Saturday’s Top 25 showdown between No. 11 Washington and No. 20 BYU is just days away in what should be an exciting primetime game between the Huskies and Cougars on national television (5:30 p.m., Fox).
During his weekly press conference, Washington Huskies Head Coach Chris Petersen had a lot to say about BYU and what makes the Cougars so tough on both offense and defense.
Here is what he had to say.
On Playing BYU
“The number one thing is that is it completely different than what we just saw (against Arizona State). I mean, 180 degrees. On defense they’re different, exact opposite. And on offense, they are similar in that they like to run the ball like Arizona State, which did a nice job of running the ball. But this offense is something we haven’t seen and won’t see again in terms of others shifts and motions and fly sweep action. It’s extremely unique, and they do a nice job with it. It’s a little bit like option football in terms of really making you play assignment sound. You have to do your job before you can chase the ball. They’ve got a nice system off it, done a good job.”
Viewing Information
No. 20 BYU (3-1) at No. 11 Washington (3-1)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018
Time: 6:30 p.m. MST
Location: Husky Stadium (70,138)
TV: FOX | Social Media: #BYUvsUW #GoCougs #GoHuskies
Commentators: Joe Davis (play-by-play), Brady Quinn (analyst), Bruce Feldman (sideline)
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On BYU’s Offense
“You guys should take a look at the tape. It is extremely different how they’re running the ball. There’s so many spread teams, the zone-read game — there’s none of that. But they have their own unique way to keep the defense honest with this fly-sweep game. Half of it is running the fly sweep and half of it is running the ball.
You’re going to see a quarterback take a snap from under center and drop back and throw a pass. How often do you see that? With no play-action. He takes a straight drop and throws it. It’s a unique style. That’s the beauty of college football — you’re always getting something different in terms of everybody’s got their signature way of doing things. Which is different than the NFL, certainly.”
On BYU’s Defense
“They’ve done a great job with it. They really have. It’s a unique style, again, where they’re playing really good defense — nobody’s scored a bunch of points on them. They’re super sound, and I think a lot it has to do with their offense and what (their defense) sees all the time. You’ve got to have great eyes and you’re not going to take chances with blitz.
They play it tight, they play it in front of you. Sometimes when guys are taking chances with all these different blitzes, if you can pick it up you can get a lot of space out there, you can get a lot of one-on-one type of stuff. This is the exact opposite. They’re going to keep things in front. They seem them, they’ve got great help and they’ve got great eyes in terms of the RPO game because of all the stuff they run on offense during practice.
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On BYU QB Tanner Mangum
“He is a heck of a player. We recruited him and liked him a lot. I cannot believe he’s still playing college football. … But he was an awesome kid back in high school. Then he went on his mission and then went to BYU. He’s been there a long time, seen a lot of things, seen a lot of defense, played a lot of football. He’s an experienced fifth-year — kind of fifth year — kind of quarterback.”
10th Meeting
Saturday’s game marks the 10th meeting between both programs. The last meeting took place in the 2013 Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco where Washington took down BYU 31-16, thanks to a 100-yard kickoff return by John Ross. Prior to the bowl game, BYU defeated Washington 23-17 in the 2010 season-opener at LaVell Edwards Stadium. The last time both teams played at Husky Stadium was in 2008 where No. 15 BYU escaped with a thrilling 28-27 victory thanks to a blocked PAT attempt at the end of the game.
