Maddy Grassy The Daily
3-2-1, Football: The Daily’s Primer on Utah
By Ty Gilstrap The Daily
3 Numbers to Know:
308: The number of minutes Utah has held the ball this season, a mark that leads the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Across its nine games, the total averages out to a little over 34 minutes per game.
161-76: Kyle Whittingham’s record as head coach of Utah. Saturday’s game will mark Whittingham’s 364th as coach with the Utes, and his 238th as head coach. He got his start as a defensive line coach in 1994, before working his way up to head coach following Urban Meyer’s departure to the University of Florida in 2004.
12,000: The approximate number of pigs junior quarterback Bryson Barnes estimates he raised while growing up on a farm in Milford, Utah — a number that Fox
Sports proclaims leads the FBS. After last week’s win over Arizona State, Whittingham wore a “pig farmer” shirt in his post-game press conference.
2 Players to Watch:
Sione Vaki - The newest twoway player in the Pac-12, Vaki has taken snaps as both a running back and safety this season for the Utes. The 6’0”, 208-pound sophomore has picked up 243 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the past five games, while notching 26 tackles and 4.5 tackles for a loss in that same span.
Jonah Elliss - The 6’2”, 246-pound defensive end’s last name was known in Salt Lake City long before his arrival. The son of defensive tackle Luther Elliss, a first-team all-conference and AllAmerican for Utah in the early 90’s, the younger Elliss is developing a name for himself in his own right with 16 tackles for a loss and 12
sacks this season — a mark that sits second in the nation.
1 Recap of Last Week:
After rough sledding the week before against Oregon, Utah got back on track with a 55-3 slaughter of Arizona State, its biggest margin of victory ever in a Pac-12 game. Barnes finished with four touchdowns passing, while the rushing attack picked up 370 yards on the ground.
The only damper on the day was the early exit of sophomore running back Ja’Quinden Jackson, who had already recorded 111 yards and one touchdown in the game, after he was rolled up early in the third quarter.
Afterward, Whittingham announced that Jackson reaggravated an ankle injury that he’s been battling all season.
Reach Sports Editor Ty Gilstrap at sports@dailyuw.com.
Twitter: @ty_gilstrap
Lydia Ely The Daily
Kilbreath: Win over USC proved UW hasn’t lost a step
By Ethan Kilbreath The Daily
After a mammoth win over Oregon, Washington had its momentum halted.
A win is a win, but two razorthin victories against the lowly Arizona State and Stanford squads didn’t exactly inspire confidence that the Huskies were the national championship contender they were cracked out to be.
Given those performances, a first loss seemed to be creeping up on UW with the gauntlet stretch of the schedule approaching, beginning with a trip to No. 24 USC.
The Trojans, after all, weren’t going to be held to 15 points like the Sun Devils were, and the Huskies’ flaws had popped up in different places over each of the previous two weeks.
If they didn’t return to form against USC, that loss would finally catch the Huskies, and they’d be almost entirely written off from playoff contention.
But these Huskies are writing their own story.
Against USC, the Huskies’ proved that a zero-touchdown game against Arizona State was about as much of an anomaly as the fairy circles in the Namib Desert. They showed that their defense could come up in big moments, as well.
UW showed some flaws, sure. But a 52-42 win over USC was enough to restore confidence that the Huskies are who we thought they were.
Put simply, they proved that they’re closer to the team who beat Oregon than the team who struggled with Arizona State.
“[I am] excited about the way we’ve bounced back,” head coach Kalen DeBoer said after the win. “Considering everyone’s thoughts on what we were doing the last couple of weeks, we continue to win.”
Detractors may still be inclined to point out that Washington’s defense gave up 515 total yards, and 42 points to USC’s offense. But the Huskies once again proved that they could flourish in other ways in order to find a win.
In this case, they revived a running game that accounted for just 104 yards against Arizona State and Stanford combined, rushing for a whopping 316 yards against the Trojans.
They also won the time of possession metric, something that they had lost in their previous four games.
“It takes a team effort to win a football game,” DeBoer said. “There’s things that maybe we weren’t doing the last few weeks, but we did tonight.”
As the season continues, the Huskies have shown the ability to adapt on a weekly basis, and cover their tracks from the previous game.
“We have won in a lot of different ways,” DeBoer said. “The growth of our football team from one week to the next happens in different ways.”
The win wasn’t perfect, but it was a reminder nonetheless that the Huskies could feasibly compete for their loftiest goals this season.
Meanwhile, all eyes have been on the Ducks, as the sides appear to be
on a collision course for a rematch in the Pac-12 Championship.
Oregon has shredded through its schedule since losing the Huskies, most recently throttling Cal, 63-19, after crushing Utah, 35-6.
Even still, the Huskies’ resume stacks up with any team in the country. UW has the highest ranked win of the teams above them, and the second best strength of record in the entire NCAA.
While it may feel like a slight for UW to be outside the top 4 of the CFP rankings, it doesn’t bear much relevance at this point in time.
