Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast

Well, the longest week ever is now gone, and hopefully, Washington fans can move past what happened a week ago and focus on the newest challenge; the Michigan Wolverines. What was expected to be a titanic struggle between two proud Power 5 programs under the lights in prime time has become a lot less than it could have been, and all because of the egg UW laid against Montana.

With Kim Grinolds en route to the Big House, Chris Fetters and Scott Eklund break down the aftermath of Washington's opening game loss, starting of course with the abomination that was the offense. What went wrong, and what can the UW coaches do in a week to fix it? There were so many questions about the offensive line coming out of the game, and Fetters and Eklund try and sort through the mess, including what they think could happen tonight in Ann Arbor. How many receivers are going to be available? Will they use more than two running backs? And what exactly is John Donovan going to pull out of his hat to stun the Wolverines in their house?

After a quick break to pay some bills, the guys come back and talk about the defense and what they expect Washington to try and do to stop a Michigan offense that showed a lot of explosiveness in their 47-14 over Western Michigan.

To finish things off, the guys reflect on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, which puts everything, including tonight's game, into perspective.

The Dawgman.com interns - Jack McCauley and Intern Emeritus Luke Mounger - offer their takes on Washington's second opponent of the season, the Michigan Wolverines.

As Washington works hard to put last week's game behind them, their foe this week, the Michigan Wolverines, is preparing to host the Huskies at the Big House. To say this is a daunting task for head coach Jimmy Lake and his team is an understatement.

To get to know the Wolverines better, Dawgman's Kim Grinolds spoke with The Michigan Insider publisher Sam Webb, the preeminent man on the Michigan beat, who knows the team inside and out.

What can Husky fans expect from quarterback Cade McNamara? Is this a pass-first team or has head coach Jim Harbaugh gone back to the ground-and-pound style that made him so successful at Stanford?

Webb also went into the offensive line and how the tailbacks, led by Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum as well as freshman Donovan Edwards, are the engine that makes the Wolverine offense run, especially now that standout wide receiver Ronnie Bell has been lost for the season with an injury.

On the defensive side, Webb loves what Aidan Hutchinson brings to the table and there's a good group of players in the front seven who will make like very difficult on Washington's questionable offense.

To listen to the 33-minute podcast, clickon the audio link below...

Washington OLB Coach Ikaika Malloe, OLB Ryan Bowman, and ILB Jackson Sirmon spoke to the media Wednesday ahead of UW's game at Michigan this coming Saturday night.

Washington Head Coach Jimmy Lake met with the media Monday after their historic 13-7 loss to Montana last Saturday. Here's everything Lake said.

How do you explain crazy? Well, as it turns out, it's really hard. And on Saturday night at Husky Stadium, the guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - had to try and explain arguably the craziest result in Washington Football history, as the Huskies lost 13-7 to FCS Montana.

How do you explain losing to a 22.5-point underdog? How do you explain how the Huskies have to keep head coach Jimmy Lake even after UW lost to an FCS team for the first time ever? Some of it is based on practical considerations, but it's also the first game of the season, and that's the time when all of us go nuts with overreactions.

But simply put, it's hard to overreact to a loss like this. And where to the Huskies go from here? Well, they go to Ann Arbor, Michigan to play a Michigan team that probably thought they were going to have their hands full, but now are probably looking at Washington in a whole new light after tonight's loss.

And can Lake recover from this loss? The initial reaction is no, because no Washington head coach has ever had to recover from losing to an FCS opponent. But there is always a first time, so we are going to see how Lake, the coaches, and the players attempt to bounce back from this embarrassment.

It's game day!!! The 2021 season is finally here, and not a moment too soon. And not just because it means it's time for Washington Football, but it's time for fans to get back in their seats at Husky Stadium.

To that end, the guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - talked about what they expect to see this afternoon when the Huskies host Montana, but also about some of the game-day changes the fans will see when they descend on Husky Stadium.

To start, they talk about Montana's players, especially the ones from the state of Washington, and then they gave their opinions on the players they'll be looking out for in the Purple and Gold, starting first with the offense, and then the defense.

Will Sam Huard get some snaps? Will it be part of a strategy to keep his redshirt on, or will they worry about that down the road? Will they 'run the damn ball', or will they go pass-first because the Grizzlies will be expecting the Huskies to try and jam it down their throats?

In the second part of the hour-long podcast, the guys talk about the new things fans will see and experience during game day, including the return of the helmet car, no in/out privileges anymore, beer and wine sales inside the stadium, and more.

And to finish out the show, Scott Eklund provides a quick recruiting update now that the coaches can reach out to 2023 prospects and can also get out on the road to see high school games, something the UW coaches did on Thursday and Friday.

Montana Head Coach Bobby Hauck hasn't been shy about his desire to win an FCS Championship, and the former Washington assistant showed his early intent by beating Central Washington and Portland State 107-10 in their two games played this past spring.

Dawgman.com's Kim Grinolds spoke with Frank Gogola, the Montana Football reporter for the Missoulian, and Gogola had plenty to say about the team he covers, their FCS ambitions, and also how he thinks they'll do out of the gate in Seattle on Saturday afternoon.

The talk starts out on the offensive side of the ball, beginning with former Issaquah quarterback Cam Humphrey and the loss of their top two running backs. But they are deep at receivers, which should pose an interesting early test for Death Row.

They then move to the defensive side of the ball. The Grizzlies appear to be deeper on defense than offense, but there are some new pieces, including a number of FBS transfers, so it's hard to know exactly how it will all fit together in their 3-3-5 stack scheme against a top-20 FBS team in Washington.

And if Montana needed a 40-yard kick to tie or win the game, how confident is Gogola in Montana's kickers that they could get the job done? And how good will have Montana played to get to that point?

Washington Huskies Head Coach Jimmy Lake spoke to the media Thursday for the last time this week before the Huskies host the Montana Grizzlies Saturday afternoon at Husky Stadium.

We're two days away from college football in the Emerald City! And even better than that, we're two days away from fans returning back to The Greatest Setting in College Football, and not a moment too soon.

The Dawgman.com interns - Jack McCauley and Intern Emeritus Luke Mounger - were tasked this week with breaking down Washington's Week One opponent; the Montana Grizzlies.

Starting with the defense, Jack highlights some of the Montana players to watch on that side of the ball, including former Arizona DE Justin Belknap, DE Joe Babros, and LB Jace Lewis. Montana's front is not as big as Washington's offensive line when trying to match size for size, but they are going to bring quickness to the game.

Former Louisville DB Justin Ford, Robbie Hauck, Gavin Robertson, Nash Fouch, and Omar Hicks are other names to watch on the Grizzlies' defense.

Moving to the other side of the ball, Luke gives us the lowdown on what to expect from Montana's offense, starting with the issues at running back. They will be without their top returning running back from 2019 in Marcus Knight, as well as backup Nick Ostmo. But Xavier Harris looked strong in the two games Montana played this spring.

And it's not often you see a former quarterback playing right tackle in college, but that's exactly the case with Dylan Cook. Their offensive line has some FBS transfers from Washington State and Nebraska, so there's some talent along their front five.

Washington defensive coordinator Bob Gregory mentioned Samuel Akem by his number on Wednesday, so expect him to be a player to look out for.

Jack and Luke also break down what they expect to see from former Issaquah quarterback Cam Humphrey. He's a taller signal-caller who will give Washington a bit of a dual threat look, but will mostly look to drop back and find receivers down the field.