The Washington Husky road woes over the past few years are no secret. The Huskies haven’t won a game on the road since 2007, when they beat the Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto.
In an effort to prepare his young team for the season opener against BYU in Provo, head coach Steve Sarkisian decided to simulate a game this week, going so far as to travel to Seahawks headquarters and following the normal pregame routine. On his radio show, Sarkisian explained his motives (via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times).
Obviously last year, we didn’t perform as well as we would’ve liked on the road. So we tried to mock a road game. We went and stayed at another hotel here in town that was not our traditional home hotel. We went through our Friday walk-through as if we were going on the road, we went to the hotel, we had our meetings, we woke up there and had our meetings again, we got on the bus, we went down to VMAC, we put on our road uniforms and simulated a game on the road, with substitutions and everything it entailed: in and out of the locker room, how we warmed up. I think we’re just trying to expand our comfort zone and get guys comfortable with being on the road so that we can play to the best of our abilities."
If the Huskies are going to break through this year, they need to figure out how to win on the road. With a senior leader in Jake Locker, the offense should be poised, but the young players on both sides of the ball need to get acclimated to the routine that comes with playing on the road.
The Huskies head down to Provo to take on the BYU Cougars on Saturday at 4 p.m.
For more on the Dawgs, check out SB Nation’s UWDawgPound.