Midnight links: Robert Upshaw signs with the Lakers, and Utah State coach Matt Wells talks Huskies
Tuesday means defensive players and coaches are available for interviews after practice, so expect some notes and quotes from that session a little later. Until then, let’s catch up on Huskies news from the last 24 hours.
--- Ex-Huskies center Robert Upshaw, the school’s single-season record-holder for blocked shots, signed a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Los Angeles Times reports that only $35,000 of Upshaw’s $525,093 salary is guaranteed. Upshaw went undrafted after being dismissed from UW in January.
--- Adam Jude also writes about Gaskin.
--- And the UW Daily has a story on UW’s running backs, too.
--- Utah State quarterback Chuckie Keeton might be starting to look more like his old self.
And here is some of what Utah State coach Matt Wells said about playing against the Huskies, Jake Browning and Chris Petersen (among other topics) during his Monday press conference, courtesy of Utah State.
Matt Wells
(Recapping the Utah game) “I’m very proud of our players’ efforts. I thought they fought until the bitter end. Quite honestly, I think we just ran out of time. That’s the way I felt and I know our players felt like that. I thought they competed their tails off until the bitter end. I loved our coaches’ effort; I loved what we schemed up on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game, which probably was more of a wash. But, I can tell you for what they do in the punt game, our punt return team did a really nice job, which won’t show up in any stat sheet.”
(On not executing as well as the team needed to against Utah) “We have to execute better. If I could point to one area that both sides of the ball has to better in, it’s red zone. We had four possessions on offense in the red zone and came away with two touchdowns and two turnovers. That’s 50 percent of the available points and that’s way below our plan to win. That doesn’t give you a chance to win. To me, you’ve got to come away with points, at minimum field goals, but you have to score touchdowns, too. Defensively, there were four red zone opportunities for Utah’s offense and they had three touchdowns and one field goal. Giving credit to Utah where credit is due, they made the plays and forced two turnovers. If we turn even one of those three touchdowns into a field goal, that’s four points off the board. The ability to not turn over the ball twice on our end and just come away at minimum with two field goals, it’s an overtime ballgame. We didn’t play very good in that area and in big games you have to do that. That may have been the deciding difference in the ballgame.”
(On Washington) “It’s another Pac-12 opponent on the road. We’re very early into this process, but you see a team with some young skill guys on offense that have made a lot of plays. The quarterback, the tailback and the receiver all had really good games on Saturday against Sacramento State. On defense, I see experienced safeties, a linebacker or two that are experienced and have played outside backer and inside backer. I really like (defensive lineman) Joe Mathis and Elijah Qualls, the nose guard. Those guys are active. They’re very multiple. I have a lot of respect for this staff, in particular the defensive staff. Most of them are from Boise State and we’ve gone against them before and seen them a lot. Schematically, they’re very sound. They’re aggressive in what they do and we’ll have to match that aggressiveness, and to match them up scheme-wise to give our guys a chance to play well this Saturday up in Seattle.”
(On how will the return of senior WR Hunter Sharp help the receiving corps) “The receivers played well against Utah. Zach Van Leeuwen played really well. Devonte (Robinson) at times played pretty well and two of those catches he made were unbelievable. He’s getting to have a knack for that. He’s holding the line and catching balls over his outside shoulder. He’s really good at that. Tyler Fox stepped up and made a couple of key catches, including a third-down ball. Andrew Rodriguez didn’t have as many catches as the week before, only because coverage and some things dictated that, but he played very solid. I was happy with the way our receivers played and we’re going to keep getting better.”
(On what players stood out against Utah) “David Moala played really well. He had a solid game. (Offensive linemen) Austin Stephens and Taani Fisilau played really well inside for us against a really good defensive front. Both running backs, LaJuan Hunt and Devante Mays, ran well at times. I want to continue to see them run behind their pads in a couple of different situations, but they’re still learning. I like the way they play and I like the way they prepare. Chuckie Keeton’s performance was one of the gutsier performances I’ve seen out of him. He was just a warrior down to the very end and gives your team a chance to win every time he’s in there.”
(On Chuckie Keeton’s performance after he took the hit to the knee against Utah) “We checked him after every series and he kept getting cleared to go in. Of course, he wasn’t going to come out. To say that a kid continues to amaze you, it seems like he’s young in the program, so I don’t know how you say that about a fifth-year kid. It’s not like he didn’t run after that, either. He ran on QB zone reads, a draw and scrambles. He’s a winner.”
