Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast

Everyone remember the 28-27 come-from-behind win by Washington against California back in 1988? Well, a little over 32 years to the day, the Huskies pulled off a similar shocker, as they came from 21 points behind at half to stun the Utah Utes 24-21 at Husky Stadium Saturday night in a game no one expected to be played a week ago.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - sorted through the madness of this game, this crazy tale of two halves, and what turned out to be a coming-of-age moment for young quarterback Dylan Morris.

Because of cancellations, this game was put together on short notice, and from the Huskies' point of view, it looked like it early. The Utes took the game to UW, out-gained them by a ton, and led 21-0 after two quarters.

In the first half of the podcast, the three pick apart what went right for Utah, namely their ability to move the ball on the ground and in the air, win the battle of third down, and score touchdowns when they were within striking distance - as well as what went wrong for Washington, including missed tackles, going without a third-down conversion, and having no luck at all on the ground, something that was supposed to be their bread and butter.

The second half? What a turnaround. The Huskies, for the second time in three games, shut out their opponent on the scoreboard, and UW came out firing on offense. In Jimmy Lake's parlance of the evening, Utah had hit them with some shots in this street fight, and now it was Washington's turn to take the fight back at Utah. They did just that, coming up with some key turnovers, and then UW's final drive of the night; an 88-yard masterpiece that showcased Morris's cool demeanor, his pocket presence, his ability to command the huddle and move his team down the field in the moments that mattered most. His poise under pressure was unbelievable. 

The result? A beautiful 16-yard touchdown to Cade Otton with less than 45 seconds left gave the Huskies their first lead of the game.

The Dawgman guys go through it all, including their final thoughts on the lessons learned from tonight's game and how those lessons will help the Huskies as they continue through this nutty 2020 campaign, as well as talk about the performances put forth by players like Morris, Otton, Puka Nacua, Zion Tupuola-Fetui, and Elijah Molden.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - got on the mic this morning to give their thoughts on what they'll see later today when Utah tangles with the Washington Huskies, as well as what else is going on around the conference, and also some new UW recruiting information.

First they talk about how the Huskies' current play can impact how they finish out the 2021 class, with a specific nod toward the two in-state five-star targets left on the board; J.T. Tuimoloau and Emeka Egbuka.

The next subject was the Utah Utes. The guys talked about what they expect to see from Kyle Whittingham's team on both sides of the ball, what their loss to USC in their season-opener may have done in exposing certain weaknesses, and the areas the Huskies may be able to exploit.

Next was a focus on the Huskies. First, is today the day we see graduate transfer quarterback Kevin Thomson enter a game? Is this a situation where UW may want to play more than one quarterback to catch the Utes off guard?

And how do we expect Washington to use their running backs? Who will get the majority of carries, and what approach will they take in attacking a strong Utah front seven?

After a quick break, the guys go backward a day to give their thoughts on the two big Pac-12 games that were played; the Big Game, and Oregon-Oregon State. There was plenty to talk about there, with an emphasis on the end of the UO-OSU game and how is the Pac-12 going to sort out that dumpster fire from an officiating standpoint?

Talk comes back around to more recruiting talk, and Scott updates us on the two 2022 players that were offered on Thanksgiving: Sir Mells and Anthony Jones, and how their recruitment may offer a glimpse as to how the Huskies will recruit for 2022 and 2023 moving forward considering the dead period for recruiting has been extended through mid-April.

And in their final thoughts, Chris puts in his two cents when it comes to the College Football Playoff and the Pac-12's place in it, especially when talking about the Big Ten and where they currently stand.

Jack McCauley and Luke Mounger take time from their Thanksgiving meals to provide a comprehensive preview of Washington's Saturday opponent, the Utah Utes.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - have barely come up for air after it was announced that Washington would host Utah Saturday night instead of preparing for the 113th Apple Cup. But there's so much to talk about, we had to get it down on tape!

First, there's Wednesday's crazy AWS outage, which affected 247Sports, as well as dozens of other big companies, so apologies for that. Outages are never fun or come at a good time, but hopefully, the worst is behind us.

But what a crazy 72 hours it's been. First, the announcement that there would be no Apple Cup. Then, talk of Washington approaching BYU for a game, then talk of BYU saying no. Then BYU coming back, saying they would agree to a game only if it was played in Provo and the Huskies couldn't back out. The stakes in this mini-game of brinksmanship were exacerbated by BYU's claim they would play 'any team, any time, any place'. Well, that was clearly nonsense.

