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Trust is the greatest of gifts, but it must be earned. Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Season 4, Episode 8
Much of the talk of the offseason has been around whether Demond Williams can lead the team after his brief foray into the Transfer Portal. He has tried to build that trust back and had a surprise for the players after practice to help with that as well. We’ll see on Sunday how that translates to the play of the team.
Football Dots
- Jedd Fisch had a press conference on Monday. He answered a lot of questions about the recently released depth chart, UW’s overall roster, and preparation for the Apple Cup. Fisch noted that Landen Hatchett is the only player (besides Jordan Washington and CJ Christian) that is ruled out for the game on Sunday. Dawgman has notes from the press conference. They also have a ($) transcript of the press conference. Or, you can watch the press conference:
- Looking to the other side of the state, WSU head coach Kirby Moore had his press conference ahead of the Apple Cup. He noted that only 2 of their players will be out for the game: TE’s Trey Leckner and Hudson Cedarland. Moore noted that he has experience with Apple Cups, being a graduate assistant at UW in 2015 and 2016. He was also present (as a fan) when WSU beat UW in 2012 and was a player on the Boise State team that beat UW in the Las Vegas bowl that same year.
- Yesterday some of the coaches and players also had a press conference. DC Ryan Walters and WR Coach Kevin Cummings were the coaches; Demond Williams, Drew Azzopardi, Jacob Manu, Xe’ree Alexander, and Elinneus Davis were the players there. Dawgman has transcripts of the interviews ($) with Ryan Walters and Kevin Cummings. You can watch the whole press conference here:
- One of the players that both Jedd Fisch and Ryan Walters were asked about was DL transfer Kai McClendon, who made the 2-deeps despite not practicing much until the very end of fall camp. Dan Raley has a story on his rehab and initial practice with UW.
- Demond Williams Jr. gifted JLab headphones for all of the players.
- Josh Pate describes UW as a potential chaos team-one that could either make the CFP or be the reason that another team (e.g. a Big Ten team that UW plays) doesn’t make the CFP.
- CBS Sports lists one UW player as one of the 25 biggest boom or bust players in college football this season. That player is WR Rashid Williams, who they noted has a lot of potential but needs to show sustained performance this season. UW is scheduled to face a couple of other players on the list: one from Penn State and one from Indiana.
- According to Athlon Sports, Demond Williams Jr. vs Dante Moore is one of the 5 best QB battles in the Big Ten this season. (Personally I think that Demond Williams vs Jayden Maiava or Demond Williams Jr. vs Josh Hoover will be better QB matchups than Rocco Becht vs Bryce Underwood-but then I may be biased.)
- UW’s 2016 team will be honored during the Apple Cup. Lars Hanson notes that there are several similarities between that 2016 team and the current UW team.
- Dubs is ready for the football season.
- And some thoughts from a couple of players about the game against WSU:
UW Athletics Dots
- Former Husky great Kelsey Plum is dealing with a nagging lower leg injury and will not be playing for Team USA in the FIBA Women’s World Cup (basketball).
- A couple of Husky volleyball players earned Big Ten honors this week. Kylie Kleckner was Freshman of the Week after being MVP in her first college tournament. And Maija Howse was the B1G Defensive Player of the Week. They helped UW win their opening tournament with a 3-0 record. The volleyball team will be in Norman, Oklahoma to face Ole Miss (Thursday) and Oklahoma (Friday).
