Tall Grass & Thin Air: It Doesn’t Matter to Husky Coach Petersen

There are a number of things that can affect the outcome of a football game that have nothing to do with x’s and o’s, which team is bigger, stronger or faster

There are a number of things that can affect the outcome of a football game that have nothing to do with x’s and o’s, which team is bigger, stronger or faster or who has a better game plan. The environment and the natural elements of any given city when taking the road to face an opponent is always something that coaches and players alike take into consideration.

What will the weather be like? Is it going to be hot or cold? Rainy or sunny? Snow or...(what’s up Wazzu?!).

The playing surface is something that teams need to plan for when hitting the road for an away game. The University of Washington Huskies play almost exclusively on turf when practicing and playing in Seattle. It is a much different surface than they will have at LaVell Edwards Stadium when they face off with BYU in Provo, Utah this Saturday. BYU plays on a grass surface which will require the Dawgs to use different cleats, and adjust to the footing accordingly.

Coaches will do as much as they can during the week to get their players adjusted to the environment that the team will be playing in on any given weekend. In 1994 when we traveled from Seattle to Miami to battle the Hurricanes in what came to be known as the “Whammy in Miami”, our coaching staff made us practice with long sleeves and sweat pants under our pads so that we would be “acclimated” to the heat of south Florida in September! Provo has its own set of “environmental” challenges, and head coach Chris Petersen has done his best to make sure that his team is prepared when they take the field on Saturday. 

But how much does something like a different  playing surface affect how the Huskies have prepared for this game? Or the altitude (Provo is about 4,550 feet above sea level). Check out what Coach Petersen had to say about the challenges of playing in LaVell Edwards Stadium this weekend, the natural grass surface, and how he has prepared his team to beat the BYU Cougars on the road on Saturday!