Chris Petersen: ‘USC is right back to USC. You just watch the tape’

Here is everything Huskies coach Chris Petersen told reporters at his Monday press conference, including the news that UW sacks leader Joe Mathis will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his foot.

(Opening) “After watching the tape, proud of the way our guys played. I said going in, Cal can give you a lot of issues and I thought our defense played pretty good once we weathered that first quarter and poor field position and those type of things. But looking at the tape I thought it was pretty good. The guys played hard and prepared well, so now we’re reloading and a whole different set of problems.”

(Anything in particular with the tough start?) “No. I thought in particular it was our special teams. It was our kicking game. And that killed us right out of the gate. We missed a block on our first play and so we get minus-2 but everything else was pretty clean. If we get the block Myles doesn’t get hit in the backfield…so then we’ve got to kick and we don’t kick it well. We just didn’t get off to a start. So you take some of that field position stuff out and it put anybody on their heels. So once we kind of got through that I thought our defense battled hard, our offense finally got in a little bit of a rhythm. I thought it was awesome the way we came out the second half, our offense answered, answered and I think that made our defense not have to play so tight because they have a lot of speed and they have a unique system there.”

(Was it something about special teams that was unique that night, or just an off night?) “I think it was just one of those getting off to a rough…we just didn’t execute like we normally had been in a couple guys. That’s kind of how it goes sometimes. It wasn’t any scheme things or anything like that by any stretch.”

(On the defense denying Cal opportunities to go on runs) “Yeah, and that’s what you want your defense…there’s too many good players out there these days. You’re not going to blanket guys and shut ‘em down like…we’ve had a couple those type games but you get in this league and you’re not going to have that. So it’s about slowing ‘em down, containing them, making them earn things. That’s the thing I want our guys to get in their heads is that if they have to earn stuff that changes everything. So I thought that’s what was going on there.”

(Was Cal the most impressive defensive effort overall?) “I’m not sure if it was that. I thought it was good though, it really was. You’re always kind of holding your breath a little bit with Cal. When they spread you out and they have those weapons and they have a lot of speed and by the nature of that system and then they go fast and the whole time they are going to throw a lot of plays at you…I thought our guys on both sides they played really well. I’m not sure if it was our best defensive, but it was good. It really was. Unless you study the tape of what they are doing and how different it is from what you see and what that challenge is playing against those guys, so we were really happy with the way those guys competed.”

(Excited to see Hansen go up against Sidney Jones considering how little Sidney’s been challenged this year?) “I don’t know if I went into that game excited to see all these receivers, but that’s awesome that our guys have that mindset and Sidney hasn’t seen a bunch of balls his way. By the nature of what ... you just knew it was going to go his way. So it was good to watch those guys compete against really good players, a lot of space. I think they did a pretty good job.”

(You wanted the short kickoffs like that?) “Oh yeah. Trying to move the ball around a little bit. It’s always a cat-and-mouse game. When you kick off a lot, like I’ve been saying all season, there’s some really good returners and you watch the tape and you’re like, yeah. This guy’s hurt some people with field position so you’ve got to move it around. We’re going to see the best I’ve ever seen (Adoree Jackson) playing against this week for sure, so we’ll see.”

(Austin Joyner stepping in front of John Ross on returns. What was going on there?) “That’s on me. They’ve got to be coached better in terms of their communication and all that. We hadn’t seen those balls kicked into sort of a gray area about who should take it and all that and obviously we haven’t worked on that enough. So hopefully we can get that straight.”

(Not sure if 74 plays was a season low for them, but what was working on third down that allowed you to go 1-14 against their offense) “It wasn’t a season low. I think Utah really held the ball, but it was close. They are one of the teams that runs the most plays in the country (Cal). I don’t think it was anything in particular. Getting a little bit of pressure on the quarterback, we only sacked them one time but we were around him a lot so he wasn’t able to sit back there and wait for guys to come open. It starts with getting a little pressure and I think our guys covered pretty tight. The combination of those two things, it wasn’t any one thing in particular. If you look back after the game you go wow, was that really what it was? I didn’t realize it was that good on third downs until after the game.”

