Washington
What Jedd Fisch said after Washington lost to No. 1 Oregon football
EUGENE — No. 1 Oregon beat Washington 49-21 Saturday night at Autzen Stadium.
Jedd Fisch recapped the loss for the Huskies (6-6, 4-5 Big Ten), who await their bowl game destination and matchup.
Below is a transcript of Fisch’s postgame press conference.
No. 1 Oregon (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) vs. No. 4 Penn State (11-1, 8-1)
- When: Saturday, Nov. 30
- Time: 4:30 p.m. PT
- Where: Autzen Stadium, Eugene
- TV channel: NBC
- Stream: You can watch this matchup live for FREE with Fubo (free trial). If you don’t have cable and want to watch the game on the cheap, sign up for Peacock Premium ($7.99/month) and get it on NBC’s streaming service. You can also get this game on DirecTV Stream (free trial). You can also watch the event live on NBC Live if you already have cable or satellite provider login information.
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JEDD FISCH
Opening Statement…
“A tough night, obviously. We did not play our best and we ran into a really, really good football team, the No. 1 in the country and they certainly reflected that today. I think that they don’t really have many weaknesses. I thought we had some moments that I was proud of our guys and how we played at certain times in the game. (The score) was 7-6 in the middle of the second quarter or so, but it got away from us a little bit. I liked how we responded at the end of the half to make it 28-14. I thought we came out and did a decent job in that first drive but in the end, we just didn’t make enough plays. We had too many negative plays. Demond Williams had a lot of good plays, 85% completion for the night. But obviously, we can’t take as many sacks as we took. We got a lot to work on and we have 15 practices to do it. We have Signing Day on Wednesday, we have a portal window opening on Monday. The new calendar is certainly interesting, so we’re going to have to get after it. We’re going to come in tomorrow, grade the film and start scheduling practices for next week and be ready for a bowl game. As I said to our team in there, you have a chance to play in the postseason and you earn the right through 12 games, not through one. When you win six, you get to play in the bowl game and that’s what we’re looking forward to doing.”
On Will Rogers’ response to not starting vs Oregon…
“Will [Rogers] was fantastic, as he has been all year long. I let Will know very early, two weeks ago, that this was the direction we were going and he was an A-plus as he has been all year long. I can’t say enough good things about Will Rogers the person. I am so proud to have had the opportunity to coach him this year. I am going to miss him, and if he ever comes back, he will have a coaching job here.”
On Will Rogers’ availability for a bowl game…
“I expect Will (Rogers) to be around all the time. He is fantastic. He is going to prepare the same way he would as a starter. We talk a lot about being able to help Demond (Williams) if Demond is going to start, which he will. Also for Will to be able to continue on his journey and reach his dreams.”
On the decision to start Demond Williams vs Oregon…
“At this time in the season, after the way we moved the ball in the second half against Penn State when Demond was in…we had three drives where we got inside the 20, two of which were field goals. And then the three drives he had in the second half against UCLA, which led to 17 points. It was time and it is nice to have a full game of film to coach him off of. We are in a situation where now I can sit down with him and go through each play. We had 57 plays that we can now go through. There’s a lot of situations there and he has three years left so we can get him going. We also have 15 practices to get him those starting reps.”
On Demond Williams taking accountability for Oregon’s 10 sacks…
“We trained him well to say that. I would hope he would say that. I would hope that our line would take the same accountability, our running backs would take the same accountability. I think all of it is a learning curve. I’ve always said that all 11 score touchdowns and all 11 take sacks. There’s so much to it. It’s getting open, it’s getting rid of the ball, it’s holding up in protection. There is a lot to learn from that. I think he’s going to learn when to get rid of the ball. But on the same token, there’s probably times where I yelled ‘Get rid of the ball’ and he scrambled around and got a first down on third down. This is what we’re going to have to learn and this is what we’re going to live with and continue to see Demond’s growth throughout this process.”
On defensive performance vs Oregon…
“We would always like to be better and bigger up front and make more plays to push the line of scrimmage. They had way too many yards after contact. Rushing the ball, they were able to do it at their disclosure. They were able to pick and choose the run game. They were getting too many yards from it. We need to be able to get bigger. We need to be able to really handle an offensive line that is built for the Big Ten.”
