can. But for the players, this week is going to be a 'grinder', in the words of junior defensive back Elijah Molden.

But to a man, they all echoed Chris Petersen's thoughts that, if there was ever a time to play a short week, this is the week to do it. They are eager to get the rough taste out of their mouths and finish the regular season the right way.

Apparently there's been some talk down south about how Oregon State is catching UW at the perfect time because the Huskies pre-season goals are all gone. There's no North title to be won, no Pac-12 Championship, no possible playoff run.

Senior center Nick Harris was asked about that thought.

"Obviously I don't agree with it," he said. "We still want to win games. Obviously there's goals that you want to attain at the beginning of the season, but at the end of the day you still want to win. Just because we can't go to the Pac-12 Championship, which I have twice, doesn't mean we can't go out there and win games. There's always that aspect of playing football, is to win. I don't care if we were one and whatever or if we were undefeated right now, we still want to win games. Whatever that comment is, I don't really agree with it. We want to go there and dominate and win. I don't care what the situation is. Honestly, that's how I feel."

On Monday college basketball analyst Jeff Goodman picked the Huskies to make the Final Four. That's heady stuff, considering the last Washington team to make the Final Four (the only time) was back in 1953. Those were the days of Tippy Dye and Bob Houbregs.

UW Head Coach Mike Hopkins said he didn't know about the news, which is unsurprising. It's usually his wife Tricia who keeps him abreast of current events, especially while Hop and the rest of the Huskies are focused on preparing for their season-opener against Baylor Friday in Anchorage as part of the Armed Forces Classic. And honestly, even if he did know, Hopkins has been around enough tournament teams during his days at Syracuse to pooh-pooh such preseason talk. It's great for the fans and it can energize a team, but it's just that...talk.

Hopkins' response to all of it? DMGB. Huh? What's that? Sounds like something a player would take to help them recover after a grueling game. 

Doesn't Matter. Get Better.

That's the mantra. Those are the four words the team is living by. They showed a ton of promise in their exhibition win over Western Washington on Halloween, but the team got even better on paper the next day when it was announced Quade Green's waiver for immediate eligibility came through.

It feels like things are coming together nicely for Hop's Huskies.

Doesn't matter. Get Better.

Washington Head Coach Chris Petersen addressed the glaring issues that came out of Washington's 33-28 loss to No. 9 Utah Saturday afternoon, namely the need to finish games. Just like the Oregon game, the Huskies were leading by double-digits during the game, only to eventually find a way to lose.

Against Oregon and Utah, the Huskies have been out-scored 41-24 in the second half, and out-gained by nearly a hundred yards. In Petersen's opinion, it's not a matter of want-to, but more about belief and confidence in their ability to stay on the field and score on offense, and get off the field with the ball back on defense.

And in his words Monday, you can give somebody confidence. It has to be earned. Considering this will be Washington's tenth game of the season, lessons that like are usually hard pills to swallow, especially if you're a fan. But Petersen was there Monday to reiterate the point that the program can't get caught up in what the outside world thinks is wrong with them. If they do that, that's where their minds will wander to instead of focusing on the task at hand - beating an Oregon State team riding high on a two-game winning streak.

THE LINEUP:

Washington Head Coach Chris Petersen

UW Offensive Coordinator Bush Hamdan

UW Defensive Coordinator Jimmy Lake

Quarterback Jacob Eason

Tight End Hunter Bryant

Defensive Lineman Levi Onwuzurike

Outside Linebacker Joe Tryon

Outside Linebacker Ryan Bowman

Defensive Back Elijah Molden

It looked so promising for so long, and then it all fell apart. Whether it was the fourth-down missed opportunity to redshirt freshman Devin Culp, or the pick-six thrown by Jacob Eason, or the inability of the defense to get off the field during Utah's clinching fourth-quarter drive, there were certainly more questions than answers coming out of Washington's 33-28 loss to No. 9 Utah Saturday afternoon at Husky Stadium.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, Scott Eklund, and intern George Johnson - took turns going through the moments that mattered toward determining the final outcome, and there were a lot of them. Both the offense and defense showed themselves to be fully ready coming out of the gate, with the Huskies holding Utah to a three-and-out on their first series of the game, and then marching down the length of the field to score a touchdown on their first series.

But from there, it came down to some UW miscues that led to 9 points for Utah, and no points created off of two Utes fumbles. When the Huskies had a chance to create some forward momentum after a turnover, for instance, they killed themselves with false starts and the like.

The Dawgman guys also gave their final thoughts on the day, wrapping up a frustrating game at Montlake, one that UW will have to shake off quickly as they have a Friday game next week at Oregon State, who just defeated Arizona 56-38 and are riding a nice wave of momentum.

Dawgman.com's Kim Grinolds spoke this week with Steve Bartle, Managing Editor for UteZone.com, to get the Utah perspective on this weekend's Utah-UW game. It's a game apparently most Utah fans had already chalked up as a loss, but since the Utes have started out 7-1 they're feeling a lot better about their chances of coming to Seattle and leaving the 206 with a win.

They talked about Utah's defense and their ability to hold running backs in check, using players like Leki Fotu, Utah's version of Vita Vea. Bartle also talked about the expected battle between Utah's defensive end Bradlee Anae and Washington left tackle Trey Adams. Can Utah generate enough pressure with just four players? That's going to be key.

They also talked about the USC loss, what the Trojans were able to do against Utah, and what - if anything - UW can do to get after a very stingy Utes defense.

On the other side, Bartle talks about some of the keys Washington will need to employ to stop Utah's offense. It's not rocket science; a lot of it will have to do with slowing down the Utes' potent run attack, led by Zack Moss.

They also break down Utah's special teams, and how they aren't as special as you would normally expect with so many Ray Guy and Lou Groza Award winners in recent years. So if Utah is lined up for a 42-yard field goal to win the game, is Bartle feeling comfortable?

Lastly, Grinolds asks Bartle about Washington going into the Beehive State and grabbing some coveted recruits, like Jordan Lolohea and Puka Nacua.