Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - go in-depth on what they expect to see Saturday in Provo, Utah, as the Washington Huskies play Road Dawgs for the first time this year, and they're doing it in the home of the BYU Cougars.

UW beat BYU 35-7 last season, but this game hardly appears that lopsided. For starters, the Cougars have a whole new backfield with Zach Wilson and Ty'Son Williams, but they are also really banged up after starting their season against Utah, at Tennessee, and playing USC this past weekend. They appear bloodied, but unbowed.

But what does that mean for Washington's offense? Does it mean they should be able to hold on to the ball longer, move the chains more effectively, stand a better chance of pushing passes downfield? And if BYU tries to take away some of UW's weapons, like Hunter Bryant, can the Huskies control the pace of the game and the field position with an efficient run game?

On the other side of the ball, how will UW try and defend Zach Wilson? Will they try and spy him to limit his effectiveness running the ball? Will they try and apply constant pressure in the form of blitzes and using multiple players off the edges to shrink the pocket? Or will they sit back and force Wilson to navigate through the Huskies' secondary?

And with the game being in Utah, will the Huskies start to unleash some of their Utah-based players like Sam Taimani, MJ Tafisi, and Puka Nacua?

Dawgman.com's Kim Grinolds spoke this week with the publisher of CougarSportsInsider.com, Mitch Harper. CougarSportsInsider.com is the BYU Cougars site on the 247Sports Network.

Grinolds and Harper spoke about the playing conditions Washington will face against BYU Saturday afternoon, the reasoning behind BYU's 'White Out' for the game, including throwback helmets and jerseys and guest appearances from former BYU greats, like Ty Detmer and Jason Buck. It's all part of BYU celebrating 150 years of college football.

They also dig into the game itself, as Harper talks about the difference between this year's BYU team compared to what Washington saw from the Cougars last season in Seattle. There are definitely some new names, especially on offense, including quarterback Zach Wilson and running back Ty'son Williams.

On defense, Harper breaks down each level, including some of the key names to remember like Khyiris Tonga, Lorenzo Fauatea, Dayan Ghanwoloku, and others. And Harper also talks about the places where he would expect Washington to attack, spots where the Cougars could be vulnerable.

So, Salvon Ahmed is really into music. Sean McGrew is a smart aleck. Richard Newton is all about ball, until he's not. Then he's just a silly freshman. And Kamari Pleasant? Each day is a new day for the junior, you never know what you might get. Malik Braxton is the senior citizen of the group. And the true freshmen - Cameron Davis and Camden VerStrate? They're still so young, they're trying to figure out how they got to UW.

All of the above is accurate, and we know it is because it came from Keith Bhonapha, Washington's Running Backs Coach. He was asked this week about the personality of his group off the field, and that's how he broke it down. But the culture in the room? That's all been fostered by those guys, as well as the players that came before them - namely, Myles Gaskin.

Bhonapha talked about that, as well as questions about the wildcat, and also the two times he's been to Provo, Utah before - once as a player, and once as a coach. The Huskies travel to Provo this weekend to take on BYU.

Chris Petersen isn't much for excuses anyway, but he's really not interesting in hearing anything more about the fact that Washington is playing on grass this weekend. In his normal Thursday press gaggle, the UW Head Coach had to repeatedly brush back questions about finding places to practice on grass, whether the UW soccer field was a place they could have practiced on, who might be affected more by playing on grass, and more. And then the additional question about playing at altitude basically put Petersen in a spot where he had to say that, regardless of the performance on Saturday, the conditions won't be the reason why they played the way they did.

He also talked about getting out on the road for the first time this year, if that means extra preparation in terms of communication or pumping in even more noise. He also took a red zone question that was based on what BYU showed against USC, namely putting in some of their big defensive tackles to lead the way. Could he envision a scenario where guys like Tuli Letuligasenoa or Sam Taimani could get involved in that way?

Sure, Petersen said. But they don't want to block. They want the ball.

The Washington offense put up 52 points and 450 yards on Hawaii last week. By all weights and measures, it was a successful day for the Husky offensive attack, but things weren't all hunky dory for the Dawgs.

In the third quarter, Hawaii held the ball for 12:05 while Washington ran just eight plays, allowing Hawaii the opportunity to draw closer although eventually they settled down and ran away with things in the fourth quarter.

On Wednesday, several of the offensive players and coaches sat down with the media to give their thoughts on things and the guys from Dawgman were there.

Offensive line coach Scott Huff talked about running the Husky offense and how they present things differently to the defense and he answered the question about whether they were good at a lot of things and not great at anything and he also talked about the future and the feeling that they are developing a lot of talented depth.

Third-year offensive lineman Jaxson Kirkland recalled where he was last year at this point in his development. He also looked ahead to BYU and the big boys he'll be expected to block on Saturday.

Wide Receivers coach Junior Adams was asked about Puka Nacua and his development as well as what some of the younger receivers have to do to see more playing time.

