Peterson: AU defense seems very Alabama-ish

[WFE12 9,191]

Washington's Chris Petersen: Auburn defense 'seems very Alabama-ish'

James Crepea - al.com

Neither Chris Petersen or Washington have ever played Auburn before, but when the Huskies head coach looks at the Tigers on tape he sees similarities to their SEC rival.

As No. 6 Washington prepares to face No. 9 Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff on Saturday, Petersen was asked if Washington could draw on its experience of playing the Peach Bowl against Alabama, which was a College Football Playoff semifinal in 2016, and last year's Fiesta Bowl heading into a another marquee matchup.

"I think that the quality of team we're playing is certainly like those teams we played there," Petersen said. "I look at Auburn on defense and it seems very Alabama-ish to me. It's that physical style, that really athletic, they don't give you anything, you got earn everything, they're fast, all those things. That seems really, really similar."

Alabama beat Washington 24-7 on the Peach Bowl in 2016 and held the Huskies to just 194 yards, including only 44 rushing yards thanks to sacking Jake Browning five times.

While Browning, the most accurate returning quarterback in the country, returns to lead a Washington offense along with running back Myles Gaskin, Auburn's defense returns five starters in its front seven and two of the best cornerbacks in the SEC, Jamel Dean and Javaris Davis, from a unit that ranked 12th in scoring and 14 in total defense last season.

"I think it starts on the lines always," Petersen said. "I mean the front seven for Auburn and they're super athletic in the secondary. If we don't give (Browning) a chance to set his feet or get our run game, no one can have a chance. So I think Jake's going to be fine. It's, they got some guys that played a lot of football on that defensive side and they're very stout and very physical. To me, it has to do with how some guys in front of him hold up to give him a chance to do his thing."

 

Auburn's defense has been watching film of Browning, though Washington's wide receiver corps is rebuilding and the Huskies will have a new offensive play-caller in Bush Hamdan.

"The one thing that is a little different about it is trying to predict what the change in the offensive coordinator/play-caller will be," defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said of preparing for the game compared to watching film. "That's hard to do. But the (Petersen) has been pretty traditional with what he does. But it's still hard."

Hamdan is in his first season with Washington after serving as quarterbacks coach with the Atlanta Falcons last season. He had previous stints as an offensive coordinator at Davidson in 2014 and as co-offensive coordinator at Arkansas State in 2013, when the Red Wolves lost at Auburn in Gus Malzahn's first season as head coach.

Petersen is looking forward to see what Hamdan can do against a big test.

"You talk about getting your feet wet right away?" Petersen said. "Against a defense like this, this is tough sledding. But I think it's what we love about this game, it's just so competitive and so challenging and that's how this first game is going to be. It's going to be as challenging as anything we do all season long. Bush works morning, noon and night trying to get this thing right for the kids, like all of our coaches do, but he's been on it pretty hard."

[aucanucktiger 1,791]

Interesting. Washington's stadium looks very Tennessee-ish, just less so. 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

NO....our defense looks very Auburn Tiger-ish. 

[WFE12 9,191]

 

[NoALtiger 3,850]

Getting home stretch time. I can’t hardly wait. 

[AUsince72 11,084]

Well ... He COULD have said it looks very East Carolina-ish...

[jared52 4,354]

That “-ish” goes on the bulletin board. 

[fredst 9,064]

Meh. This doesn’t bother me at all. UA is an SEC team they have played recently that he can compare to. And,frankly,  like it or not, Bammer has set the standard against which other teams can be compared, especially on defense, for the past decade. 

[keesler 5,924]

I see absolutely NO reason why Auburn shouldn’t beat Washington just as bad as uat beat them.  This D should be able to hold them to 7 pts, and our O should take control.

[doc4aday 1,887]

I have had good and bad feelings about this game being that we are playing one of the best teams in the country. I do not see a Clemson showing, but a game similar to last year's bammer and Uga regular season games.  If we play like we did those 2 games and the other games such as MSU, our chances are good for a win. We will need to use our defensive depth to keep hammering their offense throughout the entire game. I am not sure how much depth they have compared to us. We need to wear them down starting with the first play their offense runs.

I hope we see a Gus that has matured and is ready to let Chip run the offense without too much "tinkering" that Gus has been prone to do in the past. Chip is a capable OC that has the skills to run our offense with a high level of success with minimal interference from Gus. 

