Midnight links: Huskies expect Utah State to blitz Jake Browning, Marcus Peters shines for Chiefs, and other notes

One day remains before Washington hosts Utah State at Husky Stadium. But who cares about that when there are links to read?

--- Here’s our story in today’s newspaper, emphasizing the Huskies’ preparations for what they expect to be a very aggressive Utah State defense. An excerpt:

With Jake Browning making his collegiate debut in a hostile road environment, it made sense for Washington Huskies offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith to expect that Boise State might blitz the true freshman quarterback in their season opener.

As it turned out, the Broncos didn’t blitz much, and instead relied on a stout run defense to eke out a 16-13 victory.

But while UW coach Chris Petersen compares Boise State’s style to Utah State, the Huskies’ opponent in a 2 p.m. game Saturday at Husky Stadium, no such mystery surrounds the Aggies’ defensive intentions.

“If there’s one thing — they are going to come after the quarterback,” Petersen said. “That’s what they do.”

And they’re a much better defense now than what Petersen usually saw against the Aggies when he was Boise State’s coach. The Broncos were 6-0 against Utah State during Petersen’s tenure, winning five of those games by at least 31 points (because Boise State left the WAC for the Mountain West prior to the 2011 season, and Utah State didn’t make that migration until 2013, the teams didn’t play in 2011 or 2012).

The closest outcome was also the most recent: Boise State held off Utah State, 34-23, in 2013, Petersen’s final season in Boise and Matt Wells’ first year as coach of the Aggies. USU won nine games that season and tied for 25th nationally with 34 sacks, one year after totaling 42 sacks and winning 11 games.

--- And if you missed it last night, here are my Pac-12 picks for the week.

--- And I answered five questions about the game for the Deseret News.

--- Percy Allen writes about Utah State quarterback Chuckie Keeton.

--- Former Huskies cornerback Marcus Peters is already making plays as a rookie for the Kansas City Chiefs. On Thursday, he intercepted Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown. That’s two interceptions now for Peters in two NFL games.

--- The UW Daily has this story about Travis Feeney.

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 11:45 PM with the headline "Midnight links: Huskies expect Utah State to blitz Jake Browning, Marcus Peters shines for Chiefs, and other notes."