Tailback Sean McGrew talked about playing at in Provo and that it helps to have played in loud stadiums like Lavell Edwards Stadium and center Nick Harris talked about BYU's defense and the challenges the Huskies will have in dealing with them.

Quarterback Jacob Eason self-evaluated himself and said there's always room for improvement and his chemistry with the receivers is still building, but he feels like they are in a good spot and that they can make more plays while offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said they are excited to get out on the road and said the receivers are going to be just fine.

Running backs coach Keith Bhonapha talked about figuring out which tailbacks have a feel for running the 'Wildcat' and that all of them feel like they can throw it at some point.

One of the things we don't talk about enough at Dawgman.com is the work our interns do year-in and year-out. Luke Mounger has been nothing short of a rock star the last four years, but just like the players graduate, our interns also matriculate to bigger and better things.

And that also means we've got to go out and scout up, evaluate, and recruit the talent to take our intern position to the next level. And we lucked out for the 2019 season. Through Luke, we connected with George Johnson and Jack McCauley, who are both currently studying at UW and are passionate Huskies.

So Chris Fetters found some time to get both the new interns together and recorded an interview to give UW fans a better sense of the life of being an intern, how they got to UW, and what life has been like for them now that they've decided to help us out.

It's not a long podcast, just enough information to get you guys informed into our interns' backstory and also their takes on what they've seen from UW Football so far through three games. And they have great backstories too! George is from the Inland Empire, always an unusual spot to grow up as a die-hard Husky, and Jack is from much closer, but he was surrounded by Washington State Cougars growing up. Interesting times! 

Washington may have beaten BYU 35-7 last year in comprehensive fashion, but this isn't last year's BYU team the Huskies will face Saturday in Provo. And no one knows that better than the UW defensive players and coaches, who talked Tuesday about what they've seen on tape and how Cougar quarterback Zach Wilson is fundamentally different than the quarterback UW saw last year, Tanner Mangum. In talking to the Huskies, they think Wilson kind of changes everything BYU does when trying to move the ball.

The players and coaches also talked about getting the bad taste of the Cal loss out of their mouths with a resounding win over Hawai'i, but how there is still a ton to work on after a sub-standard third quarter left a lot of the defensive players frustrated.

They also talked about being Road Dawgs for the first time this year, how they relish the challenge of going into someone else's stadium and coming away with the win. BYU has planned a 'White Out' for Saturday's game, meaning not only are the BYU players wearing all-white uniforms, but the crowd is being encouraged to wear all white as well. Should be a fantastic environment.

To listen to the 38-minute podcast, click on the audio link above.

The Lineup:

OLB Coach/Co-DC Pete Kwiatkowski

Defensive Backs Coach Will Harris

Safety Myles Bryant

Inside Linebacker Brandon Wellington

Inside Linebacker Kyler Manu

Defensive Tackle Levi Onwuzurike

Many fans would think Chris Petersen played Brigham Young all the time during his stint as Boise State's head coach, but they only played twice, in 2012 and 2013. In Petersen's final season with the Broncos, they traveled to Provo and lost, 37-20. So he knows how tough it can be playing at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Petersen talked to the media Monday about BYU, how you can throw the numbers out when playing them because of their team intangibles, as well as the growth and improvement from his team in all areas. He was also asked about the California bill that's passed through their legislature, giving athletes the ability to negotiate their own endorsement deals.

There was plenty to talk about, and below are the full quotes.

For those Washington fans catching up from a busy weekend of sports - one that saw the Huskies, Seahawks, Mariners, and Sounders all win - here's the media session with junior quarterback Jacob Eason after UW beat Hawai'i 52-20.

Eason finished the game 18-25 for 262, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. His quarterback efficiency rating is at 163.80 through three games, good enough for fifth in the Pac-12, and 34th in the country.

He talked about getting off to a hot start in the game, bouncing back from the loss to Cal, touchdown throws to Puka Nacua and Hunter Bryant, the support he's getting from his hometown community in Lake Stevens, and a lot more.

Apparently for the Washington Huskies, it's how you start AND how you finish. While the third quarter wasn't anything to write home about, the Huskies did enough in the first half and fourth quarter to derail Hawaii's thoughts of beating a third-straight Pac-12 team.

Washington won the game 52-20, but if the third quarter hadn't been played, the game would have finished 52-7. But they play the full 60 minutes, and the UW coaches and players talked about the hot start, the inability to come out of halftime strong, and eventually picking it up in the fourth quarter and putting the Rainbow Warriors out of commission.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Jack McCauley - spoke with Chris Petersen, Bush Hamdan, Jacob Eason, Hunter Bryant, Sean McGrew, Myles Bryant, and Keith Taylor about what went right for the Huskies out of the gate, the impact of picking UH Quarterback Cole McDonald three times had on the game, the lack of getting stuff done in the third quarter, and the strong finish to the game.