Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast

Washington defensive players Tuli Letuligasenoa, Jeremiah Martin, Bralen Trice, Zion Tupuola-Fetui, Alex Cook, and Mishael Powell talk about the season, playing Texas in San Antonio on December 29. 

Both the Washington and Texas head coaches in San Antonio Thursday to answer questions ahead of the December 29 game between the Huskies and Longhorns.

The guys catch up after listening to the Alamo Bowl coaches press conference, talk Michael Penix's return, the mid-year signing period, the transfer portal, and more.

The guys give their reaction to the announcement that Washington's quarterback will return for one more season, the madness of the transfer portal, and more.

The guys from Dawgman.com break down a busy weekend in football and basketball, and an even busier Monday coming up with the transfer portal. 

Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund give their final thoughts on the Apple Cup, contract extensions, the coaching carousel, the transfer portal, UW's eventual bowl game, recruiting breaking news, and hoops talk.

Washington's Offensive Coordinator, Co-Defensive Coordinator, and Head Coach talk about the key moments in UW's 51-33 Apple Cup win in Pullman Saturday night, as well as the decisions that went right along the way in 2022 to produce a 10-win regular season.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Chris Fetters and Scott Eklund - held down the fort Saturday night while Kim Grinolds raced back to the west side after witnessing the 114th Apple Cup first-hand. Kim saw the No. 13 Washington Huskies overcome some early sloppiness on offense and ineffectiveness on defense to put on a second-half masterclass in Pullman, eventually defeating Washington State 51-33 to ensure a 10-win regular season.

The win also exorcized some demons for the Huskies that played in last year's 40-13 win by the Cougars in Seattle.

After our initial thoughts, we broke down what we saw when Washington State's offense started the game versus Washington's defense. The Huskies had a devil of a time getting WSU Quarterback Cameron Ward on the ground, and he made the pay - time and time again.

But eventually UW's game plan paid off when they only allowed Washington State six second-half points and 129 total yards of offense. What allowed them to be so efficient and effective in the second half compared to the first half? 

After a quick break, we switch sides and look at a Washington offense led by Michael Penix Jr. that averaged 10.5 yards per play. Despite running over 20 fewer plays in the game compared to Washington State, they out-gained the Cougars by 270 yards. Remarkable.

And what's more remarkable is that they did it despite a slow start for the UW offense. It was only the second time all season they didn't score points on their initial drive. But they eventually found their footing, finished the half ahead 28-27, and then it only took one play - a 75-yard pass from Penix to Jalen McMillan - to show that the Huskies were not going to mess around. Both McMillan and Rome Odunze went over the 1000-yard mark in receiving yards Saturday night. 

They finished with 703 yards of total offense - good for third all-time and a UW Apple Cup record - and they did that despite back-to-back turnovers in the second half.  And once they got things rolling in the second quarter, did it ever look like Washington State and their number-one conference scoring defense were going to stop them?

After another quick break, Chris and Scott talked about the ramifications for the Huskies as they look to bowl season. Did Washington get inadvertently hosed by the Pac-12 because of their preseason move to consolidate the divisions and take the top two teams regardless of record? Because if they hadn't done that, UW would be playing USC in the Pac-12 Championship game next weekend instead of Utah.

But does the 10 wins, coupled by a potential of USC making the College Football Playoff, guarantee a New Year's Six bowl game for the Huskies? And where do they think the Huskies will end up when the latest College Football Playoff poll is released on Tuesday?

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - dealt with some technical difficulties, a power outage, and ghosts in the machine to put together an Apple Cup pregame show. It sounded at times like it was put together 114 years ago in the middle of the Palouse instead of today, but the guys got their points across and they beg your forgiveness.

To start, they talk a little bit about WSU Head Coach Jake Dickert and how a defensive coach is a bit of a change from Mike Leach and the Air Raid attack where it was all passing all the time.

Then they go into Washington State's offense, talk some about their quarterback - Cameron Ward - as well as the skill players around Ward that will try and exploit Washington's defense.

Talk then turned to Washington's offense and what they're going to try to do to score against Washington State's defense. A couple of the guys think that WSU's defense is a little overrated, despite leading the Pac-12 in scoring defense.

The guys also talk about what they expect the Cougars to do to put some pressure on Michael Penix Jr., and how the Huskies will counter those moves, as well as if WSU will try and take certain receivers away, like Colorado did with Rome Odunze. Would that fundamentally change things, or is that just a matter of picking your poison against a deep and talented UW receiving corps?

After a break, the guys move to some talk of the Washington running backs room and how important they will be in terms of setting the tone offensively for UW and how they need to be effective and productive when the Cougars try and sit back to lull Penix into a false sense of security. And could there be more backs involved tonight than just Wayne Taulapapa and Cameron Davis?

Scott provides a quick recruiting update, and Kim and Chris offer up their two cents' worth on UW Hoops after their 4-point win over Saint Mary's on Thanksgiving night to win the Paycom Wooden Legacy Championship, as well as their final thoughts on what they expect to see tonight on the Palouse.

The guys from Dawgman.com break down the details of the extension for Washington's head coach, the timing and what it means going forward, as well as the Apple Cup and how recruiting will finish up heading to the mid-year signing period.