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| UW vs. Idaho Post game Player Quotes | ||||||||||||
 Cody Pickett (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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Joe Kaiser was in the media room talking with the victorious Huskies following the game this afternoon. Here is what some of the players had to say about defeating the Vandals 45-14 in Husky Stadium. | |||||||||||
Was Robbins nervous after such a long layoff? “No, not really. The first play I looked where I was going to run before I caught the ball. If you do that any time, you will probably drop it, and that’s what happened. After that I just told myself to remember to catch the ball first.” Robbins is now happy to be part of the Husky arsenal of weapons. “I felt as quick as before. I felt great. I’m really excited about the upcoming week. Redshirt freshman LB Scott White is playing both linebacker positions on the inside for the Husky defense, out of necessity because of the season-ending injury to Joseph Lobendahn. “It’s a situation where you have to do something to help your team win. Losing Joseph is a big loss. Through the course of the season, I think I’ll get more comfortable.” White had some comments about Washington’s inability to put Idaho away early. “We’ve got to do something to get motivated. We were out there sluggish in the first half. Third downs are big for us, and we go in that huddle knowing that’s the biggest down.” ”You can definitely tell the defense was getting after it a lot more in the second half. It was more execution than anything. They didn’t do anything that we didn’t prepare for. We started wearing them down.” Safety Jimmy Newell had an interception today, his first of his career. “Basically it was a defense where I was going to be helping on the post routes. I was basically kind of feeling the routes and playing the quarterback’s eyes. Roc was running on top of the post, and I didn’t think there was any way the quarterback was going to throw it. When he did, we made him pay for trying to force the pass.” ”Every game you are less nervous and you get more experience. Team wide we are getting more and more comfortable with schemes and everything that we are doing.” Newell had a possible explanation for why the Huskies struggled in the first half. “I think we just got a little too excited and we had guys over-pursuing and getting the ball cut back on them. It was just better execution in the second half, we settled ourselves down. We didn’t make a whole lot of adjustments at halftime, we just knew we had to play the way we practiced for them all week.” QB Cody Pickett was pleased with the running game today. “Offensively we had a good day running the ball and our offensive line did a good job today. They pass-blocked great and opened some big holes for the runningbacks. Rich (Alexis) is our guy, he’s our starter. The young guys are running hard to get their chance.” Pickett was pleased with the balance on offense. “20 for 29 today, that’s great. We ran for over 200 yards. I had lots of success last year, but really I’m just trying to win this year.” Washington’s first score came courtesy of DT Terry Johnson. He was very happy to have Reggie Williams back in the second half. “He’s such a big-play guy. Anytime he’s out on the field you’ve got to have eyes on him. When he’s not out there you don’t have to have eyes on him so the defense is keying in on different things. His presence alone makes a difference.” As for Reggie’s absence in the first half due to disciplinary reasons, Johnson didn’t have much to say. “Guys make mistakes, and we learn to live with them. He knows what he did wrong, and I’m sure he won’t do it again. As long as he realizes what he did wrong and doesn’t do it again, it’s okay.” Johnson believes that is team is ready to begin conference play. “It’s going to be more exciting. There will be more of a buzz out there. Every player gets tuned in more for conference play, and it’s obviously a much more exciting time of the year. It’s here now, and it’s time to play some real football.”
Alexis said of Williams’ absence in the first half, “He’s our guy, man. As soon as he came back, the offense started rolling and we started getting a little bit more confidence out there. He’s our mouthpiece when he’s out there, so we missed him a little bit. But when he came back we started rolling.” Alexis talked of Gilbertson’s halftime speech. “He just told us to play smart. We were killing ourselves out there in the first half with penalties and everything. We played a lot smarter in the second half.” Alexis had an awesome block in the third quarter that lead to a big play for Reggie Williams. “That is the best one I’ve thrown. I usually leave those for E.T. (Charles Frederick) but I saw him coming and I saw Reggie coming back and I just had to make a play. Coaches always talk about making plays even if it doesn’t involve you. I just knew I had to put my face on him.” WR Reggie Williams talked a bit more about Alexis’ block. “That was nice. It was a screen, and I was supposed to cut up the middle on my side, and there was nothing there so I had to cut back. I saw Rich right there when the guy was chasing me and he picked it up nice. I heard (the block) through my left ear.” FB Zach Tuiasosopo scored his first touchdown of his career. “Usually that play doesn’t go that far. Cody made the read and gave me the ball. Khalif Barnes made a great block and Reggie Williams blocked down field. They were the key to the touchdown. I just ran the ball.” ”It was just great to win today. We all pulled together. To get another W on the board was a great thing. The coaches did a great job of play-calling today.” OL Khalif Barnes was pleased at the improvement on the offensive line this week. “We are boosting our confidence back up. I think our three backs are doing great, and our line is getting better. As a team, you can’t be satisfied with where you are. Going into Pac-10 play now, we’ve got to get better.” |
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