(What have you seen from USC lately that they weren’t doing early on?) “I hope…I want you guys to go watch tape because I think everybody just does minimal research. USC is right back to USC. You just watch the tape. This is, across the board, really good. Special teams, coach Baxter does a great job. Tons of talent like you’d expect USC to have and now they are playing in rhythm in all three phases. I think it’s easy when you play the first game against Alabama and you’re still trying to figure out your guys, your quarterback. Like everybody else, I haven’t really watched USC until last night and today, but you put them on and start studying and you’re like, okay. You see why they’re in this win streak. They are playing well, they’ve got good players, they’re well-coached. I’m glad we’re playing at home and it’ll be a heck of a game.”

(What are Sam Darnold’s strengths?) “Really good athlete. He can move, he can run. Really strong arm and he’s an accurate thrower. It doesnt look like they’re doing any less with him whatsoever. I think when a guy has year-plus in the system - I know he redshirted, but he was obviously paying attention to what was going on. Now he’s not really a freshman when you look at how many games he’s played now and the things he’s seen. He’s doing a really good job. You couple that with the receivers, it’s like ‘who’s that? Who’s that? Who’s that?’ You’ve got five or six guys and I think their hard decision is trying to figure out who should get the ball the most, whether it’s the tailback or receivers.”

(How do you look at Sam Darnold’s progression compared to Jake Browning’s last year?) “It’s hard to me know about their situation.”

(On starting a freshman quarterback last year and the pay off this year) “Yeah, and I told you guys last year that had nothing to do with this year. Last year we were playing the guys we thought gave us the best chance to win. You have to figure it out now. Look at what so many people are going through now. What gives you the best chance to win this season? It might be two games or something like that, and that’s what we thought about Jake (Browning) las year. I don’t know what their mindset is in terms of their situation. He’s a good quarterback, doesn’t look like a new guy in there by any stretch.”

(On USC’s trick play punt return) “Utah did it to Oregon last year. They got a touchdown out of it. They have a directional kicker. Adoree’ (Jackson) like he’s going to get it. The ball is really going over there so they think it’s a mishit. They got about 40 yards on it.”

(On risk of having all the blockers on the other side with that play) “Yeah, but you can fair catch it or not catch it. It’s kind of a trick play, fake out play. It’s a good play.”

(On Adoree’ Jackson) “He’s the best (kick returner) that I’ve studied and all that. By far the best.”

(How much does the crowd matter this weekend?) “Yeah I thin it really matters. I think when we’re playing a really good team and it’s going to be a close game that that matters for sure. There’s momentum swings and how energizing the crowd can be to our players. And like I said I don’t remember too many games that I’ve been around where it felt like it did when we played Stanford. That momentum, that force in the stands, and it’s just awesome. We’ll be excited to hopefully get that going again.”

(On style points mattering in College Football) “I have no idea. I think I had the committee say that has nothing to do with anything. That’s the only thing I’ve ever heard. So you trust them. All we’re trying to do is win a game.”

(Do you go back and look at historical USC and UW?) “I think our guys know. You know how big a game this is; it’s USC, all those type of things. Everybody. I certainly wouldn’t do it thinking I need to get these guys more motivated and fired up. I think that’s one of the things that maybe sometimes we’re too excited to play. I think about that this week. Our guys study tape and they know good teams and good players. It’s never that thing where a coach can come in, trick the guys to get them - they kind of know. They know like the coaches do. You put the tape on and you’re like ‘okay, first of all it’s USC.’ Then you put it on and it’s like ‘oh, okay. I get it. I know why there winning now.’ They’re playing really good and they have that talent they’ve always had.”

(So you won’t show them the 1990 game or anything?) “No. I mean, the thing that’s hard about that is our time. We only have so much time with these guys. You just fly through your meetings, and you try not to fly through them so you can make points and stuff, and then – I wish we had all day with them. Bring out stuff like that, just for the uniqueness of the game and the history of football and the history of rivalries and all that kind of stuff would be kind of good. But I don’t know, maybe I will now that you say it.”