On reviewing the film vs just moving forward…
“There is too much to learn. We are such a young team and there is so much to learn in many places. For no other reason, we are playing with a true freshman quarterback. We will look at the tape and teach him off of it. There are so many other reasons to learn. For our receivers, when you’re correcting Denzel Boston, he has two more years. When you correct Jeremiah Hunter, Rashid Williams has to learn from that. When you correct Keleki Latu, Decker DeGraaf has to learn from that. Obviously on defense Khmori House has to learn from every correction we make to Alphonzo Tuputala and Carson Bruener. As does Isaiah Ward, continuing to get better, but he gets corrected on every play. As does Ephesians (Prysock), as does Makell Esteen, as does Vince Holmes, Peyton Waters. There’s so many young players on this team, we have to keep learning.”
On Russell Davis’ status…
“We lost him in Tuesday’s practice. He will not be back for the bowl game. He will have to get operated on and we will see him back in about three months.”
On the future of the program…
“There’s part of coming to an end in a regular season where you have emotions. Where you’re giving hugs to guys like (Carson) Bruener and (Alphonzo) Tuputala and you’re building these strong relationships with players who have been here a lot longer than I have. On the same token, there is energy and excitement about what is in the future. We have talked about sending this team out with a winning record, sending the team out with a bowl game championship. Send this team out in a place where they can say ‘we won seven with a team that nobody expected us to do much.’ And then let’s see what it looks like next year with all these young guys and the youth movement that has occurred. I’m really looking forward to what this team can do now and in the future.”
On who will start the bowl game…
“Demond (Williams) will start the bowl game.
— James Crepea covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.
Receding waters allowed residents of Burlington, Washington, to assess damage and clean up after record flooding. (AP video: Manuel Valdes)
Receding waters allowed residents of Burlington, Washington, to assess damage and clean up after record flooding. (AP video: Manuel Valdes)
The New York Giants (2-11) and Washington Commanders (3-10) will square off on Sunday afternoon in a Week 15 matchup at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Opening the week, the Giants were listed as 1.5-point home favorites, but that line has shifted slightly with New York now at -2.5 as of this writing.
With this matchup on tap, Giants Wire took the opportunity to hold a Q&A with Commanders Wire managing editor Bryan Manning.
Is Daniel Snyder back in charge? Explain the fall from NFC Championship Game to 3-10.
Manning: There have been so many factors in Washington’s fall this year. The year they’re having right now is probably the one everyone expected a year ago. The roster was in bad shape due to Ron Rivera whiffing on four drafts, but GM Adam Peters needs more from his draft picks. Is it coaching? We’ve already seen the DC “reassigned.” Injuries have played a role. Look, I saw questions on this roster before the injuries, but they haven’t helped. Daniels being in and out of the lineup hasn’t helped. McLaurin holding out over the summer really changed things. When you add it all together, it’s the perfect storm of terrible.
It’s been an odd season for Jayden Daniels, who is now out on Sunday. What have you seen from him in Year 2, and what do you expect from him moving forward?
Jayden has been let down a bit by the team. If anyone watched him last year, they’d know he was the reason this team won 12 games and made it to the NFC championship. He erased deficits. No third down was too long. He was automatic on fourth downs. However, McLaurin’s holdout, Noah Brown being out for so long, and Austin Ekeler’s injury crushed the offense. A rotating cast of wide receivers, often called up from the practice squad, has hampered the offense. The injuries were more bad luck than anything. And I believe Jayden could play through them, outside of the initial elbow injury. This offseason should be about finding a 1B to McLaurin’s 1A.
What does the loss of Zach Ertz mean for Washington’s offense, especially with Marcus Mariota under center?
Losing Ertz hurts. While he had some issues with drops at times, and he was no longer a threat after the catch, the quarterbacks trusted Ertz. He consistently gets open, even at 35. A great leader, and he’s still a productive player. His shoes are big. The hope is Ben Sinnott can be the guy. I am not confident he is ready to do some of the things Ertz did. Mariota, like Daniels, always trusts Ertz on third downs and inside the red zone.
Jonathan Jones and Bobby Wagner are banged up. What do they mean to the defense, and who steps in if they can’t go on Sunday?
