Utah quarterback eager to face his former school: No. 4 Washington
Notre Dame looks to end home loss streak
SALT LAKE CITY — Troy Williams signed with Washington as a top-ranked dual-threat quarterback in 2013.
Two years later, Williams is the starter for Utah and he wants to show the fourth-ranked Huskies’ coaching staff what they missed out on. The Utes (7-1, 4-1 Pac-12) host Washington (7-0, 4-0) on Saturday.
Williams feels he never got a fair shake when Chris Petersen was hired to replace Steve Sarkisian at Washington in December 2013. USC poached Sarkisian from Washington and the Huskies plucked Petersen from Boise State. Williams spent his freshman season as a redshirt then played in five games under Petersen before transferring to Santa Monica College after the 2014 season.
Williams transferred to Utah in January and has led the Utes to the No. 17 ranking. He’s thrown for 1,725 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions, while giving the Utes their best passing attack in years.
“It’s just pretty much more so on the whole coaching staff that was there that didn’t really appreciate me that much,” Williams said. “This is the big one that I’ve been waiting for, that everybody’s been waiting for.”
Williams and Petersen, unsurprisingly, see their parting in different ways.
“Those are chaotic times on everybody,” Petersen said. “We’re trying to figure out our identity on offense, and we had Cyler (Miles) and Jeff (Lindquist) and all those type of things. I think sometimes, at the end of the day, as you’re working through all those things, and you didn’t recruit a guy, the guy just says, ‘Maybe I just need a fresh start.’ I thought Troy was a good player when he was here, and I knew he’d go somewhere and be a really good player. I think that’s proven true.”
NOTRE DAME: Coach Brian Kelly isn’t interested in talking with his players about a history lesson as the 2-5 Fighting Irish try to avoid one of the school’s worst finishes in 128 seasons of playing football.
“These guys have got a ton of pride. I don’t have to hit them in the nose with a newspaper and remind them of that,” Kelly said. “So we don’t talk about that. We talk about how do we get a win.”
A loss to Miami (4-3) on Saturday would be the fourth straight at home for the Irish, dropping them to 1-4 in South Bend with a game left against No. 25 Virginia Tech on Nov. 19. The only two times the Irish have lost four or more games in a season at Notre Dame Stadium were in 1960 and 2007.
MICHIGAN: Coach Jim Harbaugh is still mad about a call that went against Michigan during a blowout win over Illinois during the weekend.
Harbaugh challenged the spot of a 7-yard pass on a third-and-9 from the Illinois 41 with 2:04 left in a game the second-ranked Wolverines were winning 41-8. After it wasn’t overturned by video review, Harbaugh brought up the decision after his postgame news conference Saturday.
Two days later, Harbaugh was still stewing about it. Asked Monday about star player Jabrill Peppers, Harbaugh instead brought up what he calls the “worst call in the game of football.”
A reporter suggested perhaps the call wasn’t reversed because of the score.
Harbaugh responded: “Is that in the rule book?”
Michigan plays Saturday at Michigan State.
ALABAMA: Safety Eddie Jackson had surgery to repair a fractured left leg. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said Tuesday that the operation “went really, really well” and that Jackson shouldn’t have any problems in the future.
The senior was injured on a punt return early in the fourth quarter against Texas A&M on Saturday. The Tide is off this week and looking for the right combination to replace him.