Las Vegas Bowl: It's Petersen's Last Stand
Washington has had a good football week, welcoming the Pac-12 Conference's top recruiting class after signing up a bunch of big-name prospects. Now it gets hard. It's time for goodbyes.
On Saturday, the Huskies will bid farewell to Chris Petersen, far sooner than anyone envisioned, at the 28th Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl. But that's what makes this football coach so different and such a success--he definitely has his own way of doing things.
Petersen is stepping down after very candidly admitting that he's suffering from coaching burnout, that he didn't enjoy the Rose Bowl a year ago as much as he should have, that the Huskies needed someone new to lead them.
"I think there's a feeling that everybody has when they're ready to be done, ready to move on, and I think people should follow that," said Levi Onwuzurike, UW defensive tackle and first-team All-Pac-12 selection (shown in the video). "We all support him."
Washington (7-5) and 19th-ranked Boise State (12-1), Petersen's current and former employers, kick off at 4:30 p.m. at Sam Boyd Stadium on the outskirts of Las Vegas. ABC will televise the game, and Kirk Herbstreit, Bob Wischusen and Molly McGrath will compose an A-list broadcast team.
While the Broncos would appear to be clear favorites based on their 12 victories, their one defeat puts everything in question.
Boise State lost 28-25 at BYU, while the Huskies won 45-19 against the same team, at the same place.
Further confusing things, the Broncos have started three different quarterbacks this season, shuttling them in and out because of injury.
The signal-caller scorecard: Promising freshman Hank Bachmeier went 7-0 as the starter before he suffered shoulder and hip ailments. Sophomore Chase Cord went 1-1 as Bachmeier's replacement until he took a hard hit that sent him to the sidelines. Senior Jaylon Henderson. is 4-0 and listed as the Las Vegas Bowl starter.
Playing coy, Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said this week that all three would play against Washington.
That said, here are three things to watch for from the Huskies, who should have a surprise or two for this game:
1) Somebody's going to come up with a memorable trick play. Petersen has a history of it and nothing to lose. Boise State has continued this tradition of the unexpected under Harsin, who was Petersen's offensive coordinator and is a decided risk-taker. Bet the Huskies do it better.
2) If Jacob Eason, pondering an early move to the NFL, enjoys a big outing, it seals his exit from the Huskies, shuts up his critics for one afternoon and makes the UW begin a frantic search for a new quarterback. Best guess, he leaves no matter what.
3) Jared Hilbers likely draws the starting assignment at left tackle, replacing All-Pac-12 selection Trey Adams, who's saving himself for the NFL draft. If Hilbers jumpstarts the UW offense with some key blocks on the edge, enabling Salvon Ahmed to churn out big yardage, the senior's pro stock jumps up. Left tackle will do that for you.
The following are notable numbers entering this matchup:
Washington's all-time bowl record
18-19-1
Boise State's Las Vegas Bowl record
4-0
Petersen's UW bowl record
1-4
UW-Boise State series record
2-2
Game prediction
41-38, UW
Farewell quote
"There is motivation, 100 percent," the Huskies' Onwuzurike said of making Petersen a Vegas victor. "We all know the history. He's been at Boise. He's here now. We want to win a bowl game and send him out with a win."
A Vegas Bowl photo gallery:
