Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast

Luke Mounger and Jack McCauley are joined by special guest, former UW player Jason Crandall, as they break down their 2022-23 season thoughts ahead of Tuesday's exhibition game versus Alaska-Fairbanks.

Dawgman.com's Kim Grinolds was on hand in San Francisco this week during Pac-12 Media Day for Men's Basketball, and it was there where he was able to get some exclusive 1-on-1 interviews with the UW players and coaches on hand. It was a chance to get to know new Husky forward Keion Brooks Jr. , who took the same path as Quade Green from Kentucky to Montlake, and also played prep ball with former Husky Isaiah Stewart.

Grinolds talked to Brooks about his decision to come to UW, his time so far in Seattle, his teammates, and especially the relationship he has with the UW coaches.

Wednesday was Pac-12 Men's Basketball Day, and Dawgman.com's Kim Grinolds was on hand to hear what everyone had to say. He was also able to carve out some time for an exclusive preseason interview with Washington's Head Coach Mike Hopkins, who updated us on the new players, the returners, and how the makeup of this team is going to be a little different than recent UW teams.

Ryan Grubb, Chuck Morrell, and Kalen DeBoer answer the media's questions during UW's BYE week

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - got together after Washington's Saturday night 28-21 win at California and broke down the main storylines that came from Memorial Stadium. It was Prime Pac-12 After Dark, which meant the game would probably have some moments that would make you just shake your head, and with this game all those head-shaking moments came courtesy of the Pac-12 officiating crew on hand - but we did our best to not get too bogged down with that nonsense.

The first part of the podcast gave our initial thoughts on the win, including the fact that it officially makes Washington bowl-eligible, something that is super-important for any program, but means probably just a little bit more for a first-year staff trying to generate some success and create a product that they can sell in recruiting. And when you have an offense that generated over 475 yards of total offense and comes away with a win, you can sell a lot.

The other initial storyline would have been the Huskies getting their first win on the road and doing it without a turnover. These Road Dawgs didn't make it easy on themselves, going for nearly 250 yards of total offense in the first half while forcing Cal into four-straight punts - and yet only were up by 6 heading into halftime. But they didn't hand points to Cal either, whether via fumble or interception. They weren't 100 percent clean all the time, but they did force the Golden Bears into some long fields to try and get back in the game after the Huskies scored on their first three possessions of the second half. 

After a quick break, the guys talk about that crazy second half that saw the Huskies and Golden Bears basically draw (UW outscored Cal 22-21), and also saw Washington's defensive front do what they did against Arizona; come up big in the moments that mattered to get sacks or put a licking on Cal quarterback Jack Plummer to the point where he just couldn't sustain any drives at the end of the game.

But did the Huskies get a little greedy at the end offensively instead of trying to salt the game away on the ground?

The guys then give their final thoughts, including how important it's going to be for the Huskies to maximize the time they have during the upcoming bye week before finishing their season with a strong slate of games; Oregon State, at Oregon, Colorado, and at Washington State.

And hour's worth of coffee talk previewing Washington's game with the California Golden Bears, a recruiting update, and also some hoops talk with men's basketball media day coming up next week. 

Luke Mounger takes a look at Washington's next opponent on both sides of the ball

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - got a chance to speak to the Washington coaches and players ahead of their road trip to the Bay Area this weekend to play the California Golden Bears. Kickoff is at 7:30 pm Saturday night and will be shown on ESPN.

In the first part of the podcast, the guys talked about a number of the players and storylines for the Huskies. Included were:

Kuao Peihopa

Michael Penix Jr.

Jaxson Kirkland

Matteo Mele

Nate Kalepo

Jaivion Green

Davon Banks

Wayne Taulapapa

Cameron Davis

Red Zone and short-yardage situations.

Secondary issues with health and numbers due to injuries.

Eighth different starting secondary in as many weeks.

Trying to get out to an early lead to help the defense get the opposing offenses one-dimensional.

After a quick break, the guys go back to talking about some of the conversations they had with individual players and coaches, including:

Zion Tupuola-Fetui

Jeremiah Martin

Troy Fautanu

Faatui Tuitele

Devin Culp

JaMarcus Shephard

Scott Huff

Eric Schmidt

Chuck Morrell

Nick Sheridan

They finish up the podcast with their final thoughts, as well as a quick recruiting update as some of the coaches will be out watching games ahead of the Cal game.

JaMarcus Shephard, Nick Sheridan, Eric Schmidt, and Chuck Morrell spoke to the media this week about their players, how they did in UW's 49-39 win over Arizona, and how they are preparing for another road test, this time at Cal.

Cameron Davis, Jack Westover, Troy Fautanu, Faatui Tuitele, Zion Tupuola-Fetui, Jeremiah Martin, and Asa Turner all spoke to the media ahead of Washington's game this weekend at Cal.