Then came word that San Diego State had an opening for this weekend because their game with Fresno State fell through. So was a game with the Aztecs a possibility?

UW Head Coach Jimmy Lake said, at one point, he had four depth charts in front of him (my guess is BYU, SDSU, Utah, and Colorado, but I doubt we will ever know), wondering who the Huskies would end up playing. He bet on Utah, so the team practiced for a potential game with the Utes on Tuesday. And, he was right.

The Dawgman guys also talked about Lake's decision to empty his bench in the fourth quarter of their win over Arizona last weekend when the game was already well out of reach for the Wildcats.

Talk then turned to opinions of John Donovan's pro-style, multiple attack after two games, what has worked well, and what continues to need work.

It's been a whirlwind of emotions since Washington downed Arizona 44-27 last Saturday. Rumblings before the game were that the Apple Cup, scheduled for Friday, was in jeopardy due to a COVID-19 outbreak within that program and sure enough, on Sunday, the game was cancelled the very next day.

That's when Washington athletic director Jen Cohen and he staff went to work trying to find an opponent for the Huskies to play this weekend. According to Jimmy Lake, who met with the media following Wednesday's practice, there were four opponents lined up, but Washington's preference has always been to play a conference opponent, so he and the staff began preparing for Utah and their gamble paid off when it was announced that the Huskies would host the Utes on Saturday night as a replacement for their cancelled game with the Cougars.

Lake said that the respect for Kyle Whittingham and the rest of the Ute football program runs deep within Washington's program and he knows they will be well-coached and ready to play on Saturday night. His team will not take them lightly and will be ready to go as well.

Asked about redshirt freshman wide receiver Puke Nacua who had a game-changing 65-yard touchdown catch and run early in the game, Lake said the Utah native has a big body and is a tough matchup for opposing defensive backs, but that he wants him to be more consistent, noting some of the drops we've seen in the first two weeks. Once he improves in the area of consistency, Lake thinks he'll be a tough player to stop.

After Washington's blugeoning of Arizona last night, Husky fans have a lot to be excited about. The guys from Dawgman spoke Sunday about the numerous things they saw last night including a Husky offense that many considered to be too conservative and "run oriented". Redshirt freshman quarterback Dylan Morris came out throwing and made the Wildcats pay all night with his pin-point accuracy and good decision-making.

One thing that stood out was the play of the offensive line, a group that collectively paved the way for a running game that totaled 233 yards on the ground and kept Morris upright most of the night which allowed him to throw for 230 yards and two touchdowns while going 15 of 25.

It was great to see the offense show that they have enough explosiveness to hurt teams no matter how they try to stop them, but this game was determined by Washington's defense which only allowed Arizona 65 yard of offense by the end of the third quarter. Once the starters were pulled, that's when Arizona went to work and made the game appear to be closer than it was.

Following their discussion of last night's game, Kim, Chris and Scott discussed what they are hearing about the Apple Cup and whether it will be played this coming weekend as scheduled. If not Washington State, who might the Huskies be looking to add to their schedule?

It may not be reflected on the scoreboard by those who didn't watch the game, but the final score of the Arizona-Washington game could have been called at the end of the third quarter.

At that point, the score was Washington 37-0, they had outgained Arizona 392-66, and UW Head Coach Jimmy Lake called in the Dawgs. He had seen enough.

"That's Husky Football right there," he said, matter-of-factly, to the media post-game as he went through all the superlatives; from the play of Dylan Morris in his second-career start as UW's quarterback, to the balanced run game, to the much-improved passing attack, to the flat-out suffocating pressure employed by Washington's 'Death Row' defense on Arizona quarterback Grant Gunnell.

So complete was UW's defensive effort through the first three quarters, Gunnell looked visibly shaken for a couple of series. He went on to lead the Wildcats to 27 fourth-quarter points, but Lake had already committed to playing as many backups as he could, so he was more than comfortable sacrificing some short-term pain to make sure the younger players got a taste of game time under the Husky Stadium lights.

In all, Washington played 63 players.

Lake talked about the improvements made from last week, especially when it came to UW's run defense, as well as shoring things up on special teams and once again dominating the football to the tune of nearly 37 minutes in time of possession.

The media also spoke with tight end Cade Otton, who caught 7 passes for 100 yards and 1 touchdown, as well as senior outside linebacker Ryan Bowman, who finished his abbreviated evening with 3 tackles, including 1 tackle for loss and 1 sack.

