Opening Statemnt

Well, fantastic win for the University of Washington. I want to start right off the bat thanking our fans. Our student section were there early. They were at the dog walk. They were loading the stands. And then obviously all of our fans were in full force tonight. And what an awesome place. It was a dream of mine to be able to have a chance to play in an environment like this. And to have that environment was just special. So I want to say thank you there. I thought our players did a great job tonight. We played a good football team, number 10 team in the country. And we challenged them all week to be good on third down. We challenged them all week to score touchdowns when we had opportunities to score touchdowns. And we certainly challenged them all week to not give anything away. Penalties are always going to happen in a game. But what we didn't do is we didn't hurt ourselves in a manner that we could play two teams. I said, let's just play one this week. Let's play Michigan. And I felt our team, our players, our staff did a phenomenal job coaching that up and executing that plan. We're just at the very beginning of where we want to be. This is a process. And we're playing with a lot of guys that have never played together. We're playing with a lot of guys from the University of Washington. We're playing with a lot of guys that are young. And I'm just proud of everyone, our defense, our offense, our special teams. At the end, some big time kicks to put the game away. And I'm proud of Grady to make that last one. Hopefully give him some confidence moving into what's going to be an extremely tough environment against a very good football team at Iowa. We know how hard it is to play there on the road. So we'll enjoy this one tonight. But we will get after it very quickly tomorrow morning to prepare for our next trip.

On whether this win does something for a program that other wins wouldn't

I don't know that. That kind of would go against maybe my philosophy of just trying to see if each day we get better. And I think what it does do is it brings attention for recruiting. I think what it does do is bring attention to players that want to be a part of this program. I think what it does do is hopefully continue to garner alumni support and what we need at this point in time. And hopefully continue to improve. But I do believe it gives some guys some confidence. And confidence, I believe, always gets you better.

On whether he has felt the tide turning on a season after a game

You know, it was kind of weird. I guess a year ago we lost in triple overtime to USC. But I felt our team believed more than they ever believed before. And we went on a seven-game run. I've been a part of teams that have had some big wins and done well. But the way we kind of coach it and the way we want to teach it is we want to try to keep everything its own separate entity. Gain confidence, yes. Belief, yes. Continue to execute, yes. But in the same token, don't make one game bigger than the next. Because then all of a sudden we lose focus. We're playing a really good football team next week. And we've got to get healthy and be our best.

On the double QB pass

That was a play that we've kind of developed over time. We've run a bunch of different times at different places that I've been at over the years. You know, I don't really think there's any one particular thing that was behind it. It was a matter of we felt that there was an opportunity to run that play based on the defense that we were getting this week in preparation. So we felt it was the right week to, I guess, dust it off, you would say. And, you know, you've got to call it when you think you're going to get the look you're looking for. And everybody has to execute the play from Will to DeMond, from DeMond back to Cam. The offensive line has to make sure they do their job. And what it was was all 11 executing.

On his first signature win at home

You know, it's great. Don't get me wrong. I love it. I love beating Michigan. I love the idea that the University of Washington had an opportunity to play a big game on national TV, on NBC tonight, and that we were able to, in prime time, play an extremely high level of football. And I think it's great. I'm excited. But really, just like most things, I don't look back on this stuff until the season's over and just want to try to see how good we can get, how good we can coach. What can I learn? How can I coach better next week? How can I call a game better next week? How can defensively we improve next week? How can we be better in special teams next week? And then can our players keep getting better?

On playing bully ball late in the game

On Jonas' touchdown, did you say? I mean, we were like half a yard away. I mean, we ran it on second and four, or second and three. I thought we got in, and it looked like they said that his knee was down maybe a quarter of a yard short. I mean, yeah, it was a big play. I trust Jonah. I trusted in that situation where we were. We weren't a yard away, a yard and a half away. We were in a spot against a very good defensive front. I mean, those guys are one of the best defensive fronts. I just trusted Jonah, trusted our players, and felt that at that time, in that moment, that was the right call.

On what happened in the last series

Sure, I can just tell you what happened. The center moved the ball up, so they gave him a warning. They can't call a penalty the first time on that. That's a warning first, which I learned. That when he ran in, that was what the official called to stop. So they gave him the warning, and then there was a medical spotter that wanted to confirm that we didn't have a player that had a concussion. So that was the second stoppage, which we didn't, and that's what happened there. So that's why there was two stoppages on that one play.

On Will Rogers' interception

That was a huge play. It was a huge play. We don't really turn the ball over very much. I feel like offensively we've done a really nice job of protecting the ball. We were moving the ball really pretty well in that situation, had a chance there, probably tried to layer it in. On first and ten, don't really need to do that in that situation. We talked about that a little bit, and we'll talk about it some more. But believe that he could have gotten it in there, and I trust Will 100% in his decision making. I think he had another 300-yard day. But I would say then defense responded, and we needed them to respond. It was 17-all. They went back out on the minus 20 and punched that ball out, and Logan fell on it. That was an awesome play and really changed the momentum.

On kicking the ball late in the game

Yeah, I felt that it was a situation where it's 24-17 with a minute two. We had a chance to really seal the deal if you go up ten. As I've said, I believe in our kicker. I believe in him, and I see how hard he works every day. My heart breaks for him early in the game because those misses, they obviously can wear on a human. He just kept telling me he's good, he's okay. He said, I know what I did, I know what I need to do. I just took the timeout there at one second left, and I just grabbed him real quick. I said, are you good? He said, I'm good. The chance to go up ten was too much of an opportunity than to try to punch a ball from the fourth and one, hand the ball off, and see what that looked like.

On whether he was prepared to face more than one Michigan QB

I think that we felt that there was always a possibility that if we were able to stop the run, that there was going to be an opportunity that they might go to the guy that they ran a little more balanced attack and they were more willing to throw. When they went to him in the third series, we talked real quickly. I really just kind of clicked over and said to Steve, we're all good now. We know what we got. They're probably going to second quarterback the rest of the way. Steve felt really good about it.

On the students rushing the field

Yeah, I love that. I absolutely love that. I love college football. I can tell you about almost every game. I watch it. I love college football. And college football is that. College football is pageantry. College football is the band. College football is the student section. College football is rushing the field. You don't get that in pro football. So I am the most pro college football human, and I'm just so proud to be a part of it and watch it and see our guys celebrate and see our fans enjoy it. And I'll probably get in trouble for saying that, that I loved it, but I loved it.

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