[KolchakAU85 430]

12 minutes ago, keesler said:

I see absolutely NO reason why Auburn shouldn’t beat Washington just as bad as uat beat them.  This D should be able to hold them to 7 pts, and our O should take control.

^^^ Yes, what keesler said.

[gr82b4au 5,568]

He is smart. Talk up the opponent.

[jared52 4,354]

1 hour ago, keesler said:

I see absolutely NO reason why Auburn shouldn’t beat Washington just as bad as uat beat them.  This D should be able to hold them to 7 pts, and our O should take control.

AU should have shown up at Clemson with something resembling a game plan. AU should have come out of the locker room vs a very outclassed LSU and put the wood to them early and put it away. AU should have quit relying on the trainers to get KJ back out on the field and had a backup RB since Pettway was clearly not going to play all year. AU should have show up in ATL, either time, and wanted to be there. 

[WhoDatWarEagle 111]

I take that as an insult...lmao.

[3rdgeneration 6,469]

Don't care how good they are, I still never want to be considered as Turd-ish.?

[The Plainsman 948]

3 hours ago, keesler said:

I see absolutely NO reason why Auburn shouldn’t beat Washington just as bad as uat beat them.  This D should be able to hold them to 7 pts, and our O should take control.

I think their QB is going to make it tough for us.   Just his accuracy alone, and his ability to get out of the pocket.   

I go back and forth, but I believe UW is for real.  

[gr82be 14,423]

I think Peterson meant it as a compliment. No one here likes Bama but they are the Rick Flair of college football to me. Like it or not they're the best thing going today. I just hope our defense plays like we expect and if the offense is ready to go. If so then maybe Peterson compares someone else to Auburn next time. I truly feel after last season that Auburn is at the point where the only danger of losing is Auburn beating themselves. The talent and coaching is there to win it all. 

[Slammer1 409]

16 hours ago, WFE12 said:

Washington's Chris Petersen: Auburn defense 'seems very Alabama-ish'

James Crepea - al.com

Neither Chris Petersen or Washington have ever played Auburn before, but when the Huskies head coach looks at the Tigers on tape he sees similarities to their SEC rival.

As No. 6 Washington prepares to face No. 9 Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff on Saturday, Petersen was asked if Washington could draw on its experience of playing the Peach Bowl against Alabama, which was a College Football Playoff semifinal in 2016, and last year's Fiesta Bowl heading into a another marquee matchup.

"I think that the quality of team we're playing is certainly like those teams we played there," Petersen said. "I look at Auburn on defense and it seems very Alabama-ish to me. It's that physical style, that really athletic, they don't give you anything, you got earn everything, they're fast, all those things. That seems really, really similar."

Alabama beat Washington 24-7 on the Peach Bowl in 2016 and held the Huskies to just 194 yards, including only 44 rushing yards thanks to sacking Jake Browning five times.

While Browning, the most accurate returning quarterback in the country, returns to lead a Washington offense along with running back Myles Gaskin, Auburn's defense returns five starters in its front seven and two of the best cornerbacks in the SEC, Jamel Dean and Javaris Davis, from a unit that ranked 12th in scoring and 14 in total defense last season.

"I think it starts on the lines always," Petersen said. "I mean the front seven for Auburn and they're super athletic in the secondary. If we don't give (Browning) a chance to set his feet or get our run game, no one can have a chance. So I think Jake's going to be fine. It's, they got some guys that played a lot of football on that defensive side and they're very stout and very physical. To me, it has to do with how some guys in front of him hold up to give him a chance to do his thing."

 

Auburn's defense has been watching film of Browning, though Washington's wide receiver corps is rebuilding and the Huskies will have a new offensive play-caller in Bush Hamdan.

"The one thing that is a little different about it is trying to predict what the change in the offensive coordinator/play-caller will be," defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said of preparing for the game compared to watching film. "That's hard to do. But the (Petersen) has been pretty traditional with what he does. But it's still hard."

Hamdan is in his first season with Washington after serving as quarterbacks coach with the Atlanta Falcons last season. He had previous stints as an offensive coordinator at Davidson in 2014 and as co-offensive coordinator at Arkansas State in 2013, when the Red Wolves lost at Auburn in Gus Malzahn's first season as head coach.

