Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast

The Huskies got back on the winning track on Saturday as they came out focused and ready to go in their 52-20 blowout win over Hawaii.

The win gets Washington to 2-1 on the season, but more importantly, it seemed to be a gut-check for the team after their frustrating loss to Cal last weekend.

On Saturday, Mother Nature sent wind but very little rain, at least during the game, and gave Husky fans the first taste of fall even though there are still seven days remaining before we official welcome in fall.

The Husky offense put on a show early in the first half, jumping out to a 21-0 just under nine minutes into the game and Jacob Eason was a big reason why as he went 8 of 10 for 122 yards with two touchdowns -- one to tight end Hunter Bryant and one to freshman wideout Puka Nacua. He followed that up with his third and final touchdown of the day, a 37-yard strike to wideout Aaron Fuller who was well-covered, but still came up with the touchdown reception.

On the defensive side of the ball, Myles Bryant was the star as he grabbed the first two interceptions of the season in the first half and he also contributed the only sack on the day as well as four tackles from his safety spot.

The Husky coaches also got plenty of reps for some of the younger players including Richard Newton, a redshirt freshman tailback, who has seen his role grow the past couple of weeks. Newton had eight carries, three of which went for touchdowns, as the Huskies used his physicality inside the redzone to punch the ball across the line.

The guys from Dawgman -- Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, Jack McCauley, and Scott Eklund -- all sat down after the game and talked about this big win, gave some of their thoughts on what they saw and looked forward to next week's game at BYU in the post-game podcast...

After last week's frustrating loss to Cal, the Huskies are at a bit of a crossroads as they head into their game later today against Hawaii.

One of the biggest concerns to come out of 20-19 loss to Cal at Husky Stadium last week is where their receiving corps' confidence level lies. Andre Baccellia, Aaron Fuller and Chico McClatcher, all seniors, had multiple drops and missed opportunities and during the week we spoke with McClatcher and Baccellia, each of whom just gave the company line of needing to catch the ball when it hits them in the hands.

That may be of little solace to Husky fans who want to see how some of the younger receivers, specifically Puka Nacua and Austin Osborne, and what they can do in the offense.

In addition to the receiver group, there's also some concern about the defense and whether the group that is out on the field can be better than previous iterations.

A big part of what has made the Husky defense so successful since the arrival of Chris Petersen in 2014 has been its ability to get turnovers, but two games into the 2019 season, Washington has none and you know that has to be a focus for the coaches on that side of the ball.

Also, which young defensive players deserve more playing time and which could use a rest?

Cameron Williams impressed during the spring and in fall camp, but so far the returns on his play have been mixed. Could someone like Brandon McKinney come in and see more playing time or is there a chance another freshman, Asa Turner, could see more reps?

Another player who many think should see an increase in playing time is outside linebacker Laiatu Latu and, if he's healthy, expect him to get on the field a lot more.

All those subjects and a few more were discussed by Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters and Scott Eklund as they get your ready for kickoff against the Rainbow Warriors later today...

WarriorSportsNetwork.com's Jackson Moore joined Dawgman's Kim Grinolds to get a Hawai'i perspective on Saturday's Hawai'i-Washington game, set for a 4:30 pm Pacific Time start at Husky Stadium.

First, they talked about UH Head Coach Nick Rolovich trying to bring back the June Jones glory days, from embracing everything his alma mater is about for recruiting, to adapting the run and shoot offense he ran under Jones while at Manoa.

Then, Jackson breaks down the offensive players that have stood out for the Rainbow Warriors so far this season, like quarterback Cole McDonald, and receivers Cedric Byrd and JoJo Ward.

They move to the other side of the ball, where Moore talks about some of Hawaii's defensive struggles, as well as some of their key run and pass stoppers. He also talks about how UH's offense can impact how much their defense is on the field, and where he thinks the Huskies may be able to find some joy in terms of moving the chains and scoring points.

The final segment talks about the travel involved from going from Honolulu to Seattle, as well as whether or not UH will unveil freshman offensive athlete Lincoln Victor, who prepped at Union High School in the Vancouver area and led Union to their first Class 4A state championship. They also get Moore's final thoughts about Hawaii's chances at pulling an upset at Husky Stadium.

The way Chris Petersen talked about Hawai'i on Thursday, you would have thought Washington was playing a service academy this coming weekend. Not only has UH Head Coach Nick Rolovich brought back the ghost of June Jones and his run and shoot attack, but the Rainbow Warriors also incorporate a defensive scheme Petersen said UW doesn't see in the Pac-12.

That means a lot of scouting took place this week, as well as a lot of fundamental drill work, getting back to the basics and honing in on technique.

Petersen talked about all that stuff, as well as confirming to the media present that the Cal game would not have been rescheduled if they had not been able to get the game in Saturday night. It was delayed by 2 hours and 39 minutes due to an extreme weather alert that brought in a huge rain storm, coupled with thunder and lightning.

The Washington Husky offense struggled last week in their 20-19 loss to Cal and the coaching staff and players on that side of the ball and trying to find answers.

On Wednesday, several of the offensive players and coaches met with the media and to a man, they all said they just have to play better.

