Resilient Huskies Bounce Back Against OSU
November 21, 2015 | Football
By Mason Kelley
GoHuskies.com
CORVALLIS, Ore. – When a team is tested, how will the players in a program respond?
As Chris Petersen and his coaching staff build the program at Washington, there is a very specific way to answer that question. When the Huskies are tested, they are expected to respond. They are challenged to be resilient.
On Saturday afternoon at Oregon State, in a game Washington needed to win, the program bounced back in a big way, beating the Beavers, 52-7, at Reser Stadium.
“We talk about it all the time,” Petersen said. “It's easy to work hard and play well when it's all good, and when it's not, you have to be resilient. That's a characteristic of all successful organizations and people. It's easy to talk about and hard to do, especially if it's over a long period of time.
“These kids, every week they've been very resilient.”
After last week's loss at Arizona State, Washington's players went into this week determined to start fast and finish. The Huskies did just that.
“We started fast last week,” quarterback Jake Browning said. “We just had to finish. We did a good job this week. We got up early and were able to run the clock out, control the ball.”
Washington scored on its first six possessions, seizing control of the game. Throw in a dominant defensive performance and the Huskies were able to move one step closer to becoming bowl eligible.
“We won't stop playing,” linebacker Keishawn Bierria said. “We won't give up. We're just going to keep pounding, keep pushing forward. Whatever happens, happens, but we're going to give our best to win.”
Browning completed 18 of 20 passes for 211 yards and four touchdowns to spark the Huskies, while Myles Gaskin rushed for 127 yards on 23 carries.
When asked about Washington's ability to bounce back, Browning said it's a nice attribute for a team to have. It's crucial. But this is a group that wants to win at the highest level.
“Ideally, we're not bouncing back, because we're just winning, but we're going to battle,” he said. “We've shown that. We've just got to finish.”
Against the Beavers, the Huskies finished drives, they finished tackles, they executed from beginning to end.
“It's the same mentality every week,” said receiver Jaydon Mickens, who caught seven passes for 59 yards and a touchdown. “We're going to come in and fight to the death. We're going to go out there and give it our best swings. But it's football, we're going to take some punches and we're going to dish them out.”
At the start of the year, Petersen tasked his team with embracing the idea of “Team, Unit, Me.”
“You take care of the team,” Mickens said. “You take care of your unit, your position group. And you take care of your 20 square feet. Everything is going to positive. It's going to be productive, and it's all going to come together.”
This is an idea the Huskies have embraced. No matter what happens week to week, Washington's players continue to spend extra time in the film room and they bring energy and effort to practice.
“They've just been really positive with one another, as much as you can be,” Petersen said. “We've been pleased with their mentality all season long.”
With Washington needing two wins in two games to become bowl eligible, the program took a strong step forward and got the first one against Oregon State. But now the Huskies' attention shifts to Washington State and next week's matchup in the Apple Cup.
“That just brings us so much more momentum when we come out dominant like that,” said receiver Brayden Lenius, who caught a pair of touchdown passes. “That should help us lead into the next game against Wazzu. This just helps us with our confidence, gives us more motivation. We've just got to keep going, keep rolling.”
Players Mentioned
