UW's new defensive coordinator is Justin Wilcox, who was DC at Boise State for 4 years before Tennessee hired him. he was DC of Tennessee for the last 2 years being that we played Tennessee each of the last 2 years, this means UW has a DC that has 2 years experience game planning against us, which is an advantage other OOC teams we play wouldn't have
oh yeah, I forgot to point out he is one of the best young defensive coordinators in football (he's only like 35) he did a tremendous job at Boise and then at Tennessee. then Texas tried to hire him and he turned them down the reason he decided to go to UW is because he is from the Pacific Northwest (Oregon) ... plus it didn't hurt that UW is paying him a whooping $750,000 this year, $800,000 next year, and $850,000 the year after that (2014)
Well there is one major flaw in that. He was game planning against JJ. Which quite frankly my 6 year old could have done. Here is the last 4 years game plan against LSU's offense. "stack the line, force their QB to make a decision and throw the ball. Stop the option by again stacking the line, have man to man on the corners. Dont worry he cannot complete it anyway" They had to defend 4 plays Option short side of the field Zone Read RB off tackle left RB off tackle right The first being run 80% of the time It was pretty simple Now at least on paper he is facing a considerably more dynamic offense to scheme against. Granted you still have to stop the run that is LSU but now if you put everyone on the line Mett can actually throw a forward pass to.... wait for it..... an LSU player who can run...
its going to be fun seeing how our defense matches up against some bona fide All-Star candidates (Saturday night on ESPN, live from Death Valley) UW features 3 of them on offense: 1) #17 Keith Price, QB - in the opener, he was 25 of 35 (71.4%) for 222 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs...and he had completions to 9 different receivers - last year, in his first season as a starting quarterback (replacing 1st Round pick Jake Locker), he was #8 in the NCAA with 33 TD passes (and only two QBs that beat him are back this year: USC's Barkley and UGA's Murray)... and he was #6 in the NCAA in passer rating, min 20 att/game (and nobody that beat him last year is back this year, although USC's Barkley was just a hair behind him). he broke the UW single-season touchdown passes record with 33, beating the old record by five... his 3,063 passing yards ranked No. 2 in UW history... and he set the UW school records for season completion percentage and pass efficiency - his best game last year was his bowl game vs RGIII & Baylor and he looked every bit as good as RGIII, completing 23-of-37 (62.2%) for 438 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, and rushing for an additional 3 TDs and 39 yards (his seven TDs responsible for were an NCAA record for a bowl game, as were his 42 points responsible for) 2) #88 Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE - in the opener, he had 9 catches for 82 yards - as a freshman last year, he came 7 catches and 53 yards shy of breaking the UW single season records for receptions and receiving yards by a TE set by 1st Round pick TE Jerramy Stevens in 2000...and he's already only 4 TDs shy of the UW career record for most career receiving TDs by a TE - a year ago out of high school, he was rated the #2 TE in his class by both Rivals and Scout, he was #32 on the Scout100 and #39 on the Rivals100, he was a US Army All-American, yada yada - now he is the #1 rated TE in his class by NFL Draft Scout, a Preseason All-American, and getting plenty of praise from the media, for example College Football News' 2012 preview says: "Watch out for Seferian-Jenkins to blow up into a household name. ... the sophomore was basically toying with Huskies defenders in the spring. He’s already on the same page with QB Keith Price, which could result in double-digit touchdown catches in 2012. Seferian-Jenkins is one of those rare tight ends, who leaves after three years, and gets drafted in the first round the following April." - as a recruit, he had offers to LSU, Alabama, Southern Cal, Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Florida State, Florida, Miami, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Clemson, Stanford, UCLA, Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon State, etc - he also played for the UW basketball team last season a la Jimmy Graham 3) #2 Kasen Williams: WR and punt returner - in the opener, he had 6 catches for 75 yards and a TD - he's the most highly touted recruit in UW history...was the Parade National Player of the Year ("It was pretty obvious that he was No. 1 to us," said Parade associate editor Emmet Sullivan), was MaxPrep.com's National Athlete of the