Petersen is looking forward to see what Hamdan can do against a big test.

"You talk about getting your feet wet right away?" Petersen said. "Against a defense like this, this is tough sledding. But I think it's what we love about this game, it's just so competitive and so challenging and that's how this first game is going to be. It's going to be as challenging as anything we do all season long. Bush works morning, noon and night trying to get this thing right for the kids, like all of our coaches do, but he's been on it pretty hard."

One of the oldest psyche games around, showering your opponent with compliments. I just hope our guys just take it with a grain of salt and not let it get into their collective heads on how good they are. I've played this game when playing golf and it works a lot more often than not. However I agree that we have a great defense and just hope it shows up Saturday ready to play because they will have to earn it, UW will not just fold up and just give it to us.

WDE

[keesler 5,924]

9 hours ago, The Plainsman said:

I think their QB is going to make it tough for us.   Just his accuracy alone, and his ability to get out of the pocket.   

I go back and forth, but I believe UW is for real.  

Kevin Steele knows how to make that QB uncomfortable.  Put the pressure on him, we have the studs to do it.  AU has to assert their authority in a big way, on the national scene with everyone in the country watching.  It's high time Auburn take control and drive this team to the CFP!

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

11 hours ago, The Plainsman said:

I think their QB is going to make it tough for us.   Just his accuracy alone, and his ability to get out of the pocket.   

I go back and forth, but I believe UW is for real.  

I don't. Our D will cause problems. My opinion, but don't believe the hype about Wash...

[AUloggerhead 2,227]

5 hours ago, gr82be said:

I think Peterson meant it as a compliment. No one here likes Bama but they are the Rick Flair of college football to me. Like it or not they're the best thing going today. I just hope our defense plays like we expect and if the offense is ready to go. If so then maybe Peterson compares someone else to Auburn next time. I truly feel after last season that Auburn is at the point where the only danger of losing is Auburn beating themselves. The talent and coaching is there to win it all. 

Agree with this.  Peterson was paying AU a compliment.  Can't fault him for being honest.  Incidentally, Peterson & David Shaw of Stanford were at the top of a poll of college coaches who voted them as running the cleanest programs:  Link
 

Quote

 

... Petersen and Stanford coach David Shaw shared the most votes in a recent poll of active college football coaches that asked which coaches were perceived to run the cleanest and most by-the-book programs in the country.

Petersen and Shaw both received 17 percent of votes from their peersin the poll run by CBS Sports, which contacted one-fifth of the 129 active coaches among FBS teams. Duke’s David Cutcliffe was next (13 percent) followed by Kansas State’s Bill Snyder, Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio, Wyoming’s Craig Bohl and Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst each at 8 percent.

Petersen was asked about that on Sunday before he knocked on the table he sat behind.

“In my experience our players have been really good,” Petersen said. “We spend a lot of time trying to educate and talk to them and it’s a little bit of you get what you emphasize in both life and coaching. I’m not trying to sit up here and say we haven’t made mistakes because we’re far from that, but we work hard at it and we try to pay attention to it. There’s been things that happen that we’ve talked about ad-nauseam and it’s like, ‘How can this happen?” But it does.

“When you’re with 60 people and 110-plus players that’s a lot of people. … We know it’s not all going to go according to plan, that’s just how it goes in life. But we do our best to do things the right way.”

Read more here: https://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/college/pac-12/university-of-washington/article217372390.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

Well he’s wrong. Our defense is better than Bammers ?

[keesler 5,924]

5 hours ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

I don't. Our D will cause problems. My opinion, but don't believe the hype about Wash...

Agree!  Our D will harass the hell out of that QB all day long - KSteele knows how to scheme for that attack and he will have his men ready for battle.

[Scotty2Hotty 520]

10 hours ago, gr82be said:

No one here likes Bama but they are the Ric Flair of college football to me. Like it or not they're the best thing going today.

And the last time he ran into his arch rival, Dusty Rhodes, he got his ass kicked. WOOOO!

[gr82be 14,423]

3 minutes ago, Scotty2Hotty said:

And the last time he ran into his arch rival, Dusty Rhodes, he got his ass kicked. WOOOO!

Yep, you can't be a 19 time World Champion without losing 18 times.