Junior Adams' crew had several drops and that is something that they are focusing on. Will we see more from the younger wideouts on the roster? While Adams wants to see more from them in games, he also said he knows they need to get it done during the week and show they are ready to handle a bigger workload.

Adams likes what Austin Osborne and Puka Nacua have to offer with their big frames and explosiveness and he said he expects them to play more as the season moves along, but he also said he had confidence in Aaron Fuller, Chico McClatcher and Andre Baccellia as well.

Bush Hamdan told the media last week he'd been watching the 2018 Cal game on a daily basis trying to understand where they went wrong, does that mean he's still needing to make some changes after last Saturday's loss?

Hamden said he felt that Jacob Eason played well and made some good throws, but also said he thinks there were some missed opportunities as well.

Chico McClatcher and Aaron Fuller both referenced their drops and how there isn't an excuse for those to happen, but they also discussed the adjustments they need to make to Eason's arm and how the ball comes off his hand.

McClatcher also talked about getting some carries out of the backfield and that he knows he missed some opportunities to make plays and he's focused on making better decisions on when to cut and where the hole is going to be.

On Tuesday, Washington Defensive Coordinator Jimmy Lake spoke with the media for over 10 minutes on what took place in the 20-19 loss to Cal, and what it's going to be like for the UW defense this coming Saturday when they face a unique offense, Hawaii's run and shoot. It's usually played with four receivers, but the unique part of the offense is the way the receivers adjust on the fly to what they see from the defense. 

Lake talked about that aspect of Hawaii's version of the offense, what they've added to it, and what they'll have to do to combat it.

The Washington defensive players and coaches were all on the same page Tuesday when talking about what went wrong Saturday night against California. It was missed tackles, it was trying to do more than their assignment, which creates creases and gaps that the Golden Bears exploited.

Whether it was Jimmy Lake, Ikaika Malloe, Ryan Bowman, Elijah Molden, or Myles Bryant, they all talked about staying assignment sound, not doing more than their responsibility, and handling the fundamentals of their roles - namely tackling. In fact, Bowman thought a lack of tackling at times was the reason for pretty much every breakdown the defense had against Cal.

And that is going to be of paramount importance this coming Saturday, as the Huskies host Hawaii, a run-and-shoot offense that features a quarterback in Cole McDonald that can also tuck the ball and go if he needs to. The Rainbow Warriors are already averaging 429 yards passing per game, and have taken two Pac-12 scalps in their first two games of the season in Arizona and Oregon State. Can they make it a third on Saturday? Not if Death Row has their way.

And it wasn't all bad news on Tuesday. The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds and Chris Fetters - also spoke with specialists Peyton Henry and Joel Whitford. The special teams has been a bright spot so far through two games, and those guys intend to keep it that way. Whitford, in particular, has connections with the Hawaii specialists, as both their punter and placekicker are Australian. The UW senior punter shared a memorable story about him and Hawaii punter Stan Gaudion that needs to be heard to be believed.

Washington Head Coach Chris Petersen addressed the media Monday, less than 36 hours after UW's 20-19 loss to California. It was a bizarre set of circumstances surrounding the game, and Petersen was asked about that, as well as how the game unfolded, decisions on clock and player management, and a lot of other topics.

Chris Petersen, Jimmy Lake, Nick Harris, and Myles Bryant react to a crazy 20-19 loss to Cal at Husky Stadium, which broke their 15-game home winning streak. It was crazy for a few reasons, but the biggest one was the two-hour and 39-minute extreme weather delay, something that's never happened at Husky Stadium in the modern era, to our knowledge. It was because of thunder and lightning in the area that had to safely pass through before play could continue. 

The UW coaches and players talked about that, as well as what went wrong when play finally resumed on the field. It was a tale of two halves, where UW came out strong and imposed themselves in all three phases, but Cal really took it to the Huskies in the second half, outscoring the Huskies 17-9 in the final two quarters, including a 17-yard go-ahead field goal with 8 seconds left in the game. 

It was just a weird night that capped off a weird day of college football. A football game started each team got a series, and then a two-hour and 39-minute extreme weather delay took place. Then the teams came back out, played the rest of the game until 1:30 in the morning, and in the end a 17-yard field goal was the difference.

It's certainly not the way the Washington Huskies would have envisioned it, but once again the California Golden Bears got their number. This time it was in Seattle, and it was a 20-19 loss.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, Scott Eklund, and George Johnson - do their best to break down what they saw between the first two series, and the rest of the game, as well as what took place in-between. There was thunder, there was lightning, there was a pitch-black Husky Stadium, there was a DJ who played songs like 'Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head' and 'Riders on the Storm' while Mother Nature's fireworks roared overhead.

The game was re-started at 10:30, and for a while it looked like normal service resumed for the Washington Huskies. They took a 10-3 lead into halftime despite some pass drops and play that wasn't as clean as you'd like to see it.

The second half was a different matter entirely. California came out, established the run, and used their change-of-pace back, Marcel Dancy, to break UW's back. He had two second-half touchdowns, while Washington could only muster field goals. The red zone was painful, as well as the fact that the Huskies went another game without creating a turnover.

The Dawgman guys talk about all that, as well as the play of individual players on both sides of the ball, as the Huskies work to bounce back and show they are still capable of achieving their pre-season goals. How they respond in the coming weeks will tell the tale of the season.