Lake Had to Study 4 Opponents Before Utah Game was Locked In
College football scheduling, considering what University of Washington coach Jimmy Lake went through this week, has turned into a game show.
Do I pick door No. 1 or door 2?
"There was one point, I had four depth charts across my desk," Lake said. "That's never happened before."
Obviously one of these teams was Utah (0-1), which now comes to Husky Stadium to face Washington (2-0) on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. and provide a replacement game for the cancelled or postponed Apple Cup.
While Lake wouldn't identify the other schools that were considered, BYU and San Diego State athletic directors or coaches spoke publicly about their interest or disinterest in facing the Huskies. That fourth team will remain unidentified.
Before a game was firmly lined up, Lake and his coaching staff were left to make a calculated gamble on Tuesday morning: Who should we prepare for?
"We went with the odds," the coach said. "Thankfully, we got two really good practices in against the University of Utah."
Lake said it seemed most likely a Sunday game matching the Utes against Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona, wasn't going to happen because of the Sun Devils' ongoing pandemic issues.
"We definitely heard whispers that game was going to be canceled," he said.
Also, the Huskies were obligated to play a conference opponent if one became available late rather someone else, which would have left BYU or San Diego State hanging in the end.
Meantime, Lake will keep his players together in a bubble-lake environment on the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and not let them join their families in an effort to prevent any COVID-19 outbreak from cropping up.
"It's sad because we all have our Thanksgiving traditions and spend time with our friends and family and this year we can't do that," he said. "It's an event that has happened once every 100 years, this pandemic that's sweeping planet Earth, and we have to take the necessary steps."
Utah already had been informed that USC, its opponent last week in Salt Lake City, had a player from its travel party test positive once back in Los Angeles, putting everyone on alert.
Lake said Pac-12 testing protocols leave him highly optimistic there won't be any health issues in playing Saturday's game.
"I feel very confident on game day that we won't have anybody who has the virus and neither will our opponent," he said.
Lake also expressed remorse there won't an Apple Cup this weekend. Yet he was in agreement that it still should be played at some point this season.
The coach gave his support for having the rivalry game during the week of Dec. 19 when Pac-12 plans to hold the league championship and divisional crossover games. With one caveat, of course.
"Everyone wants the Apple Cup to happen," he said. "If we're not in the Pac-12 championship game, we definitely would like that (week) to be the Apple Cup."
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