Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - break down the top storylines for tonight's game between Washington and UCLA, set for a 7:30 pm kickoff at the Rose Bowl.

For Washington, it's their first road game under Kalen DeBoer. It will be their first game on grass. For UCLA, this will be their first true test after playing Bowling Green, Alabama State, South Alabama, and Colorado.

The first segment starts with Michael Penix Jr. and how he is putting together a season worth early Heisman Trophy consideration. Just how big an addition has Penix been to an offense that struggled mightily last season but hasn't been stopped so far this year?

And when talking about UW's offense versus UCLA's defense, the talk turns to former Husky Laiatu Latu, who is tearing it up with the Bruins. He earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors for his play at Colorado. How did he end up at Westwood after not being cleared by the Washington doctors? And will Latu line up against Jaxson Kirkland, or Roger Rosengarten?

Speaking of the offensive line, what has gotten into them? The same players that have kept Penix upright and firing on all cylinders is the same group of players that really struggled to lead anything on offense last season.

One other thing; UW OC Ryan Grubb coached against UCLA in the Rose Bowl last season with Fresno State, a game they won 40-37. But the Bruins have a new DC and new defensive coaches like Ken Norton Jr. and former UW player and coach Ikaika Malloe. How will that chess match go within the football game?

After a quick break, talk turns to the matchup of UCLA's offense versus Washington's defense. It all starts with QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson for the Bruins, as well as RB Zach Charbonnet. What is the guys' take on DTR? And can UW's defense contain them enough to allow Washington's offense to go to work? And which players will the Huskies lean on to get the Bruins on the ground?

There's one more quick pause to pay some bills, and then Scott and Kim provide recruiting updates and then the three of them give their final game thoughts before wrapping things up.

Dawgman.com Intern Emeritus Luke Mounger highlights the players to watch on both sides of the ball for the UCLA Bruins, as well as his key matchups to watch, and confidence level, as Washington become Road Dawgs for the first time this season and travel south to the Rose Bowl for a Friday night game. 

Lee Marks, JaMarcus Shephard, Nick Sheridan, Scott Huff, and Inoke Breckterfield spoke to the media ahead of Washington's game at UCLA Friday night.

Michael Penix, Jalen McMillan, Troy Fautanu, Henry Bainivalu, Jaxson Kirkland, and Carson Bruener all spoke to the media this week as Washington prepares for their first road trip of the season. They play UCLA Friday night at the Rose Bowl.

Ryan Grubb, Chuck Morrell, and Kalen DeBoer spoke to the media Monday about some of the standout players in Washington's 44-20 win over Stanford, and also talk about UW's next opponent, the UCLA Bruins. The Huskies will be going on the road for the first time this season to play the Bruins, set for a Friday night broadcast at the Rose Bowl.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - went into overtime Saturday night and into Sunday morning to break down their thoughts after the No. 18 Washington Huskies defeated the Stanford Cardinal 40-22 at Husky Stadium.

It was a game where the Huskies did so many things right in terms of the mechanics of the game - no turnovers, forced three Stanford miscues, ran the ball, kept Stanford's run game in check, played strong field position, and always came back in a positive way after the Cardinal scored - yet there was still so much more meat left on the bone.

Starting with the offense, Michael Penix, Jr. had another 300-yard passing game, but he was not the same quarterback that sliced and diced Michigan State the week before. Did the new Heisman talk start to seep in a little bit? Wayne Taulapapa ran for a career-high 120 yards, the first time he's ever run for more than 100 yards in a game in his career, and the running backs did enough to help Penix to keep the Cardinal defense off-balance.

It was also the first game back for left tackle Jaxson Kirkland, and he looked pretty sharp in his 2022 debut. Obviously it's also the first time he's worked side-by-side with Troy Fautanu this season, so they will continue to improve as the season goes on. Rome Odunze caught up with the other three UW receivers that have 100-yard games - Jalen McMillan, Ja'Lynn Polk, and Giles Jackson - with 161 yards on 8 catches.

After a quick break, talk turned to the defensive side of the ball, and the Huskies did a really good job of taking away Stanford's version of the 'slow mesh' RPO offense. The Cardinal weren't able to complete a successful shot play until there was 5 minutes left in the second quarter, and this was against a UW secondary that was without Jordan Perryman or Mishael Powell, their starting cornerbacks.

