Week 4 Soundbites: Chris Petersen Press Conference
September 16, 2019 | Football
SEATTLE – Washington football head coach Chris Petersen held his weekly press conference Monday morning, Sept. 16, ahead of the Huskies' game at Utah this Saturday. Read some of what he had to say below:
(Opening statement) "Not a ton different from watching the tape. There was some good football played and some good football to learn from. It was really good to get a lot of guys in the game that will be factors for us moving forward… Hawai'i presented a unique style of offense, and they did a nice job keeping us on our heels with their run-pass mix and all those types of things… On offense, it was good to run the ball a little bit and be able to throw it down field."
(On the Huskies' pass rush after reviewing Saturday's game film) "Sometimes it's tough when you're mixing it up and you're going to rush three a bunch of times. I thought the defensive coaches did a nice job of mixing how much pressure we brought. It wasn't all the same, it was definitely different. I think that's something that we're always trying to get better at is pass rushing… Last year, that was a little bit of our achilles heel. I think we've improved, but we're still grinding on it."
(On freshman wide receiver Puka Nacua's performance last Saturday) "When he was in, he did well, even blocking-wise, he did a nice job. So much of that has to do with learning what to do full-speed. I think there are certain things we put him in for that he feels comfortable with. There are certain guys we've challenged and said, 'This is on you in terms of you learning the system – the faster you learn and the more you learn, the more playing time you get.' I think Puka has good ability."
(On Jacob Eason's progression through three games) "Just command of the system, that's probably the number one thing. Certainly, he can throw the ball and get the ball to the receivers in a hurry. I think that's the main thing, is just understanding exactly what we're trying to do. Some of the [run-pass option] game and when to throw it out there, when to not throw it out there, when to hand it off, shifts in motions – sometimes, that can be a little bit cumbersome on the quarterback because now he has protections and all kinds of stuff."
(On what stood out about Washington's running backs last Saturday) "I thought those guys played well, I really did. I thought our offensive line did a pretty nice job, and I thought all those guys ran tough and found the creases. It was all a little bit different – Salvon [Ahmed] hit a couple of long runs, [Sean] McGrew bounced around and found some holes. I thought he ran pretty tough after the game, and looking at the tape, I thought the same thing. Richard [Newton] seems to always run pretty tough down there, as well."
(On whether or not BYU is a different team than last year) "They are different on offense, for sure. They have definitely changed and tweaked their system. They were heavily run-oriented, and they still want to run the ball, but it is different. There's certainly some carry-over, but it is different. I think the quarterback makes them better. He's a really good player. He's super athletic, gets the ball out quick. He's got some moxie to him. I think there are some significant differences offensively. On defense, they have a lot of guys back, but they also play a lot of guys, which is something that we like to do around here. They have a lot of depth and rotate a lot of guys at all positions, especially in the front seven. I think that helps them… Kalani [Sitake] is a defensive coach, and they are running his stuff. After two or three years into it, they are doing it better."
(Opening statement) "Not a ton different from watching the tape. There was some good football played and some good football to learn from. It was really good to get a lot of guys in the game that will be factors for us moving forward… Hawai'i presented a unique style of offense, and they did a nice job keeping us on our heels with their run-pass mix and all those types of things… On offense, it was good to run the ball a little bit and be able to throw it down field."
(On the Huskies' pass rush after reviewing Saturday's game film) "Sometimes it's tough when you're mixing it up and you're going to rush three a bunch of times. I thought the defensive coaches did a nice job of mixing how much pressure we brought. It wasn't all the same, it was definitely different. I think that's something that we're always trying to get better at is pass rushing… Last year, that was a little bit of our achilles heel. I think we've improved, but we're still grinding on it."
(On freshman wide receiver Puka Nacua's performance last Saturday) "When he was in, he did well, even blocking-wise, he did a nice job. So much of that has to do with learning what to do full-speed. I think there are certain things we put him in for that he feels comfortable with. There are certain guys we've challenged and said, 'This is on you in terms of you learning the system – the faster you learn and the more you learn, the more playing time you get.' I think Puka has good ability."
(On Jacob Eason's progression through three games) "Just command of the system, that's probably the number one thing. Certainly, he can throw the ball and get the ball to the receivers in a hurry. I think that's the main thing, is just understanding exactly what we're trying to do. Some of the [run-pass option] game and when to throw it out there, when to not throw it out there, when to hand it off, shifts in motions – sometimes, that can be a little bit cumbersome on the quarterback because now he has protections and all kinds of stuff."
(On what stood out about Washington's running backs last Saturday) "I thought those guys played well, I really did. I thought our offensive line did a pretty nice job, and I thought all those guys ran tough and found the creases. It was all a little bit different – Salvon [Ahmed] hit a couple of long runs, [Sean] McGrew bounced around and found some holes. I thought he ran pretty tough after the game, and looking at the tape, I thought the same thing. Richard [Newton] seems to always run pretty tough down there, as well."
(On whether or not BYU is a different team than last year) "They are different on offense, for sure. They have definitely changed and tweaked their system. They were heavily run-oriented, and they still want to run the ball, but it is different. There's certainly some carry-over, but it is different. I think the quarterback makes them better. He's a really good player. He's super athletic, gets the ball out quick. He's got some moxie to him. I think there are some significant differences offensively. On defense, they have a lot of guys back, but they also play a lot of guys, which is something that we like to do around here. They have a lot of depth and rotate a lot of guys at all positions, especially in the front seven. I think that helps them… Kalani [Sitake] is a defensive coach, and they are running his stuff. After two or three years into it, they are doing it better."
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