Why Kirk Herbstreit’s eye is on potential UW Huskies rematch vs Oregon
Longtime ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit has now seen the No. 5 UW Huskies up close twice this season, most recently last Saturday’s 52-42 Washington win at USC.
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After that game, Seattle Sports’ Brock Huard – a fellow former quarterback and current analyst who broadcasts for FOX – said he could sense something from Herbstreit.
“It sure seems like, from afar, you have some affinity for this Husky team – the way they’re built, the way (coach Kalen DeBoer) is doing it,” Huard said on Tuesday’s edition of Brock and Salk. “You’ve seen them now twice – give me your biggest takeaway.”
Herbstreit, who was in the booth alongside play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler on Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, explained why it may have seemed that way.
“You’re never rooting for teams, but Brock, you know what it’s like when you do these games, get a chance to get around players,” Herbstreit said. “It’s one thing to watch film, it’s another thing to go into production meetings, to go out to practice and kind of watch guys when they’re not in the limelight and kind of see the personality of some the players. I’m just really impressed with the intangibles, the wiring, the culture that I talked about on Saturday quite a bit.”
DeBoer, who is in his second year at the helm of the Huskies program, has particularly impressed Herbstreit.
“I really like Kalen as a head coach. If I were playing today, he would be a guy that I would really I think vibe with and be drawn towards – just me on on a personal level,” said Herbstreit, who quarterbacked Ohio State in the early 1990s.
Then there are two standouts on offense for the Dawgs: quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and running back Dillon Johnson, the latter of whom had a breakout performance against USC.
“You look at what Michael has been through in his journey at (Indiana) and the injuries he overcame, and what (offensive coordinator) Ryan Grubb’s doing with him in this system. And even the story with Dillon Johnson – he often gets overlooked. I think he reminded people of his importance this past game against SC,” Herbstreit said. “You could go around the whole roster, there’s just a lot of guys that it’s easy to pull for.”
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