Fortunately, UW is very much in control of its own destiny: if the Huskies win their final three games of the regular season and win the Pac-12 Championship, there’s feasibly no scenario in which they are excluded from the Playoffs, given No. 1 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan will face off in the final week of the regular season.
The bottom line is that if the Huskies keep winning, everything will take care of itself. If UW and Oregon are bound to go toe to toe
again, then it will be settled on the field on Dec. 1. In that case, the winner will rightfully get to dominate the narrative.
History, after all, is written by the victors.
While it seemed feasible that a loss would finally catch up to UW, it instead proved once again in Southern California that it knows how to do the only important thing on the field: win football games. With just three games remaining in the regular season, the Huskies won’t have to prove themselves for much longer. It’s possible that a loss is in the cards for either of UW’s difficult upcoming games against Utah or Oregon State.
But at a certain point, you can’t argue with the results. And, for now, as long as they keep winning, the Huskies deserve our respect.
Reach Sports Editor Ethan Kilbreath at sports@dailyuw.com.
Twitter: @EthanArles
Maddy Grassy The Daily
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Pastor Chelsea Pastor Andy
Notebook: A little help from up above
By Ty Gilstrap The Daily
With 1:14 remaining in the second quarter, USC’s redshirt senior offensive lineman Jarrett Kingston stood little chance in his pass protection assignment.
In fairness, that’s often the case for most when left to block senior edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui, but in that moment, Kingston wasn’t just slotted against a 6’4”, 254-pound rusher.
He was positioned against a much greater force.
Shortly before boarding the team plane after Washington’s win over Stanford, Tupuola-Fetui learned that his father, Molia Fetui, had passed away hours before. Despite the coaching staff’s assurance that the senior could take time away from the team to navigate his loss, Tupuola-Fetui already knew what decision his father would want him to make.
“We just really left it to him,” co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell said. “He came in one day, just definitive. He just told us, ‘there’s no doubt my dad would want me playing. I want to play, and I want to be there for the team.’ It was clear cut right from early in the week that he was going to be out
there on the field.”
But to begin Saturday night, USC thrashed Washington’s defense to the tune of 262 yards passing, 161 yards rushing, and 28 points to open the half. And with a minute and change remaining before the break, the Trojans looked to put together their fourth consecutive touchdown drive — one that would clinch the momentum in a backand-forth shootout.
Except, on the first play of the drive, with USC’s junior quarterback Caleb Williams backpedaling from the line of scrimmage, Tupuola-Fetui bull-rushed Kingston, breaking free for just long enough to poke the ball out of Williams’ grasp.
Junior edge rusher Bralen Trice landed on it a second later to provide the Huskies the momentum and the short field.
In an instant, Tupuola-Fetui had turned the game around.
Washington quickly capitalized, with junior running back Dillon Johnson punching it in from 1 yard out to hand UW the lead — one it wouldn’t relinquish for the remainder of the game.
It was the Huskies first forced fumble of the season.
Perhaps all they needed was a bit of help from up above.
“All my dad’s been asking for all season was a sack fumble, that was him,” Tupuola-Fetui posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the game.
“I think the thing that really helped me to keep going was just knowing my dad’s love for UW, my dad’s love for football, and like, he would love this game,” Tupuola-Fetui said. “He would love to be in the Coliseum, and to watch us winning, and that performance I was able to put out today. Yeah, this week was rough, but I think knowing that this is what he would’ve wanted helped me out.”
After the final whistle, head coach Kalen DeBoer and Tupuola-Fetui shared an emotional embrace, a moment captured by ABC cameras that went viral on social media shortly after.
When asked the message he shared with his edge rusher after the game, it was profoundly simple.
“[I told him] just how much everyone loves him,” DeBoer said. “He’s such a special talent, and he’s a special person.”
Injury Updates
You certainly can’t fault the Huskies for not trying.
At least not when it comes to the health of junior wide receiver Jalen McMillan, who appears stuck in
an eternal purgatory in his pursuit of returning from a knee injury he suffered Sept. 16 against Michigan State. He’ll meet with a few doctors from the Seattle Seahawks to evaluate his standing.
“He’s getting a second opinion on [Nov. 7],” offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said. “He’s going to see another set of doctors that help out with the Seahawks, and that should either help move him along a little bit more or give us a better idea of what else we need to do to get him at full strength.”
When asked if there’s ever been thought of shutting him down for the rest of the season, DeBoer said that hasn’t been the case, and the continued uncertainty regarding his status is largely a byproduct of how close he is to returning.
“He’s just been really close,” DeBoer said. “We wouldn’t have brought him back if we didn’t think he was there, because there is a long game picture, even for this season, that we were really hoping for as far as his involvement, but we wouldn’t have brought him back if we didn’t think he was ready.”
DeBoer officially tabbed McMillan as questionable for Saturday’s contest against Utah.
But Washington will officially be without senior safety Asa Turner
and sophomore offensive lineman Geirean Hatchett this Saturday. “[Hatchett] has an ankle injury, and he’s recovering from that,” Grubb said. “Last night when I saw him, he was still working through it. He probably won’t be available this week. He’ll come back this year, but he’s still working through a pretty significant ankle injury. He’ll get there.”