(Have you considered riding a golf cart out of the tunnel? It seems to get fans excited) “We don’t have that history and tradition here, so we probably won’t.”

(What did last year’s win at USC mean to your program at that time?) “I don’t know what it did for our program. I really don’t. It was such an awesome win for our guys, because again, everybody has tremendous respect for USC and what goes on down there. With the team that we had last year trying to figure some things out, figure out who we are and all those things, for our guys to go down there … that was really – they played super hard and to win a hard fought game, that was really good. In terms of what it did and all that, we were still struggling, just inconsistent even after that for a while. It just took us a while to get into a groove.”

(On how the team has responded to injuries to starters) “I think they have. And you’re exactly right. It’s just going to happen every year. There’s no team – I mean, I don’t know. This would be a good study. Is there any team in America right now that’s playing and has all their guys? You like to think you’re going to, but you know you’re not. Kind of along those lines, we’re not going to get Joe Mathis back. We thought we would. And so he was rehabbing, rehabbing, and everybody thinks it’s best if he got some surgery and got it fixed the right way. So, yeah. That’s one of our guys right there that we thought would be down for a game or two, and it turns out to be a little bit different. Fortunately, the next guys have been playing, and they’ve been playing hard getting meaningful reps and all that, and that’s just kind of how it goes.”

(On the importance of needing the backups to be ready) “I mean, sometimes it’s really even three, as you go into your season. So it really has to do so much with building depth as you go through this whole thing. You just have to, because you’re just not going to play with all your guys.”

(When was the decision made about Joe?) “I think late last week.”

(And it’s his foot?) “Something on his foot, yeah.”

(Did he have a setback while rehabbing?) “No, no. He might have been able to rehab and get in there for some games down the road, but just between him and the doctors and all that stuff, just thought after rehabbing it for a couple weeks, I don’t think he was going to feel real comfortable.”

(Could he have returned if the season went into January?) “Maybe, yeah, but not with getting surgery.”

(On Joe Mathis’ journey throughout his college career) “He’s had a lot of stuff football-wise, too, injuries and stuff. He’s had a lot of things to weather, and he’s done a really good job with it. It’s unfortunate that he can’t finish his senior year out here. Football is really important to him. He’s such a good player for us and all those things. I think all the things that he’s been through, on the field, off the field, have put him in a position to handle this one better. I think he’s really positive. He’ll get his foot fixed and try to keep playing.”

(On going with Connor O’Brien at buck linebacker) “We’ve been doing what we’ve been doing. So those guys have been getting a lot more football and stepping up to the plate and playing.”

(On whether it’s more difficult to manage the team’s time, considering its national profile, than it was when Boise State was nationally ranked and getting a lot of attention) “Not so much, just because of kind of how I am with that whole thing. We’ve got to make time for it. It’s really important for our program (that) we get all those things. But we have to do our job, which is take care of these kids and study out how to gameplan and practice and all that, and you only have so many hours in the day, so you try to do maybe a couple extra things, and that comes with the territory. But I always say this, and it’s a fine line and I know it really irritates a lot of people, but one of my responsibilities is protecting our players, to make sure that they stay focused on what they need to stay focused on, and if our quarterback’s running around doing 14 interviews a week, which he could easily do, that’s not right for him. it’s not right for our team. We try to think it out whether it’s me or some of our players and give guys access, but also just the balance of all that stuff we talked about – that has an effect on guys, there’s no question. I mean, you get worn out by it. You start cutting time on where you need to spend your time. So I take that responsibility real serious on both sides – try to give everybody what they need to have some access, but then also protect our guys to keep them looking at what they need to look at.”

(Are you saying ‘no’ more than you ever have?) “No. Uh-uh. Not more than I ever have. I think at Boise, they were always really intrigued on what the heck’s going on over here. So I got really good at saying no before I got here.”

