Here’s Steve Sarkisian’s quotes at today’s press conference.
Washington football head coach Steve Sarkisian
On what the Idaho victory meant to program
“Well obviously for the program it was exciting. This has been a long time coming for these guys. It’s been almost two years since the last time they got to sing the fight song and get in the locker room and walk out of the locker room with smiles on their faces, so I know it meant a lot to the kids. It obviously meant a lot to our fan bases, they’ve just been starving to win here since we’ve gotten on board. But from a personal standpoint, those are some of the moments you kind of dream about when you take a job. To get the Gatorade bath there on the sidelines or getting the game ball from Jake Locker in the locker room, those are memories you have for a lifetime and ones that you always remember.”
On growth of the program
“I think we’re improving daily. I think we’ve come a long way obviously from a physical standpoint in the way we look and the way we play, but I think we’ve also come a long way from a mental standpoint. I think our kids are understanding what it takes to deal with adversity on and off the field. I think they’re understanding the value of mental toughness and it’s starting to show up in our plays. I’ve been proud of our guys not only physically, but mentally and the progress they’ve made.”
On Jake Locker’s ability
“Well Jake is a kid that he’s obviously very physically gifted. You know, he can run extremely well, he’s got a great arm. But as good of a physical athlete he is, he’s a better human being. This guy has got the work ethic and the determination that’s infectious. He’s a guy that wants to be great, he puts in the time and the effort on and off the field to get it done and he’s got the leadership qualities that make the other guys around him want to work even harder. Whether it’s for Jake or for the good of the team, he’s just got an infectious attitude so I’ve been proud of him because he’s put in the time and the effort and it’s showing up for him and he’s reaping the benefits.”
On comparing Jake with previous quarterbacks
“He’s similar. You know he’s about 6’3″, 230, maybe a little less at times. He’s kind of similar in the mold of Mark Sanchez in the build category. I think he runs probably better than any guy we had when we were there. He’s obviously not as polished of a passer as those guys were when we got him. A lot of those guys, you looked from Carson (Palmer) to (Matt) Leinart to (Matt) Cassel to Booty to Sanchez and now with Barkley. Those guys have been trained since the 5th, 6th grade to become pocket passers and quarterbacks, whether it’s with the Steve Clarksons and the Bob Johnsons of the world. For Jake, a lot of the things we’re doing are new for him and so there is a learning curve. Luckily for us, he’s a tremendous athlete and he can expedite that learning curve. I don’t know if he’s as polished as those guys in the pocket, but I think in time, within two years, he will be.”
On status of other key guys of the team
“Yeah I think offensively, our tailback Chris Polk is a key force. He’s a guy that’s had a couple nice ballgames out of the shoot years, a red-shirt freshman who started as a true freshman, got injured last year, got his year back. James Johnson is a true freshman, wide receiver, who’s performed well for us out of San Diego and D’andre Goodwin’s a kid who got 50 balls last year, didn’t have a huge game in the opener, but came back against Idaho and had a nice ball game. So those three guys offensively, I think kind of set the toll, or four guys offensively, set the toll for us. On defense, our heart and soul is number 66, Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, a guy nobody practices harder, nobody plays harder anywhere I’ve ever been. This guy’s got an amazing motor, a great work ethic, and he’s a great leader. And then our three backers with Foster, Butler, and Savannah really have a main stay of our defense veteran group. Those guys play extremely good football. And then in the back Nate Williams and Quinton Richardson kind of set the stage for us back there.”
On thoughts of playing against Pete Carroll and its advantages or disadvantages
“Well I think from a personal standpoint, it’s exciting. You think about seven years of my really young coaching career I’ve spent with Pete. From the staff meetings to the game planning to the game day moments to the locker room moments after great wins after some extremely devastating losses, I’ve learned so much not just from an X’s and O’s standpoint, but from just an overall standpoint of how to handle situations not just with yourself, but with the football team, with your peers as coaches. I’m very grateful for that, so going into this game it’s exciting to think all of those things that I’ve kind of embraced throughout the years, as I put them to use here in this ball game, I know some of those same thoughts are coming out of him as well. It’s kind of fun to think that way and it’s exciting. It’s exciting for one that hopefully as we get moving forward here and as we continue to improve as a program, it will kind of shake/shape itself up to become kind of a fun, friendly rivalry.”
On which coach has the advantage knowing the other
“Well I don’t know. You know we’re trying our best here not to get caught up in overanalyzing this thing too much and getting into a situation where we could get some paralysis by analysis. We’re going into this ballgame and trying to put together the best game plan we can to give our kids the best opportunity to succeed. If we start looking too far into this thing and trying to mind read and looking three, four steps down the road, we can get ourselves in trouble. I don’t know who has the advantage that way, I just know we’re not looking too far into it.”
On opinions of USC this season
“Well they’re obviously very good. I obviously know a lot of those kids and it’s fun to kind of watch those young defensive players grow up. You know, the Gallipos of the world, the Jurrell Caseys of the world, the Wes Hortons of the world, a lot of kind of younger faces but they’re playing really, really well. It’s obviously a tribute to Pete and Rocky and the defensive staff, those guys are playing fast football, they’re detailed, they know what they’re doing, they’re playing smart, and that’s why they’re playing as well as they are. I wouldn’t expect anything less. Offensively, what Matt’s been able to do is pretty amazing when you think about it. I was trying to think back, could of Leinart done that, could of Booty done that, could of Sanchez done it, and I don’t think so. I don’t think they could have done what Matt’s doing right now. It’s pretty amazing, especially to go into Ohio State and go get that win and that fourth quarter drive, it was pretty special, it was fun to watch. I think Joe McKnight, he could arguably be the best player in the country right now. I’ve always thought that that now for three years, and it’s coming true. He’s a special player, he’s playing physical, he’s running hard, he’s catching the ball out of back field, and he’s tough to defend.”
On challenges for USC after a win over Ohio State (compared to last year when USC lost at Oregon State following the 35-3 win at the Coliseum)
“I hope the biggest challenge is that it’s 50 degrees and raining. I don’t know, I think fortunately for Pete (Carroll), he’s the master of psychological warfare, especially with those kids. He’ll have them ready to go. He’s not going to get stung twice by the same letdown. I think there’s always the challenge there when you come off of a big win, or a big loss for that matter like we had last week. Pete will do a great job of getting those guys ready to go.”
On how much of the Trojan culture was brought to Washington
“We brought quite a bit. I think I’d be a fool to come up here and try to reinvent the wheel. That’s been a system in place there that has withstood the test of time, that has just gone on through different players, different coaches, different styles of teams, but ultimately the preparation process that Pete has assembled there is one that has withstood the test of time. To try to come up here and reinvent the wheel, I think I’d be wrong in doing so. Obviously we have our own wrinkles to things, we have things that we have to do differently to fit our personality and my own personality, but ultimately, they’re very similar.”
On which USC player Washington will prepare for to start
“Well we’re going to prepare for the system. The one thing about SC is it’s not always about the trigger guy. It’s a very good system, and it’s a scheme that is again, something that has withstood the test of time. The offense they’re running this Saturday is not a whole lot different than the one that Carson Palmer ran his senior year. They’re very similar. The idea of moving the quarterback around out of the pocket, the quick game, the zone run scheme, all those things are very similar. So they’re not going to change whether it’s Matt Barkley or Aaron Corp. We have just got to prepare for the scheme.”