Reach Sports Editor Ty Gilstrap at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @ty_gilstrap
Maddy Grassy The Daily
The
Daily’s
picks for UW vs. Utah
Score and prediction?
Battle Royale
Ethan Kilbreath
Utah may be the anti-USC in that it boasts a stout defense but struggles on offense. I think the Huskies offense will still have no problem moving the ball against the Utes, especially if Dillon Johnson can replicate even a fraction of last week’s output. I’ll say UW wins in a slightly less stressful fashion than previous weeks — but only slightly. 31-20, Huskies.
It’s been a bit difficult to assess the state of this Utah squad after an upset win over USC, a blowout loss to Oregon, and then a resounding win over Arizona State. But no matter the past few results, the general consensus is that you don’t want to face Utah’s head coach Kyle Whittingham in November. I think Washington just barely squeaks away with a win, 35-32.
I am no expert. However, I think it is safe to say that the Utah defense is a whole lot better than that of USC. With that being said, I think, with the home crowd behind them, the Washington offense will continue to bring it to Montlake. The defense had its hands full last week, but that does not mean they should step off the gas for a Utah offense that has been a mixed bag this season. Ultimately, Washington continues their 16-game winning streak and a clutch forced turnover gives the Dawgs a win, 31-24.
At the end of the day, Washington’s going to get it done. Utah’s season has had some remarkable ups and downs, but that whiplash is over and its time for the Huskies to get down to business. 28-21 UW.
Jalen McMillan, Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk, Germie Bernard, and Jack Westover have all scored a touchdown rushing this season. Who will be the next nonrunning back to notch a rushing score?
Utah’s NBA franchise came by way of a relocation from New Orleans, hence the name “Jazz.” If you could force a franchise to relocate to Seattle, which would you choose?
Surprisingly, Salt Lake City is the home of the first Kentucky Fried Chicken location in the world. Which Seattle spot do you think is destined to become the next big chain restaurant?
I don’t know how the logistics would work, but Grady Gross running a fake field goal into the end zone would instantly become legendary.
There’s really no correct answer here other than Oklahoma City. I’m sure they would change the name back to the Sonics, but if not, the Seattle Thunder would make about as much sense as the Utah Jazz, anyway.
Washington has been relying on the athletic skill positions for far too long in its rushing attack. It’s time to break out the 6’1”, 291-pound senior defensive lineman Tuli Letuligasenoa the next time they’re 1 yard out from the goal line.
When I came to college and first started meeting people from outside Washington state, I was shocked to learn that Pagliacci’s Pizza is a regional chain, not national. I think they’re ready for the big time.
The spiteful half of me would choose the Celtics, purely because a loss for Boston is a win in my books. But if I’m looking to secure a few more championship parades for the city of Seattle, perhaps I should look towards Victor Wembanyama’s Spurs.
Although seeing Tuli Letuligasenoa crossing the goal line would be more than electric, it would pain me not to see the other half of the best tight end duo in the Pac-12 not take a carry in the endzone. So, Devin Culp, let’s see what kind of moves you have between the tackles.
Excellent question. I think that anything’s possible in this season of Husky football, so for that reason I’ll have to agree with Ty and opt for Letuligasenoa as well.
While I can confidently declare that nothing on campus is destined to become a national sensation, I wouldn’t bet against Aladdin GyroCery suddenly taking the world by storm. And as a native San Diegan, I definitely won’t be complaining if they began expanding out to Southern California.
UNIVERSITY BOOK STORE Husky Gear
Towards
As much as I want to say the Detroit Pistons for sheer comedic reasons, I’ll be nice and advocate for the Thunder to return to their rightful home. An exciting young core with the likes of Josh Giddey, Chet Holmgren, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will surely bring basketball back to Seattle with a bang.
If I rolled out of bed one sunny morning in my hometown of San Jose, California, and I saw that a BB’s Teriyaki Chicken was just put in my local strip mall, I would be one happy camper to say the least.
Huh, I’ve always wondered how the team got its name, but clearly not enough to do a simple Google search. Sometimes, it’s fun to see the world burn and for that reason I’ve got to go with the Lakers.
There’s actually a hidden gem in Pike Place that’s really under the radar and I think it’s high time they get their due. I won’t say their name because I don’t want the lines to get too long, but let’s just say even mermaids need to drink their coffee…
Ty Gilstrap
SPORTS EDITOR
Danny Williams SPORTS WRITER
SPORTS EDITOR
Luke Amrine EDITOR IN CHIEF
12
Consecutive games that Washington has won at Husky Stadium
15.9
Points per game Utah has allowed this season, the fewest in the Pac-12
0
Games the Huskies have lost this season
3,201
Yards UW quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has thrown for this season, leading the nation
256
Yards that running back Dillon Johnson rushed for at USC, the fifth highest mark in UW history
13
Utah’s AP Poll ranking, the fourth Pac-12 team in the top 15
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