While this might seem like an Apple Cup for the ages coming up on Friday, the only thing separating it from the past few years is that WSU has only lost one game this season and the Huskies lost three.
Of course, the Cougars didn’t face Oregon on the road (off a bye) or Auburn on the road to start the season — and they dang-near came close to falling to the Cal Bears in a similar fashion the Huskies lost to them.
But let’s cut all that out and just look at it for what it is.
Living in the heart of Coug-ville, and not dealing with the faceless Tweeps and flamers on message boards, I see this up close and personal in my neighborly chats with Coug alums, boosters, and even a couple former players.
I know there are a lot of nervous Husky fans out there, but I can assure you that Cougar fans are extremely nervous. They have a shot at something real special this year and they are scared to death of the Huskies ruining their party. I talk to these real Cougar fans face-to-face almost daily — and they’re not confident.
Sure, there are the fair-weather Cougfans who have bought into the hype and love to talk trash, but the real faithful are wringing their hands.
So, let’s break this game down and talk about these two teams; more about Washington, but some about Washington State.
The Cougars have fielded, essentially, the same exact system of offense the past five years, but the Huskies have had their number and taken them to the woodshed everytime; whether in Pullman or Seattle.
The problem with Washington this year is that they have played inconsistantly; some of that is due to injuries, new schematics, and the mental aspect.
In Chris Petersen’s press conference on Monday he brought up Washington State’s offensive line…let’s talk more about this.
Work the Refs
There’s an old saying in football (and for those who have watched football many years, you will know this), it goes like this: “Officials could call holding on every play, they just don’t call it.”
A quarterback that throws the ball an average of 45 to 60 times a game and has an O-line that doesn’t get holding calls is one lucky quarterback because no offensive line is that good. And after watching the Cougars over and over again, I can say without hesitation that they hold a lot. They just don’t get caught. I’ve counted at least 10 holds a game (pull up their games on youtube, see for yourself).
And if an offensive lineman can get away with something, he will. If they get away with holding? They will keep pushing that envelope. So what’s the solution if you’re the opponent?
Coach Petersen needs to talk to the officials before the game about their holding habit. Great coaches do this (Saban, Meyer), and they can effect the officiating a great deal.
Example: In 1991 when the Huskies played at Nebraska, the Husky offense had two consecutive, extremely chippy holding calls that negated first downs on them against Nebraska’s defense. After the second call, Don James lost his mind and blew a gasket.
He walked out on the field and chewed the refs out. There wasn’t another holding call the rest of the game.
So flip that script to today: Washington State holds almost every down (some are obvious and some are rather chippy, but they’re holds), so Coach Petersen needs to talk to the officials before the game starts and then, during the game, Coach Lake and Coach Kwiatkowski need to be in Petersen’s ear as well because they will be watching the Coug o-line versus the Dawg d-line.
Petersen must work those officials the entire game and become a broken record — eventually it will start paying off.
Defense’s Part in This
It’s true that this year the Cougars have fielded the same front five every game and they’ve not had to replace injured bodies, but the Huskies’ defense needs to win those one-on-one battles.
If Levi Onwuzurike, Greg Gaines, Jalen Johnson, etc. keep signaling to the refs (by grabbing their own jerseys) that they’re being held, it will make the line judge more watchful and then will begin to get into the Cougar’s heads. The holding calls will come.
Also, I know the pundits would love Washington to use all these exotic blitzes, twists and stunts, corner blitzs, blah blah blah…but Jimmy Lake needs to be very careful to pick and choose when he uses these.
The reason? These Cougs are healthy, and have played together all season on a consistent basis. There’s nothing they haven’t seen in terms of blitzes, but if you do blitz you better know you’re going to get there.
Husky fans need to not freak out when the Cougars score points, but a punt is as good as a turnover and a field goal is actually a win for the Husky defense.
The Husky Offense/Occam’s razor
Indeed, sometimes the simplest and most obvious solution tends to be the correct solution.
I haven’t seen one team yet that has stuck to the run against the Cougar’s smallish defense. The Huskies o-line outweighs the Coug’s defense by an average of almost 50 pounds.
We know the Cougars will put seven to eight guys in the box to try to stop Myles Gaskin, and the Cougar defense does have some good speed — so running sweeps might be better in the fourth quarter when they’re worn out.
But to start the game off the Huskies need to pound and pound and pound and grind it out between the tackles. The weight of a bigger man will wear out a smaller man when it’s all said and done.
So what’s the obvious solution? Be like an old tree…
When Stanford was in their hey-day they would put a fullback in the backfield, two to three tightends, and tell you “We’re going to run the ball!”.
By the third quarter, defenses are laying on the ground and running backs are waving as they run by on their way to the endzone.
Another simple solution? Tight ends…
In case anyone missed this, Washington State doesn’t use tight ends on their offense like Washington does (or most teams, for that matter). And I’m not talking about going deep downfield to Drew Sample, Hunter Bryant, or Cade Otten. I’m talking about those little high percentage passes that will wear out the Cougar linebackers. Use the tight ends like big running backs.
The Cougar defense doesn’t really get to practice against big tight ends because they don’t have any. A five-yard pass is as good as a five-yard run.
Turnovers & Physicality
Washington needs to play a perfect game. You cannot give the Cougars extra chances on offense (just ask Arizona), the Huskies have to win the turnover battle.
Cougar players are talking about how they feel they can be just as physical as Washington now — don’t buy it. A bigger team will always out-physical a smaller team.
One of the main things the Cougars do is throw the ball to guys out of the backfield to keep the chains moving, so Ben Burr-Kirven or Taylor Rapp or any sure tackler needs to reject that every time.
Getting Gardner Minshew off his spot is just as good as a sack. He usually has all day to stand back there and so Washington has to win these one-on-one battles up front and get at him.
Something Old
Run Myles Gaskin 30 to 35 times in this game.
Something New
Hunter Bryant, not new to the team — but hopefully Bush Hamdan has some new looks for Bryant that the Cougars haven’t seen.
Something Borrowed
Play like Arizona State this year; they were out-manned but played like a pro-style offense with ball control. They kept their defense off the field and held onto the ball with a short running game, moving the chains, and working down the clock.
Something Blue
It’s going to be cold and wet. Washington needs to keep pounding and pounding and pounding and nothing hurts more, in the cold, and you have blue bruises all over your body. On offense, grind. On defense, punish those receivers (like they did against Utah).
Intangibles
Finally, Washington State has the one advantage of having the Huskies in Pullman. They’ve been playing at a high level and their offense is hot. They don’t give up many sacks and have only lost one game.
On the flip side, I saw Nick Allioti (former Oregon defensive coordinator) talking about this game on the Pac-12 network. He touched on the fact that there’s something about having not beaten a team in five years. He said it is a mental block that gets into team’s heads.
In the fourth quarter, if it’s a close game, there’s far more pressure on Washington State than there is Washington. The Huskies have become a top 20 to top 10 program year in and year out under Coach Petersen and this will continue on as long as he is the Husky coach, but Washington State doesn’t see this kind of notoriety on a consistent basis. They’ve been trying to get past Washington ever since Petersen has been the Husky coach, but they’ve never been able to get over that hump. So the pressure for them to win the North, get to the Pac-12 title game and possibly earn a CFP berth is huge.
Now if both teams play their A game? I think Washington wins, no question. Washington’s A game is better than Washington State’s and they’ve played that game most of the season. But talent-wise, Washington’s A game will be better than Washington State’s any day of the week.
And this is a rivalry game — anything can happen — and I expect, it will.