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - put together their Saturday morning thoughts on this pregame podcast. The Washington Huskies host the Arizona Wildcats tonight at Husky Stadium. Game time is set at 5 pm PT and will be televised on FOX.

The Huskies (1-0) are coming off a hard-fought 27-21 win over Oregon State, while the 'Cats come to Seattle licking their wounds a little bit. They also had a very hard-fought game, but came up on the losing end of a 34-30 scoreline to USC.

Will UW open things up a little bit more now that Dylan Morris has his first 60 minutes under his belt? And does that mean with his arm, or with is feet? Will they rely a little bit more on Sean McGrew tonight? And how much progress will the offensive line make from game one to game two?

On the other side of the ball, what's a reasonable expectation for defending Grant Gunnell? Would they dare spy on him, or increase the pressure at the line of scrimmage in an attempt to keep the sophomore quarterback bottled up?

The front seven needs to show they can contain UA RB Gary Brightwell, forcing Gunnell into some favorable down-and-distance situations. Is Brightwell capable of having a Jermar Jefferson-type performance against UW? Will the Husky front seven learn their lessons from the Oregon State game and apply them?

Lastly, how big of an impact can Trent McDuffie have on UW's special teams? He had a great first game against the Beavers, so will Arizona kick away from him? Or will they take their chances?

Grinolds, Fetters, and Eklund also give their final thoughts on what they expect to see later on tonight and the keys that might spell the difference in the game.

Jack McCauley and Luke Mounger, collectively known as the Dawgman Interns, hit the record button and gave their thoughts on Washington's 27-21 win over Oregon State in UW's season opener, but also took their time in breaking down the Huskies' next opponent - the Arizona Wildcats.

Starting with the offense, Luke shares his thoughts on what they saw from that side of the ball in Arizona's 34-30 loss to USC, a game they should have won. It all starts with quarterback Grant Gunnell, running back Gary Brightwell, and their talented group of receivers, but the Wildcats also have a pretty good-sized line upfront.

Luke then talks about a couple of his key matchups he's going to be watching during Saturday night's game, and the two discuss some other things that they think Arizona might try and get accomplished against Washington's Death Row defense.

Moving to Arizona's defense, Jack breaks down what he saw from last weekend's game. The Wildcats were featuring a new scheme and a brand-new coaching staff across the board on that side of the ball, but statistically not much changed from previous years.

They talk about new UA Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads and what the Wildcats lost in terms of impact players from last year. Starting with the defensive line, Jack provides information on the players you should know about heading into the game.

Lastly, Luke and Jack take a look at the matchups on that side of the ball when looking at it from how Washington's offense might be able to attack the 'Cats. Will they do it by strictly pounding the football as they did against Oregon State? Or will they try and open things up a little bit more for Dylan Morris, now that he has a game start under his belt?

Switching over to what Washington's defense needs to take advantage of, Luke provides a couple of keys in terms of UW personnel and which defensive players need to step up to keep Arizona's offense back in Tucson.

To wrap it up, Jack and Luke give their confidence level of a Washington win. Do they come up with the same number?

When it comes to scouting this week's opponent, we always try and get the word directly from those that cover the team the closest, and no one covers Arizona athletics online closer than Jason Scheer, the Publisher of WildcatAuthority.com, the UA site on the 247Sports Network.

After a quick update on UA Hoops Coach Sean Miller, it's on to the football team. Dawgman.com's Kim Grinolds hosted Scheer for the chat, and they started with the general feeling around Tucson when talking about head coach Kevin Sumlin.

Then the talk moved to Arizona's 34-30 loss to USC this past weekend. The focus was on the defense, with new defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads and a new defensive staff. They break things down position group by position group, which highlights the fine margins and thin depth the Wildcats is dealing with at present.

After a quick break, the script is flipped and talk turned to Arizona's offense, led by quarterback Grant Gunnell, running back Gary Brightwell, and a host of talented receivers. They all had very good games against USC, including a late drive in the fourth quarter that, in another scenario, would have proven good enough to win the game. Is Gunnell reminiscent of former UA QB Nick Foles? They also break down Arizona's offensive line.

To finish the conversation off, Grinolds asks Scheer about the 'Cats special teams and Scheer provides an interesting admission about Arizona's placekicker when provided an end-of-game scenario.

If Arizona wins the game Saturday night, Scheer provides his keys to victory. And if the home team comes out on top, he offers some ideas as to how Washington was able to take advantage of the Wildcats.