Year, on the USA Today All-USA First Team, a Parade All-American, a US Army All-American, rated the #2 WR in his class by Scout.com, etc...won 3 state championships in football (Fall 2007-2009), 2 state championships in the high jump (Spring 2009, 2011), one state championship in the long jump (Spring 2011), and two state championships in the triple jump (Spring 2010-2011) - had offers to LSU, Alabama, Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Oregon, Notre Dame, Arkansas, Florida State, Florida, Nebraska, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Stanford, UCLA, Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon State, etc -his father was a 4-time letterman WR at UW from 1979-1982 -College Football News' 2012 preview said this about him: "What to watch for on offense: Kasen (Williams). Of course the Huskies were disappointed to see receivers Jermaine Kearse and Devin Aguilar graduate, but second-year sophomore Kasen Williams is going to be better than both ... One of the nation’s top recruits of 2011 played like it in his first season out of high school, catching 36 passes for 427 yards and six scores off the bench. At 6-2 and 216 pounds, with the burst to elevate high into the air, he has the natural skills to beat defensive backs in so many different ways. ... He’s an explosive all-around weapon, with the 6-2, 216-pound frame and bounce in his step to create mismatches with opposing defensive backs. He’s on the brink of a monster second season in Seattle. ... In Williams and (TE) Seferian-Jenkins, the Huskies boast a pair of second-year players poised to abuse defensive backs and linebackers as if it’s a bodily function. Both are wonderfully gifted young athletes, with the size-speed combos to create separation, and give (QB) Price the window he needs to make connections."
Last time we played UW a few years ago, they really gave us fits. Loker was like a Tebow who could throw and was faster.
thoughts from Sark and Pete Carroll on the tiger, including Carroll's experience with Mike when he was an opposing player coming onto the field in Death Valley... Sarkisian said he thought the ploy got the desired result. "Just trying to minimize distractions," he said. "There can potentially be a lot of them when you get down there with the stadium, the crowd, the heat, the tiger outside the locker room. So hopefully Saturday when we walk out of the locker room we are not so enamored that that might be the first time someone has seen a tiger before when we get warmed up and get ready to play." Pete Carroll was a tiger in college, playing at University of Pacific. That didn't keep Carroll and his teammates from being intimidated when they played in the den of the LSU Tigers, walking onto the field by the school's mascot. "That thing scared the pie out of our team," Carroll said. "They were poking him with a cattle prod or something as we were walking by. It was horrible." So consider Carroll a fan of Steve Sarkisian's idea of bringing a tiger to the Huskies' practice on Tuesday. "I thought it was a great idea," Carroll said."It's...to make his guys comfortable with the kind of elements that they can't see any other way ... At U o P, we didn't have the resources to call in the tiger. So the fact that Sark did, I thought it was a great idea"
Sporting News: The Huskies better shore up things in the front seven if they are to make this contest competitive, as LSU will run the ball all day long. That gameplan worked to perfection in the opener against the Mean Green, with the Tigers rushing for a whopping 316 yards, on nearly seven yards per carry. (in the opener,) the Huskies gave up some yards on the ground (199) to the Aztecs, but SDSU was unable to take advantage for the most part. Washington was much better against the pass (128 yards), while recording four sacks and forcing three turnovers.
Seattle Times on the UW practice yesterday: "The practice was definitely intense...with the players seeming a bit, well, chippy at times. No big brawls or anything like that, but just a definite intense feel throughout the practice, which was often conducted in deafening piped-in crowd noise." and Sarkisian said about QB Keith Price: "I like his focus. He's very wired into the gameplan and the ball game Saturday night,'' he said.
You gotta think that playing a Pac-12 team will be a good test for the defense. Other than Oregon and USC that conference is offense only. Sark is an offensive minded guy, so I'm thinking this will be a good test for the Tigers. On the other hand I feel for Washington if they are having to put a live Tiger on the field during their practices. It's not the Tiger they have to worry about, it's the Tiger faithful and the f'n heat. What's the weather going to be like this weekend in the stick?
