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PROVO — The last time the BYU football team was in Seattle, Jake Locker’s excessive celebration penalty helped the then-No. 15 Cougars’ hold on for a 28-27 win on Jan Jorgensen’s blocked punt.
But when the Huskies host BYU at 6:30 p.m. MDT Saturday (Fox, KSL Newsradio), they won’t be facing Locker or former coach Tyrone Willingham, who led Washington to a nefarious 0-12 campaign that year.
This time around, the 20th-ranked Cougars will face Chris Petersen — whose run at Boise State was surging back in 2008, and who has a special relationship with BYU starting quarterback Tanner Mangum.
“I love coach Pete. He’s one of my favorite coaches, especially during the recruiting process,” said Mangum, an Eagle, Idaho, native whose recruitment came down to BYU and Boise. “He was a first-class guy, and I loved talking to him.
“I have a lot of respect for Coach Pete and what he’s done, both at Boise State and at U-dub.”
When BYU knocked off Washington 10 years ago, it got a Herculean effort from quarterback Max Hall, who threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns that afternoon.
Could Mangum surprise expectations and do the same Saturday?
Here’s a look at this year’s matchup against the No. 11 Huskies.
Washington offense
If you haven’t heard of Washington quarterback Jake Browning and running back Myles Gaskin, then we want to know where you’ve been hiding during the first four weeks of the college football season.
Browning is the Huskies’ senior leader, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound signal caller who was named to every preseason watch list a quarterback can be considered. He’s the second-ever Washington quarterback to pass for more than 10,000 yards, and he’s just 150 yards shy of Cody Pickett’s all-time school record of 10,220 yards.
But buyer beware to anyone who tries to shut down Browning and his wide receiver corps, which include former Provo High star Ty Jones, a 6-foot-4 sophomore who was a U.S. Army All-American.
Standing just 5-foot-10 and 193 pounds, Gaskin is U-dub’s all-time leading rusher with 4,412 yards, including a 143-yard, one touchdown performance in the Huskies’ win on The Hill at Utah two weeks ago. With an average season, Gaskin could become just the 10th player in NCAA FBS history to rush for 1,000 yards in four seasons.
In short, it’s a team that is built like a Petersen-coached team. The former Boise State coaching star owns a 40-18 record at Washington since taking over in 2014.
“I’ve known a lot of coaches on that staff, and he’s done a great job of developing his culture at Washington,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “He made some tough decisions when he first got there, but he’s done a great job with that program.
“His teams are always ready to play. We learned a lot of lessons in the Wisconsin game, and we look forward to learning more this weekend.”
The Huskies average 27.2 points per game, which has been maligned across college football — but it’s also more than double what the Washington defense allows.
Washington defense
It starts up front with the Huskies, who have held opponents to 12.8 points per game in four games against Auburn, North Dakota, Utah and Arizona State en route to a 3-1 start.
The senior-laden defensive line of Shane Bowman, Greg Gaines and Jaylen Johnson allows just 4.0 yards per carry on a team that ranks No. 17 nationally in total defense — one spot ahead of Wisconsin.
But the stout front allows the Huskies’ secondary to work its magic.
“That’s a really good defense,” BYU passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Aaron Roderick said of Washington. “This is about as good of a defense as you’ll see in college football. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
The Huskies’ secondary is led by NFL-level talent in safeties Taylor Rapp and Jojo McIntosh, as well as a trio of cornerbacks in Byron Murphy, Jordan Miller and Myles Bryant. Last week, Arizona State had just two pass players longer than nine yards, and Washington’s 4.6 yards allowed by pass attempt is tied for second nationally.
The Huskies have allowed only one passing touchdown through four games, equal to Utah, South Florida and Georgia Southern.
X-factor: Road warriors
While the Huskies are counting on a home-field advantage for Saturday’s primetime kickoff on a major broadcast station, the Cougars have been better on the road.
With the small sample size of four games in the 2018 season, BYU is just 1-1 at home — but 2-0 on the road, with both wins coming against Power Five competition at Arizona and at then-No. 6 Wisconsin.
“I think our guys feel confident playing on the road,” BYU offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes said. “For whatever reason, they feel comfortable going into an enemy encampment and trying to go take one. And I think that we’ve done it a couple of times this season certainly helps.”
Whether by veteran experience, youthful naivety or a combination of both, the Cougars haven’t been fazed by road crowds.
Rather, they seem to enjoy it.
“I really don’t think we care; it doesn’t affect our play,” Mangum said. “We don’t let it affect our execution. Something that our coaches have really stressed with us is tuning out the outside noise. We’re really focusing on us and our team, and that’s all that matters.
“It doesn’t matter to us where or who. We just want to go out and play our game.”
