Opening Statement…
"We are getting ready for our first Pac-12 road game of the year. Washington State is a good football team. They are putting up good numbers on both sides of the ball. They are throwing around 400 yards a game and putting up 40 points and then defensively, they are stingy as well. We've got our work cut out for us. The 3 p.m. kick will be nice. Getting to play a game in daylight is going to be awesome. It will be a big challenge and they are coming off a close loss at USC. It was a great game. I was able to watch most of it. They have a lot of weapons on offense. Their quarterback is playing extremely well. They can spread the ball around with four or five receivers that are getting involved. They throw the ball to the running backs as well because they are a big part of their throw game. It is a typical Mike Leach football team that is difficult to defend."
On Washington State having so many receivers and if he thinks they have enough depth in the secondary to match up with them…
"We hope so. It will be a challenge. As I mentioned, they have a bunch of guys that get playing time. They roll through their receivers. Part of the challenge will be trying to keep our guys fresh and a lot of that will be getting out of drives because extended drives wear you out. A lot of that is on us though because we have to try and get out of drives early and maintain freshness."
On what he learned about the team during bye week…
"Defensively we are playing pretty good through three weeks and we are getting pretty good results. It was good to see the special teams get turned around. The primary issue is the pass offense and we are trying to get that jumpstarted. That starts with coaching, we have to coach them better, and we have to execute better. Through three games that is the thing you can really put your finger on."
On what about Washington State's offense makes it hard to scheme against…
"They always seem to have a good quarterback and it seems they found another good one with their transfer from East Carolina. It starts there because the quarterback is the most important position on any team. That position has the biggest impact on the game. Coach Leach is a very well versed coach at throwing the football and has a great track record and knows exactly what he is doing in the throw game and how to coach it. The receivers are well-coached and the offensive line does a great job protecting. It is just a typical Mike Leach offense and what makes it go is that he has a system that he knows inside and out. He plugs in the right kind of players that fit the system and the results speak for themselves."
On how important it will be for the offense to be able to sustain drives and keep the defense off the field against Washington State…
"It is important, but it is more important that we just score points. You just have to score points. You aren't going to beat Washington State 21-17, that is not going to happen. They are prolific on offense and you have to be able to stick with them. USC was able to put up 38 points and that is typically what you have to do to beat those guys. But yes, keeping their offense on the sideline is the best way to defend it, but if you keep their offense on the sideline but don't score points in the process, then you aren't going to fare very well. You have to do both."
On if the bye week will help Zack Moss get more touches on the ball…
"Zack is a talented player and we need to feed him the ball. He is very effective when he does have the ball in his hand, so that is something that is obvious when you look at our first three games. We have to play to our strengths a little bit more."
On if opening Pac-12 play against three teams from the North Division makes it hard to gauge where they sit in the South Division…
"No I don't think so. With the Pac-12 you kind of just judge it as a whole. Obviously, the South is where we compete specifically, but we are all in the Pac-12. You watch the South games and you can get a flavor of what you are up against before you play them just by watching them in action."
On Washington State's receivers…
"They've got four or five guys, well they have two that are their main targets, but they are all very productive. They all do a great job running routes, finding space and sitting down in the dead spots. They are very well-coached."
On Cody Barton's interception that got called back against Washington…
"Yeah it was a terrific play and it was a shame that it didn't count, but that was the result. He was in man-to-man coverage and the back swung out in the backfield and Cody covered it perfectly. It was perfect in terms of technique because he didn't peek the ball until the last second like he was supposed to and came away with a great athletic play. He played that exactly how he is coached to do it and he is athletic enough to do it. One of the essences of coaching is giving your players something that they can physically do and then demand that they do it and hope they do it."
On how Washington State's run game is more like a pass game because of the screen passes they produce and on if they have to prepare differently because of the amount they throw…
"It is a different animal. They are a pass first team when most weeks you are geared up on stopping the run. This week, it is a departure from the norm. They are going to throw the ball 80-percent of the time. A lot of the running backs' receptions will be coming off the screen game, check downs and that type of thing. It does present a different challenge than your typical week, but we have to be ready for it. Based on the first two days of practice last week, I think we have a good start on it."
On if they focused on targeting or made any adjustments during bye week, also on preparing to have Leki Fotu miss the first half of the game…
"Losing Leki will hurt our depth, but we have enough guys that we will get by. Targeting, we are coaching it the same way we always have. Targeting seems to be called differently from conference to conference. When you are watching TV and seeing things that seem to be no brainers and they aren't being called, that makes it difficult to pinpoint the consistency of the call. We are just doing the same thing we have done for years when it was introduced. No helmet to helmet, don't lead with the head, don't launch, just all of those things that go into the call."
On what he thought about Washington State's run defense against USC…
"It was a little soft at first but then they settled in. I think USC had around 140-150 yards total rushing in the game, but a lot of that came early. It seemed as though they settled in and started playing the gaps a little better. Their defense overall looks good. They held them to 350 total offense and in this day of football that is not a lot of yards and is well below what you hope to achieve."
On if he is looking for more slant, short passes out of his offense as opposed to the deep ball…
"It really depends on what the defense is giving you. You want to make sure that you are balanced and you don't get too heavy in one aspect or the other. We probably have not taken enough deep shots this year. We maybe need to stretch the field a little bit more. But the starting point is what is the defense giving you. What type of coverage are they playing in, what type of technique do they have, so that will dictate what kind of throws you will see."
On what he thinks they will need to score to win on Saturday…
"Well how many do you think they will score? I know you have to be able to score against these guys because like I said, they are scoring around 40 a game. I can't put an exact number on it but I know you have to be able to generate offense on your own to have a chance in this game."
