Washington Huskies College Football Pregame Quote, 12/26/2023

COACH DeBOER: Good evening and hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

We had a practice this morning and hopped on a flight here, and everything went pretty smooth. So guys are excited to finally get to this point.

You win the Pac-12 championship, and it seems like forever down the road before you get to this point, including even academics, guys taking finals, and things like that.

But here we are and really looking forward to a great week being down here, continue preparation for Texas, and just a lot of new adventures for our guys.

Being in this particular game and a national Semifinal game, first Pac-12 – not just first UW team but first Pac-12 team to ever be in the Sugar Bowl. A lot of exciting things.

I know our fans are excited to get down here and get a taste of New Orleans and also be ready for the game. So looking forward to an awesome week being here.

Q. You have been in bowl games before, but this is the first time in a playoff game at least at this level. Are you approaching this any different than you would a regular bowl trip? And if so, or if not, have you talked to maybe coaches who have been in the playoffs?

COACH DeBOER: Yeah, I think there’s definitely a different feel to it. I think even the setup of the bowl itself with the activities and so forth, I think there’s ‚Äì I think in our guys’ mind, it’s probably more of a business-like approach to it.

Never really had conversations or worries about guys maybe not even thinking about playing. They worked extremely hard to get to this point; and this is what it was all about, is having the chance to be in a national championship. And so on I think there is more of a business-like approach.

I know our staff has a lot of peers throughout college football, myself included, that just kind of get an idea just the things to be ready for, the way that the schedule might be set up.

I think there’s a lot of experience our staff has, and we’ve sorted through all that and had a good schedule in place up to this point and looking for a good week.

Q. What do you know from watching film on Quinn Ewers? What do you have to do to try to contain him or stop him?

COACH DeBOER: Well, I think the thing you see is that he’s had continual growth from a year ago. That’s just Quinn but also just the rest of the team, along with his skill group are in sync. You can see they’re executing at an extremely level. I think his command of the offense has continued to improve from a year ago.

And so we’re expecting a much-different football team than we saw, which was a very good football team, even a year ago. And so he’s protected. He understands, I think, just from a football sense it’s another year into your career. And so been very impressed. He can deliver the ball, put it wherever he wants. And we’ll have ‚Äì we know we’ll have our hands full trying to slow Quinn and the offense down.

Q. Scott Huff, really good friends ‚Äì your offensive line coach, really good friends with the defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski. Maybe talk a little bit about the conversations that maybe you’re having with Scott and Pete to contain those big two interior defensive linemen.

COACH DeBOER: Yeah. I know they’re very close and talk regularly out of season and even during the season. I think those conversations maybe ‚Äì I don’t know for sure ‚Äì have dwindled down here as we get closer to the game.

But, yeah, it’s pretty evident what they are up front and just guys that stuff the run and, I think, just as a unit get after your quarterback and get a push at the line of scrimmage, getting the quarterback’s face. And we know that will be a great challenge for offensive line.

Coach Huff has done a great job with our guys all season long, and looking forward to that challenge. We know it will be a great one. But that’s certainly a big piece of their defense, is what happens up front, not just at the line of scrimmage but also with the second level, at the linebacker level.

Q. What has Michael Penix meant to your team this season?

COACH DeBOER: Yeah, he came in two years ago and there was expectations. From my end, I knew what we had and I knew we had a really good quarterback that if he was in charge, we were going to be able to have one of the better ones in the country.

I think as time gone on, he has really pushed himself to the new levels. The talent, the skill set has always about there. I think his instinctiveness, his football IQ, I knew this back four years ago that it was elite. But he’s had guys now surround him that can make plays, can protect him.

I think what’s really, to answer your question, been key is how much he’s involved as a leader, as he’s become more comfortable in the program. And to think there’s things that he’s done that just in those big moments, whether it’s leading our team down the field when our backs are to the wall, not just this year but last year, time and time again he’s done that, he’s come through.

It’s those big moments when he’s exhausted and will get up and get in front of the team, whether it’s halftime, end of the game, and just give those talks that you can tell are deep, just the ones that ‚Äì where he’s finding every bit of energy to make sure that he challenges the guys to dig deep and give everything they have.

And so he does it on the field with his production. He’s a relentless worker. He’s really pushed hard to help himself be his best. And I think his leadership is probably one of the biggest areas where we’ve seen as a team him just really step out in front and not be afraid to put the team on his shoulders.

Q. Last year you played this team in San Antonio. That was a pure bowl game. Like you said, this is a business trip. Have you emphasized that to your players? Did you tell them, Hey, have fun down here, to a certain degree? But the stakes in this game are a lot higher than they have ever played for before.

COACH DeBOER: Yeah, there’s no question. I don’t think I had to say too much about it. That’s really kind of the balance that I think our team has. We have this mature group of guys that has these lofty goals that weren’t just set here this last couple weeks but all season long.

And we have been able to balance having fun, enjoying being around each other all season long, and just with the work that it takes to prepare to be great on Saturdays, game day.

I’m really proud of our guys for that, because they know that, hey, this is the time to work and this is the time to have fun. And so I’d expect that business trip, that workmanlike mentality, to continue here on this trip here down in New Orleans.