The key was getting to Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee, and the Huskies did that to the tune of 8 sacks and 10 total tackles for loss. Bralen Trice and Alphonzo Tuputala each had two sacks, and Jeremiah Martin and Zion Tupuola-Fetui had 1.5 sacks apiece.

The guys also gave mention to the special teams stars, namely Peyton Henry (who had 4 field goals on the night) and Carson Bruener, who has turned himself into a cover team demon.

We wrap up the podcast with our final thoughts as the Huskies get back to work in anticipation of a short week. They become Road Dawgs for the first time this year, traveling to UCLA for a Friday night game at the Rose Bow ...

Michael Penix, Jr., Wayne Taulapapa, Rome Odunze, Jaxson Kirkland, Zion Tupuola-Fetui, Bralen Trice, and Dominique Hampton spoke to the media after Washington's 40-22 win Saturday night over Stanford.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - are back on the airwaves talking about Washington's opponent this weekend, the Stanford Cardinal. And while the Cardinal had a bye week to get healthy and regroup after a 41-28 loss to USC, they are walking a little wounded coming to Seattle for this Pac-12 matchup.

With no EJ Smith, the Cardinal (1-1) will have to rely on Casey Filkins to help fill the running back responsibilities, and it looks like either Barrett Miller or Connor McLaughlin will have to replace starting right tackle Myles Hinton, who won't be making the trip up north.

The guys talked first about Stanford's offense, what Cardinal quarterback Tanner McKee will have to do without Smith to help balance out their offensive attack, and also a bunch of talk about the wrinkle David Shaw debuted versus USC, the 'slow mesh' RPO game. Originally designed by the coaches at Wake Forest, will the new twist in Stanford's offense cause issues for Washington, or will they continue to pin their ears back and go full tilt for the backfield, led by their talented EDGE players?

After a quick break, the guys turn the tables and talk about one of the biggest storylines going in all of college football right now; the massive resurgence of Washington's offense under the leadership of first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer and Offensive Coordinator Ryan Grubb. Indiana transfer quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has been nothing short of outstanding through the first three games of the season, throwing for nearly 400 yards and four touchdowns in their last game, a win over No. 9/11 Michigan State that catapulted Penix into early Heisman Trophy discussions.

The guys talked about Richard Newton perhaps being the answer to UW's short-yardage and goal line concerns, as well as how well the receiving corps is doing and how their play has done nothing but open up big opportunities for the tight ends to make their mark in the receiving game.

Stanford did make a fundamental scheme change during the offseason, going from a 3-4 base defense to an even front that may resemble Washington's 4-2-5 base.

After another quick break, Scott updated us on the latest recruiting scuttlebutt coming out of this past weekend, and Kim also provided a quick hoops recruiting update too, as the Huskies have been hosting a couple of official visitors.

Dawgman.com's Luke Mounger and Jack McCauley take a look at the Stanford Cardinal on both sides of the ball as they travel north to face off with No. 18 Washington Saturday night at Husky Stadium.

Dawgman.com's Kim Grinolds spoke this week to Jackson Moore of Cardinal247, the 247Sports site that covers the team the Washington Huskies host this weekend, the Stanford Cardinal.

To start, Moore breaks down the Stanford offense, a unit that will be missing its top running back in EJ Smith. But they have added a new wrinkle in the 'slow mesh' RPO that Wake Forest uses, and Moore talked about that. Jackson also goes through the top targets that Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee will lean on to help move the Cardinal offense down the field. Moore also gives his opinion on the position group he feels is holding the offense back.

After a quick break, the talk turned to the defense. Stanford did give up 41 points and 505 yards of total offense. Moore talked about the much more publicized change in their defensive scheme from a 3-4 to an even front to help shore up concerns along the defensive line. Jackson mentioned the defensive players UW fans should pay attention to when the Huskies have the ball on offense.

Moore also gives a couple of keys on how he thinks Stanford's defense can be beaten (hint: it starts along the line of scrimmage).

Moving to special teams, Moore notes a potential dilemma for Stanford; Casey Filkins is considered their best returner, but without EJ Smith, would they risk having Filkins back there since he is also their top available running back?

To finish the preview off, Moore talks about a couple of keys for Stanford to be able to pull the victory, as well as what UW could do against the Cardinal to win at home.