Jones missed a lot of time earlier this season. When he returned, the Commanders lost Marshon Lattimore and Trey Amos for the season. Jones is a solid veteran who can play inside and outside, and Washington doesn’t have a lot of cornerback depth now. The defense has stunk regardless of who has played in the secondary, so I am not sure we will notice much. Wagner is still a solid player, but teams wisely attack him in the passing game. That’s his weakness now as a 14th-year pro. He is still excellent against the run or as a blitzer. But he’s a massive liability in coverage. Jordan Magee has played a lot lately, but I would like to see him play the MIKE one entire game in place of Wagner, just to see what he can do.
How do you see Sunday’s game playing out, who wins, and what’s the final score?
These games are always crazy. I feel like it’s always the Giants and Commanders fighting for draft position late in the season. It’s unfortunate for both franchises. While I still like the future outlook for both teams, this game is for nothing more than who will pick higher in the draft. Although the players do not care. The Giants are playing better. Sure, the wins haven’t come, but they will on Sunday. Another close one, but New York wins, 24-20.
And while the river did see record flows at Mount Vernon, both the dikes and a downtown floodwall held up. The city isn’t out of the woods yet — Ezelle said the Skagit could return to a major flood stage next week.
In the nearby town of Burlington, the river did overtop a slough off the Skagit. Officials sent a warning early Friday morning to evacuate for all 11,000 Burlington residents as some neighborhoods and roadways flooded, though not all of them ultimately needed to leave.
“In the middle of the night, about a thousand people had to flee their homes in a really dire situation,” Gov. Bob Ferguson said in a news conference on Friday afternoon.
The flood event has set records across Washington state and it prompted officials to ask about 100,000 people to evacuate this week, forced dozens of rescues and caused widespread destruction of roads and other infrastructure.
Washington state is prone to intense spells of fall rainfall, but these storms have been exceptional. The atmospheric rivers this week dumped as much as 16 inches of rain in Washington’s Cascade mountains over about three days, according to National Weather Service data.
Because many rivers and streams were already running high and the soil was already saturated, the water tore through lowland communities. The Skagit River system is the third biggest on the U.S. west coast, and at Mount Vernon, this is the highest the river has ever run in recorded history.
“There has been no reported loss of life at this time,” Ferguson said. “The situation is very dynamic, but we’re exceedingly grateful.”
By Friday afternoon, while many roadways near Burlington remained closed, parts of downtown bustled with car traffic, as national guardsmen were waving people away from road closures and curious residents were out snapping photos of the swollen Skagit. Downstream, in the town of Conway, a tree trunk and the metal siding of a trailer could be seen racing away in the current.
The dramatic week of flooding sets the stage for a difficult recovery, in a growing state that’s already struggling to provide shelter to homeless residents. It’s not clear how many homes have been damaged, but neighborhoods in dozens of towns and cities took on water. Recovery won’t be quick — after flooding in 2021, some residents who lost their homes were displaced for months.
President Donald Trump on Friday signed the state’s request for an expedited emergency declaration, which will enable people to seek individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for things like temporary housing and home repairs. The measure will also allow state and local governments to seek federal assistance to remove debris and repair roads, bridges, water facilities and other infrastructure.
The Trump administration has made suggestions it would overhaul FEMA and prove less disaster relief to states. In left-leaning Washington, the president’s pen to paper offered another an initial sigh of relief.
“One of the challenges that we’ve had with the administration in the past is that they don’t really want to do longer term recovery,” said Rep. Rick Larsen, who represents Burlington and Mount Vernon. In an interview with NBC News, Larsen added that the declaration was “an indication that they understand how disastrous this particular disaster is and we’re not out of it yet.”
The next atmospheric river storm on tap will likely arrive Sunday night.
Jeff Michalski, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Seattle, said a few days of dry weather will allow most rivers to recede, before they begin to swell again on Tuesday, as the rainfall pulses downstream.
Lowland parts of western Washington will receive about an inch of rain during the storm; the mountains could get up to three.
“It could possibly either prolong flooding or cause renewed flooding on some of the rivers,” Michalski said. “A few rivers may bump back into flood stage moving into the Tuesday, Wednesday time frame, but we’re not expecting widespread major flood levels like we have seen.”
After Wednesday, the forecast calls for more rain in lowland Washington and heavy snow in the Cascades.
“It does not let up,” Michalski said.
Ferguson said the situation would remain “dynamic and unpredictable” over the next week.
“This is not just a one- or two- day crisis. These water levels have been historic and they’re going to remain very high for an extended period of time,” Ferguson said. “That puts pressure on our infrastructure. The infrastructure has, for the most part, withstood the challenge so far.”
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