(On how concerning it is that the defense hasn’t forced any turnovers through the first two games) “It’s been a focus. We had a couple of opportunities against Utah and didn’t catch the ball. You’ve got to rip balls out, you’ve got to gang tackle and continue to do that kind of stuff. As long as you continue to play with effort and we get guys to the ball, and we can freeze-frame video and say there are nine hats in the video, 10 hats in the video or 11 hats in the video, those things are going to come. I’ve got to trust that and those kids have got to trust that, but it’s an emphasis. We work on tackling, we work on ripping and stripping balls, and interceptions, and all the things we’ve worked on for the last several years. It just hasn’t happened in two weeks. We’d all like it to happen more, but I don’t think it’s the way we’re practicing or running to the football, but you’ve got to continue to do that stuff and hopefully good things happen and you can force some.”
(On missing tackles against Utah) “We missed some, but we also made some really good open-field tackles, too. We’re way more critical of ourselves than you guys (the media) or the fans are. The players are just as critical of themselves, but there has got to be a lot of positive, too, because they made a lot of open field tackles against a young man that is a really good running back. But, we missed some. We missed maybe a potential for a safety or a strip-sack right on the goal line. Those are potential big momentum changers and we’ve got to make those plays. We’ll always be very critical of ourselves.”
(On the perimeter tackling not being very good in the first half against Utah) “It was better in the second half. The problem was it wasn’t real good at times in the first half. You’ve got to play the whole game and you’ve got to be ready right out of the gate. You’ve got to make those kind of tackles in the first series and get them down, because the first series turned into a touchdown.”
(On how important it is to establish the run game early against Washington) “That’s a weekly emphasis. How are we going to do it schematically? How are we going to do it personnel-wise? Washington was very, very stout in the first half against the run (against Sacramento State). When the game was in the balance in the first couple of quarters, they were really stout against the run.”
(On how UCLA transfer Ben Wysocki has helped the offensive line) “His versatility has helped a lot. He’s only played guard, but he can play center and could play tackle. The fact he is a mature, older guy that’s played in Pac-12 games and been successful, that helps. He jumped right in and our guys have wrapped their arms around him, he’s learned what we’re doing and he’s been a great addition.”
(On Washington’s first two games against Boise State and Sacramento State) “You’ve got two games that have been very interesting because they ran the ball a lot in game one against Boise State and then against Sacramento State they had some quick scores and you get a score that’s out of hand. In the second half, the clock is running. Look at us, we had 11 possessions (against Utah), with the 11th being when we’re down two scores with whatever time was left when we got the ball back and we’re chucking it down in a two-minute drill. We had 10 real possessions on Friday night. That’s why those three three-and-outs in the third quarter got so magnified because it was a short ballgame. You’ve got to take advantage of that.”
(On his impressions of Washington freshman QB Jake Browning) “That kid’s best days are ahead of him. He’s a talented kid and for Chris Petersen to play a true freshman, I have a lot of respect for that because of what he’s done with quarterbacks in the past as a coordinator and as a head coach. I have a lot of respect for him as far as quarterback play. To me, when you name a true freshman as your starting quarterback and you’re in year two, there’s a lot of trust that goes into that from their standpoint. I’m just assuming and reading into all of this, but to me, that makes you think highly of the kid as an opposing coach going in because the guy knows what the heck he’s doing at coaching the quarterback. Coach Pete is one of the best in the business and that kid will get better and better each week and by the end of the year, he’ll be very productive in that league. The kid has got a great future ahead of him. He’s got arm strength and you see accuracy. You know the kid has got toughness and grit, or he wouldn’t have won the job in training camp. I think there’s a couple of things I can assume about him and be pretty spot on, but I can see the physical skills on tape and he’s a very talented kid.”
(On what kind of atmosphere he expects Saturday afternoon at Husky Stadium) “I’ve never been there. I’ve never played there and I’ve never coached there. I saw it a couple of summers ago after the renovation. It’s a beautiful stadium and they did a tremendous job with it. I think it’s first class, so I would expect it to be a great atmosphere and our kids are excited to go up there and play on national television.”
(On how long he’s known Coach Petersen) “Our friendship goes all the way back to my Tulsa days and his Boise State days when he was the offensive coordinator. (Current Boise State head coach) Bryan Harsin was the tight ends coach. I was coaching at Tulsa and we were playing in the old WAC and had some of those battles then. Just getting to know him over the years, I have a lot of respect for him. On both sides of the ball, we know they’re very, very good scheme coaches. They’ve got juice, they’ll get their guys motivated and it’s a tremendous staff in my opinion.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2015 at 11:46 PM with the headline "Midnight links: Robert Upshaw signs with the Lakers, and Utah State coach Matt Wells talks Huskies."