Quoting Chris Petersen on final Apple Cup preparations
Thanks again to Don Ruiz for filling in for me today at coach Chris Petersen’s final press briefing before Friday’s Apple Cup game against Washington State. Here’s everything Petersen said.
(Thanksgiving) “We have a lot of families rolling in right now. We have a nice luau tonight going on. After practice tomorrow we’ll have some Thanksgiving late brunch with them. And then we go to the hotel with the later on. We’re with them quite a bit.”
(Time with family) We’re practicing in the morning and they’re going to have all that time until we go to the hotel in the evening, so they’ll definitely get there time, and I think everybody’s excited about people rolling in.”
(Personal excitement) “These guys are enjoyable to be around. This will be a nice setting for those guys. Yeah, excited for it.”
(If he played neighborhood Turkey Bowls as a kid) “Absolutely. It’s been a while since I’ve been there, but there’s no question about it. Back in those days we had to get the video recorder with the cassette tape if we were going to go outside, because I didn’t want to miss … usually it was the Lions or somebody like that. Now it’s even easier. You just press the remote, one button, go play your Turkey Bowl come back and watch good football.”
(Memory of first Apple Cup) “The No. 1 thing that jumps to my mind: I don’t think I’ve ever been colder in my entire life. Not even in Boise. But really, how our guys played, how they responded. That was a cold game. I don’t know if any of the players had ever been in a game that was that cold, and they just went out and played, and they played really, really well.”
(This week since OSU) “It was good. You never really know until you get to the field. Sometimes better than you think and sometimes not as much, but I thought the preparation was very solid.”
(Rivalry energy) “There’s definitely energy. I want every practice to be game-type intensity. And sometimes that’s a little unrealistic. We’ve got to make sure that we show up and play our best game with our best focus and our best energy, and not have left it on the practice field. So I think these guys had a nice balance of focusing in. In a couple of days it’s time to go play, with the most focused we’ve been and as much energy as we’ve had.”
(Injuries) “Everybody’s day to day now. We’ve got two days, so they’re all day to day, and we’ll see in two days.”
(WSU rivalry as opposed to in Boise) “I think the rivalries are similar. Doing this long enough, they’re similar. I just don’t think you can underestimate the rivalries. Everywhere they’re pretty intense and prtty important to people that are involved with them. I think that’s why everybody likes the week of the rivalry.”
(Wanting it to be the same every week, but this week being different too) “One reason it’s probably not overly different for us inside the building is I really do think these kids prepare pretty hard every week. So if all of a sudden it was different, we’d be looking and saying, ‘Where’s this been?’ But I think they’ve prepared pretty well. You feel it from the outside, and you feel it from the people around the programs, how important it is.”
(Underappreciated WSU running and defense) “Last week, I think they ran the ball for about 10 yards a pop. If we could do that we’d be extremely pleased with ourselves. And that’s kind of overlooked. I don’t want to say that’s a deceptive part, because that’s what they’re doing these days. And everyone’s so concerned with the pass game – which you have to be when they’re the No. 1 passing team in the country, that if you don’t stop that run game, then all of a sudden you’re really on your heels. And secondly, I think this defense is playing at a very high level. I’ve said it all along: This defensive line is extremely disruptive. For whatever reason, everybody always talks about offenses, and in Washington State’s case, rightly so. But their defense is really good, and I think this team is playing as well as anybody in our conference now.”
(Bulletin board material out of Pullman) “I don’t really think any of that stuff matters. I think everybody understands how important this game is anyways. And I don’t think it’s going to be a thing of getting either team excited to play. It’s probably going to be getting teams focused in to play, and play with precision and those type of things. … I want our guys being focused, and whatever focuses them the most, that’s what we need to do.”
(Disrupting WSU timing even without sacks) “You’ve got to get pressure on their passer or it’s an extremely long day. I think one of the things that they do well, is I think they’re passers, they have a great feel for when to sit in the pocket and when to get rid of the ball. I think that’s a strength of their offense. … Somehow we do have to get there. That’s what they do well, so we have to somehow get there.”
(Differences in WSU QBs) “I think these are really good quarterback. These guys get the ball out, they’re accurate throwers. When I’ve seen Bender play, you put him in and you’re thinking, ‘OK, here we go; no here we don’t do, here they go.’ He’s got very good mechanics, the ball comes out on time, he throws accurately. And that’s been kind of a trademark of Coach Leach in his day. Sometimes you say a system or whatever like it detracts from a really good quarterback, and I think it’s like a huge compliment that they’ve got a good system. It’s like that. But there are a lot of good systems, (but you’ve got to have) good players, and I think those guys are good. And I haven’t seen enough of Bender to say he’s significantly different. They run their offense – which is good coaching – they’ve got guys dialed in, and they’re productive whoever’s in there.”
(Go deep for film of Peyton Bender) “No. Again, they’re not going to change their system. He’s going to run the same plays, and so again it comes back to us covering the receivers, trying to get some pressure on the quarterback and tackling well.”
(Ever see receivers like these) “Last year, against them. They’ve got four guys out there. The ball can go anywhere. I think that’s what makes it hard. They’re very good at finding space. Wherever the most space on the field, that’s where the quarterback’s going to go with the ball, and then the guys have got to cover tightly.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Quoting Chris Petersen on final Apple Cup preparations."