Petersen Continues Special Teams Emphasis upon Utah Film Review
SEATTLE -- Washington coach Chris Petersen used his weekly Monday press conference to reiterate the necessity for attention to detail, with special teams proving as the latest result of perfection.
Dante Pettis flipped the Utah game on its heels with a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown with 3:25 remaining in the game. It was Pettis' fifth punt return for a touchdown making him the all-time leader in the programs' history.
Pettis was a highly coveted recruit in 2013 and once Petersen made the move over to Washington, he made sure Pettis came with. Saturday is the latest evidence of Petersen's handprint on the special teams unit.
"I needed to do one thing and nobody really knew much or paid much attention to," Petersen said Monday. "With time on my hands we’ve studied a little bit more and really it’s so much God given skill and natural ability, but with punt returner really the first thing is how natural they are at catching the ball."
When asked what he looks for in a kick returner, Petersen made it simple: John Ross, who has provided a spark unlike any other after missing the 2015 season due to an ACL injury.
However, the electric kick returner hasn't had many chances to do his job this season. In eight games Ross has just six kickoff returns, with five coming in the past six games - Ross did not have a kick return against Oregon or Utah, both road games.
Ross' first kickoff return went for a touchdown against Rutgers in week 1, but none since. Petersen acknowledged more education should be done before any drastic change comes about.
"I think that’s something that needs to continue to be looked at and studied," Petersen said. "I’m curious after this year to see how many injuries showed up on that, and if the data is skewed that this really is a dangerous play, we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to make this game safer. I’m always one of those guys to continually evolve and tweak and make things better.”
Other news and notes:
*** Christian Caple of the Tacoma News Tribune has all the quotes from Petersen's press conference.
*** Huskies LB Azeem Victor and WR/KR Dante Pettis won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week and Special Teams Player of the Week
*** Jake Browning now ranks 10th all-time in career passing yards (4,850), and closing in on Steve Pelluer at No.9 at 5,017 yards. Browning also ranks 5th in pass yards in a season and expected to jump to No.2 after the Cal game.
Also, Browning is tied for 2nd most passing touchdowns in a season at 28 with Cody Pickett. Keith Price holds the record with 33.