Jimmy Lake ‘not going to cry’ about pass breakups, but Huskies want more interceptions

Huskies defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake met with reporters for a few minutes this morning to preview UW’s game at California, as well as look back at UW’s victory over Utah -- a game in which Lake felt the Huskies dropped too many potential interceptions. Here is what he said:

(On California) “…Probably one of the more unique offenses in our conference. Their new offensive coordinator (Jake Spavital) has put a spin on this Air Raid offense that’s been run now for years. They’re obviously operating at a high level, and the quarterback (Davis Webb) is throwing dimes. He has a talented crew of receivers. Now all of a sudden, you try to make sure all those guys are stopped, (and) they hand it off to these running backs. These running backs are fast. Their o-line does a good job blocking. This is an explosive – and probably a very exciting – offense for the Cal Bear fans to watch.”

(Do they run a lot of crossing routes, like WSU?) “They really run a lot of everything. Vertical routes, crossing routes, intermediate routes. They run it all. They don’t let you just sit back and cover one route. It’s a multiple route-running offense, and like I said, as soon as you start worrying about the pass, they’ll hand that ball off. They’ve had some good rushing games. So we have to prepare for the run and the pass.”

(On Cal quarterback Davis Webb) “Extremely accurate. Strong arm. He can make all the throws. Prototypical quarterback. He’s 6-5, 220 pounds. I’ve seen him throw off his back foot and throw dimes all the way to the opposite hash. This guy’s talented. He’s got a very, very talented arm. And then you can tell in the offense, he looks very, very comfortable checking these routes, check into a run, check into a pass. He looks very, very comfortable, and as the season progresses, you can just see him getting more comfortable. So this is a different animal, and this is going to be a hard offense to stop.”

(On missing some chances for interceptions at Utah) “Of course we’re not going to cry about pass breakups. I like it when they don’t catch the football. That’s good. But we definitely had some opportunities to score, and that’s our job. Our job is to score or get the ball back for the offense. It would have been nice to get at least three or almost four interceptions last week. Those are game changing. They’re game changing. And for us not to cash in on those last week was disheartening, but we’ll do ball drills like we normally do. We haven’t had that issue of dropping interceptions, so hopefully as we move forward here, not just this game here coming up, but for the rest of the season, our guys can corral those balls and make game-changing plays.”

(Was that the most action Sidney Jones has gotten in a game?) “I guess so. I guess I don’t really look at it that way. A couple slants, they threw some slants right there. So I guess it was. He still played a good football game. Made some really good plays on the balls down the field. The higher-percentage routes, the shorter routes, they completed a couple of those. But I’m still really excited about Kevin (King) and Sidney making plays down the field for the big launch ball. We obviously don’t want to give up big plays, and I thought those guys stood up in a tough environment and made some plays down the field that were really positive for us.”

(On the defensive backs being poised and not too emotional in tough environment at Utah) “I thought they did well. We didn’t have any penalties. But you know, maybe a little bit excited when the ball was in grasp and we didn’t make the play. Maybe our engine was revving a little bit too high. There were certain things we were ready for, route-wise, and we jump it, and all of a sudden we’re right there to make the play, and it bats off our hands and goes on the ground. We felt like it could have been a pick-six. Still a positive play, but we have high standards in our room, and we definitely want to return those for touchdowns.”

(Will you remind Budda Baker about the pick-six he dropped on Utah’s first possession?) “Oh, yeah. For sure. Everyone’s going to remind him about that one. We’ll show that one over and over, just like the Apple Cup last year, the one that hit him in the chest. He knows he’s got to make those plays, and we’ll continue to work on those in practice. What I do love, he’s in position to make it. Still knocks the ball down. It’s good the receiver doesn’t catch it. But to take that next step and just really force our will on our opponent, we’ve got to intercept those and return it for touchdowns.”

(Are you surprised he’s had a few of those the last couple years?) “No, not really. I guess the old saying goes, that’s why a lot of these guys are defensive backs. If they were ultimate ball-skill guys, maybe they’d be on the other side of the ball. But it is something that we stress all the time, and hopefully the next go-round when one hits us in the chest, we’ve got to cash in.”

This story was originally published November 1, 2016 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Jimmy Lake ‘not going to cry’ about pass breakups, but Huskies want more interceptions."