(On conversation with Browning walking off field in Tempe last year, which was UW’s last loss) “I don’t really remember that conversation. … It’s not really one thing, you know. And I really mean that when I look back on that. Those kids just, they just kept practicing hard. It was a tough, hard time, but when you look back on it it’s like, ‘This was great. These kids really didn’t back down. They kept working and they kept the urgency like it just really mattered. Every practice, all those things, you just felt that. So I don’t remember what the conversation was, but I remember them just fighting hard. And when you keeping working hard, in whatever you do, you’re going to get some payoff down the road. The thing that we can never predict is when that is.”

(How would you characterize this team’s practice habits?) “Real good. Real good. Very focused. But I am interested to see how this thing goes this month, because I think it’s really hard — and we talked about this the other day with them — to keep practicing at a really high level when you have a lot of reps under your belt, and some things are the same and some aren’t — from everything to fundamentals. To let that go to ‘Yeah, I got this.’ That’s three of the worst words a coach can hear” ‘Yeah, I gotcha.’ It’s not that same (feel) — to have that renewed (focus), they’d better have it this week, you know. Or it’s going to show up.”

(You say this month — because of all the work they’ve put in up to this point?) “I mean, who wants to run out to practice tomorrow and practice super hard after all this time? It’s hard for everybody. But I think the special teams and special players can somehow get that in their mind where it’s like, ‘I’m good.’ I know everyone’s going to be there at their best on Saturday, but that’s not what wins games — it’s what can be done now until then.”

(On UW running backs rotation) “We have a plan. We have certain groups and guys go in for that stuff, but then if somebody looks like they have an extremely hot hand you might leave him in a little bit more. So we have a plan, but it’s never locked in like this is the only thing we’re doing. And I think Coach Bhonapha does a really good job with that.”

(So you’re not really influenced by a runner’s style or matchup vs. a particular defense) “Well, a little bit. But that’s all done during the week in terms of plays and those types of things.”

(With Mathis out, on Benning Potoa’e getting more time vs. Cal) “Those are really meaningful reps. He’s kind of new to that position and there’s a lot there (to learn). So it’s really good to have gotten him in the games in the past and let him see things full speed against good players. I think it’s going to be interesting this week because I think this (USC) offensive line is really, really good. Really good. And I don’t say that a lot. I think you can always find a couple good players on an offensive line and the rest of the guys are OK. (But) I think these guys across the board are really good players.”

(USC’s line compare to anyone?) “There’s some teams we’ve obviously got some pretty good respect for how they play, they’re pretty physical; Utah’s a good line. But, again, we’re still in the process of studying those guys … but these guys look as good as anybody we’ve seen, for sure.”

(On USC’s defense holding Oregon to 288 yards, Ducks’ lowest since 2009) “I think they’re really starting, on all sides and all phases — you’ve got these good players that are now starting to figure out their system with what their coaches want. So they’re just playing hard and doing their job. You talked about having to earn stuff — they don’t give you stuff. They’re going to (leave) a guy wide open and all this space (or) get fooled with their eyes. I think that’s the difference. Early on, they were still probably moving some pieces around, and maybe the scheme was new to some guys, and it’s different practicing than it is in a game. So now they’ve got that rhythm, so they get it. They know what their coaches want with really good players out there, and that’s what you’re seeing out there. We always look: ‘Are teams improving? Are they getting better?’ This is one of those teams.”

(On K.J. Carta-Samuels’ development) “You’d like him to be able to get in and throw the ball more and play the game. So we haven’t got that done. But I think he’s building skill, he’s making progress. You never really know until you put a guy into those situations, but he’s been awesome. We challenge him all the time; it’s so easy sometimes — I think quarterback is one of the harder backup positions to play because there’s not a lot of rotation going on there. But it can be one play and you’ve got to go do the job at the level we expect. So he studies hard and practices hard.”

(You’ve had such success with your base defense, when you lose your sack leader — is it still just “next man up”? Or do you have to tweak schemes more?) “Yes to all that. We do what we do, but you can’t just say, ‘Can this guy do what he did?’ And so it’s that combination of doing what you do and then figuring out what these guys can handle and what they do well and tweaking things from there.”

This story was originally published November 7, 2016 at 1:28 PM with the headline "Chris Petersen: ‘USC is right back to USC. You just watch the tape’."