Quoting Chris Petersen on Utah, Troy Williams, pass protection and more

It’s Monday, which means Huskies coach Chris Petersen met with reporters to look back at Washington’s win over Oregon State, and look ahead to Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. game at No. 17 Utah.

One quick note: the kickoff time for UW’s Nov. 5 game at California was not announced today, and likely won’t be announced until Sunday at the earliest. ESPN is exercising its six-day window for game selections this week.

Here is all of what Petersen said today:

(What did you see when you watched the tape of the OSU game, especially the second half when you were rolling guys in?) “That’s kind of what we saw, rolling in other guys in. Oregon State, they can run the ball. That’s what we had talked about all week and worked on very hard. The first half was really, really good. The second half, I think it showed up, everything we had talked about. And you put some different guys in there or you let your guard down just a little bit, lose a little energy - a combination of all those things. Not necessarily any one guy, it’s always kind of that team defense kind of thing. That’s what we saw, that’s what we kind of thought during the game. It’ll be a good little lesson, what we’re telling the kids is accurate. It all kind of showed up, what we had talked about during the week. All different things showed up.”

(When you get a chance to roll in so many guys, how does that impact your desire to keep starters fresh?) “One thing I think about keeping our guys fresh…I think if you’re playing a hundred plays a couple games in a row or high 80’s, that type of stuff - that can have a big effect. I think one of the things for keeping your players fresh has to do with how you practice. I’ve said this before: we keep track of exactly how many reps we have, how many reps guys have, the GPS systems that we wear in games, and in practice - I think that’s really, really important. I think playing other players in the games is important for our team in terms of building depth, building skill in some of these younger guys. There’s no substitute for game experience. There’s nothing like it. That’s what I think is more important than just saving your guys for the season as it goes on in terms of reps or those type of things.”

(Do you have a strategy for when you want to start rolling in depth, either as units or individually?) “I think each coach does it…each assistant coach, they make those decisions. I have some suggestions, but they make the decisions. Starting on offense, if we’re going to put in a different quarterback, we don’t necessarily want to switch the whole offensive line out. We may put a guy or two in and then kind of go from there. I think the same thing in the secondary. I don’t think coach Lake just mass substitutes all those guys and eventually they might look like a whole different secondary. But it kind of goes individually and away we go.”

(On the blocked punt) “We just had an assignment error. Day one, base stuff. And it’s like wow. Really? That’s what it was. It was unbelievable, but that’s what it was.”

(Do you feel like you’ve been flirting with that with the rugby punts and the like?) “We weren’t in rugby when we got it blocked. We were in the most safe protection we could possibly be in. So if you study rugby kicking, they all look like that. If you look at everybody - which we have - you’re not going to block everybody and hold them at the line of scrimmage. And so a lot of that is on the kicker. And Tristan’s done a really nice job of getting the ball out. But that’s what the rugby style is. So it’s a little bit ironic the best protection we’re supposed to have you get a kick blocked.”

On it looking like someone’s always close to blocking rugby punts “Yeah. That’s kind of how it is.”

What’s the logic behind rugby punting? “It’s not to kick the ball to the returner. Just sitting behind there and kicking the ball up there; there’s just so many good returners, you’re trying to move the ball around a little bit. The rules are completely different in the NFL. So you can get guys downfield right now, so you put smaller guys in there in the line that block a little bit and you get them out and cover.”

Is rugby punting designed to give the coverage team some time to get downfield? “Yeah, if they’re not going to rush you’re going to hang onto the ball. But most everybody’s forcing the kick in some ways. And you can almost tell pre-snap. The ball has got to come out.”

What criteria do you look at when deciding between a regular or rugby-style punt? “I mean I think it’s just a style. What style do you want to do? What’s the reasoning behind it? It’s like anything on offense and defense. There are a lot of different ways that work. Do you want to have two gunners and have everyone else in there and kind of pocket protect. That should be good protecting, which it wasn’t for us.”

Does time of the game factor in to that decision? “Yeah. Field position, time of the game, situation, all those guys. Field position. All those different things.”

(On Connor O’Brien) “Yeah, he did a great job. He really did. We were really pleased with him and he’s been coming on. He’s been getting in there and he’s been getting significant playing time and certainly he got much more. It was good also to see Benning (Potoa’e) get in there. He did a nice job as well. We’re proud of both of those guys in terms of how they kind of answered. They got more reps in practice and so kind of has to do with just building depth like we talk about. Guys have to be ready to go. They were.”

(Is there a difference in what you can do when Joe Mathis isn’t out there?) “No. Joe (Mathis) is a good player and we all know that. But the scheme doesn’t change dramatically because he’s not (playing). I think we play attention to those types of things whatever the position if a guy’s not going. They’re getting reps all along and you’re trying to be prepared for when things happen.”

(On the difference between size and speed on the edge) “We’re always about speed. I don’t care if you’re talking about o-line. We want athletic guys that can move. Again, we want them as big as we can grow them, but when push comes to shove we’re going to always air on the speed side of things.”

(Are you optimistic Joe Mathis will come back?) “Yes.”

(Is there a time limit on that?) “Nope.”

(Where did you want to see Dante Pettis improve after last season?) “You see flashes out of all these guys, whatever position, these young guys. Dante (Pettis) was a guy that played as a true freshman so there’s a lot of schemes thrown at these guys. They play pretty good, but it all comes down to the detail and precision of your position. So I think when they start to understand that better they can play faster with a stronger mentality. I think that’s kind of what you’re seeing out of really that whole crew. One thing is the this year of hearing the same stuff, so he really can think less and play faster. He’s a good, sure handed receiver for sure. He’s explosive. He can jump. He has good speed as well.”

