Sarkisian talks game day
Sarkisian talks game day
Kaelyn Sayles
On Thursday, head coach Steve Sarkisian talked to the media about the upcoming game day.
Curiosity surrounding this game has been huge. Everyone wants to know what the Husky football team looks like after how they ended last season in the Alamo Bowl loss. Maybe one of the most curious is Sarkisian.
"I think there's always curiosity. You feel like you've got a great handle, but things change when the lights come on," Sarkisian said. "I try and go in with an idea of what might happen, but I also try not to be shocked when things go in a different direction than I've envisioned."
It's been evident throughout fall camp that the Dawgs are hungry to get back out on the field and show how they've improved. One of the frustrating things, according to coaches, was that the guys think that they're better than they were at the end of last season, so they're ready to prove that.
Early on in training camp, Sarkisian compared his players to dogs being kept tied to the porch for too long - hungry and ready to be unleashed.
That hasn't changed.
"They were all kind of barking today about wanting to get let off the porch and off the leash and let them go, so I think they're excited," Sarkisian said. "It's like anybody any time you keep banging heads with the same guy across from you, you're just excited to play somebody else."
Although they're excited to play an opponent, Sarkisian said the key will be to play smart football. This idea of execution and smart football has been stressed to the players since the beginning of camp.
Sarkisian said the big thing will be to not let their emotions get the best of them and to just let the game come to them, not forcing anything.
And then there's staying true to themselves.
"From the opening snap we're going to try and be us and stay aggressive," Sarkisian said.
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Because of limited locker space at CenturyLink, Washington won't be able to dress as many players as they might want to. On Thursday, Sarkisian said they will dress upwards of 80 of the 105.
Also on Thursday, Sarkisian said there won't be any limitations. Players who can play will, and those who we already know can't, won't. One of those players that's ready to go is wide receiver Kevin Smith, who spent most of training camp in a gold limited jersey due to injury.