Pac-12 Analyst Yogi Roth Previews Washington-Stanford Matchup
For the first time since 1997, No.10 Washington will play its first game against No.7 Stanford on Friday at Husky Stadium. Both programs come into the matchup undefeated, with UW at 4-0 and Stanford at 3-0. Pac-12 Network analyst Yogi Roth spoke with Rivals ahead of the game to give his take on both teams, and his prediction.
On expectations for Washington-Stanford on Friday… “It’s going to be as electric an environment as we’ll see in the Pac-12 conference. Over the last 12 years it’ll be as electric as any environment we’ve seen because of that fan base. They’re as passionate and the stadium is phenomenal. It’s a Friday night. This place is starving for the [something] they expect, which is the Don James era. And a win in this game gets you on the road back to that. They’ve had some big games there with Sark in the past. Whether it was LSU in the opener, or when Oregon came to town when they were both highly ranked, when they beat SC when they were top five in his first year. It’s nothing like that – it’s a tilt.”
On what makes UW different this year… “Well I think there’s a bunch of things to be quite honest. Number one, I’ve always believed it takes 18 months to get a philosophy fully ingrained in a program, and it’s passed that mark. It’s about two seasons for real, so they’re into that year three and it’s a reality that it’s Chris Petersen’s team. Number two, the kids understanding the system. Three, the skill players and development of the student-athlete. Last year they started a true freshman at left tackle, at running back and at quarterback. I don’t care if they’re projected first-round picks, or No.1 draft picks at their position. True freshmen are still true freshmen. We’ve seen it with Jake, we saw it with Josh Rosen, we’ve seen it in the history in college football you need a year. You couple that with the mentality the team had a year ago on defense after they lost all those players to the NFL. Really embedding that culture, they now have on that roster. And the most important element is they can score now. I think winning teams averaged 39 points per-game – this year I think it’s at like 36 through the first couple weeks. But the point is in this conference you have to score, you can’t just play great defense. People always say what happened to Stanford? Well last year after week two they averaged over 40 points per-game. So you have to score and they can do that now. Now they do have a weakness like every team does, it’s their offensive line. It just is. So how they handle the realest front seven they’re going to see all season long we’re going to find out. Solomon Thomas is a beast. I think he’s the best defensive player in the conference. He’s a game-wrecker.”
On how much John Ross has improved Washington’s offense… “Well I don’t even think it’s just John. He gets all the love and I think John reminds me a lot of “Rocket” Ismail [Raghib Ismail] . . . He reminds me of The Rocket, he reminds me of Peter Warrick – he’s got that real deal speed. [Ross is] the fastest player in this conference, and I don’t think it’s close. Football speed - I'm sure there's other guys who can run fast on the track. But there is no one like him who can run away from guys in a long time. But they also have Chico McClatcher, who I think is the most underrated player on that team. It's not like he's 5'6. He's got good enough size. They play him all over - he's playing in the slot, he's playing in the backfield. Then they have a route runner in Dante Pettis that is a technician. I think they can finally - it's like Utah - they can finally call the plays they want to call. They can take shots down the field verses 'hey lets run play-action pass and hope our tight end gets to the corner route'. Like no, they don't have to do that. They're legitimate in that regard - they're a real threat in the passing game if they can hold up. And that's a huge if, because I don't think they're going to be perfect in this game because they're going up against an awesome team. You can argue these are the two most well coached teams in the country, just because neither one has a lot of penalties. They play smart, they don't have unforced errors."
On Stanford beyond McCaffrey on offense..."They bring a ton, honestly. Go back and look at history it's not like Stanford came out and threw for 400 yards, that's not their system [and] not what they do. They want to do everything where there's mastery involved in it. They lean on their strengths which is their offensive front. They got a guy in Bryce Love who is every bit of an explosive player there is in the conference outside of Christian McCaffrey. They got receivers that are real deal all day long. They're going to run routes as well as anyone. They've got speed, they've got tight ends, they're an explosive offense. When you see what Arizona did a week ago in UDub's first real game, they weren't world-beaters. It's not going to be the non-conference schedule for UDub. I don't think it's a big advantage for anyone. If anything, it's advantage Stanford because of what they have on the offensive line. It's all about the little things up front and that's going to be the one thing we look back on this game, because the skill players, the backers, the defensive backs are all going to cover correct. But who wins in the trenches? If it's a 3.5 per gain for Stanford every time they run the ball, they're going to win the ball game."
On Washington wins, if they do [blank]..."For UDub to win . . . Number one they can't give up explosives. They just can't. They have to make Stanford go 10 plays and when they do, they have to come back and compete again and again. That's not a worry for me - they'll do that. And then on offense, I think they have to score. In my opinion they have to score at least four touchdowns in this game. I don't think this is a 13-10 ball game. There's too much fire power on both sides of the ball. Stanford is still down two starters in the secondary, so there's a reality there. I guess more importantly the moment can't be too big for UDub. They're as well coached as anybody, but they played the freshmen I mentioned last year. It was a first for them - this is a first for these players. The dudes on the other sideline [Stanford] they're not going to flinch. So probably the biggest thing is it's at home, you can't try too hard. Which happens a lot to teams in that environment the first time. So they can't over-try and all of a sudden be 14-0 down in the first quarter. Because then Stanford just goes clock work and the first quarter is over and [Washington] has only had the ball once. They've got to play their game. If so, we're going to get an awesome, phenomenal, game in my opinion. Two of the top coaches in the entire country."
On who wins..."I think Stanford wins this game . . . I think it's a great game and the best game in the conference this weekend and that we've had thus far."