(Did you think when Troy Williams transferred that you’d play against him someday?) “Yeah, I didn’t really know. I didn’t know about that.”

(On what went into Williams’ decision to transfer) “Well, I think when he first got here, those are chaotic times on everybody. We’re trying to figure out our identity on offense, and we had Cyler and Jeff and all those type of things. I think sometimes, at the end of the day, as you’re working through all those things, and you didn’t recruit a guy … the guy just says, maybe I just need a fresh start. I thought Troy was a good player when he was here, and I knew he’d go somewhere and be a really good player. I think that’s proven true.”

(On how Williams has evolved since he left) “You know, I haven’t studied him enough, to tell you the truth. I’ve seen him a little bit, and he looks like the Troy – he can throw the ball. He throws a nice, tight spiral. I think the one thing that’s different, he’s got a ton of reps. When he was here, he wasn’t getting a ton of reps, and that’s hard – we always say that, it’s hard to be a backup quarterback and really prove yourself. So he went and got a bunch of reps at a junior college, and then he’s gotten a ton in their system and he’s doing a nice job.”

(On Utah playing low-scoring games and a high-scoring game last week) “I think you just have games like that when you play in league. Sometimes it’s like, they can end up lower-scoring games, and then all of a sudden you have a high-scoring game that’s kind of out of characteristic for a team. I just think that happens. Those things, a game that’s maybe not supposed to be as tight, is tight. That’s how it goes. It never goes by the script. Sometimes we fall into a false sense of like, oh yeah, we thought those guys would beat them handily, and that happened, but a lot of times it just doesn’t on any given Saturday.”

(On whether Utah’s statistics skew how UW prepares) “No, I think especially when you get this deep into the season, you study their tape and you see where their strengths are and how they play. One game, I think you can read too much into those things.”

(On what he says to players who say they want to transfer) “I don’t know. I really haven’t thought about that. It’s just kind of on a case-by-case basis. Like I said, I think it is hard when a new coach comes in. That’s hard on everybody. That’s hard on the coaches coming in, we don’t know the kids, the guys that recruited them aren’t here anymore, scheme may change, all those type of things. So it’s the only time I’ve really been involved with that, coming to a new place one time. We had a lot of turnover. I mean, a lot. I don’t think everybody realizes how many guys – that happens when you get a new crew in, everybody’s got to find the best fit for them.”

(On pass protection against Oregon State) “I thought it was pretty good. I think we missed one or two things. But it was OK. Some of the style was a little bit different, throwing the ball downfield a little bit more. They’re going to get around you, get close to you. Jake’s always going to scramble a couple times a game and get out of there. I didn’t think it was significantly different than before.”

(On Jake Browning taking an unnecessary hit near the goal line) “Yeah, I thought that one – and he thought so too – he knew right away, like, you’re playing with fire there. That’s not what he’s out there for.”

(On Utah’s defensive front) “They’re big, strong guys. I think we’d like to be like this too – you’ve got to be able to stop the run, first and foremost, and they’re really good at that. And then you’ve got to try to figure out how to get pressure on the quarterback when they throw it, so your DBs don’t have to hold up forever. I think it’s kind of similar. I think they’re similar styles, both teams, in terms of what we’re trying to get done and some of the scheme type of things.”

(On Utah RB Joe Williams coming out of retirement …) “Well, you want to talk about reps and staying fresh for the season — it worked out pretty good. Then he comes back and he’s getting more reps than he probably ever thought in his wildest dreams he’d get. But he’s doing a heck of a job. He’s a fast guy. He obviously knows their stuff inside and out. It’s kind of one of the weird things that can happen in a career or a season, the twists and turns that a season takes. Good for him to be able to finally get in there and really show how he can play. He’s a heck of a player.”

(More on pass protection) “It always has to do with blitz packages. That’s what it starts with. I think that’s when guys are really starting to get pressure on you, with the different variety of blitzes and being able to identify them and change protections and push the protection different directions and those types of things. So there’s a lot of mental gymnastics going on out there, and usually if you can get that thing clean and right and correct, you’ve got a pretty good chance. A lot of times, that’s where you see some of these physical errors come up (because) they might not have identified it quickly and there’s still some thinking going on and you don’t pick it up cleanly. But when they’re going to bring more guys at you, you’re not going to get a bunch of double teams. So the guys are only going to hold up for so long. We tell our quarterback that all the time: When the pressure comes, you only have so long. That’s fine to draw it on a chalkboard and you’ve got everybody picked up. But that’s only going to happen for (so) long. You’d better get rid of the ball.”

(Are you looking at Utah as your toughest game of the year — beyond just the next opponent?) “I think so. I think their record proves out. Going on the road, that’s a really great environment to play in, all those types of things across the board. This will by far be our toughest test so far.”

(On ESPN’s “College GameDay” being in Salt Lake) “I know their fans will be really excited. That’s usually what happens. It brings quite a bit of energy to the stadium. I think there’s going to be really good energy in that stadium whether ‘GameDay’ came or not. This probably just pours a little more energy into the stadium.”

(On Wildcat package with Myles Gaskin — are you getting everything out of that you want?) “Yeah. It’s just another way for him to get the ball in his hands. We’ll always have some sort of package for the most part.”

(Does that package maybe set up something else …) “Yeah, there’s always the next move as we move forward on those types of things.”

This story was originally published October 24, 2016 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Quoting Chris Petersen on Utah, Troy Williams, pass protection and more."