By Todd Milles
The News Tribune
SEATTLE — As the calendar switches to October, kickoffs for Washington Huskies games are getting later and later.
And coach Chris Petersen isn’t happy about it.
Petersen voiced his displeasure with having to start games at 7:45 p.m. the next two weeks, starting Saturday at home against California.
Because Fox Sports had the choice between the UW-Cal game and the Washington State-Oregon game, the network chose the Cougars and Ducks to fill the 5 p.m. time slot.
That left ESPN grabbing the sixth-ranked Huskies returning home after back-to-back road victories over Colorado and Oregon State for their late broadcasting spot.
“So much of this and what we do comes down money,” Petersen said. “(Televsion) contracts are big. They tell us when to play.”
This seems to be a common complaint over the years among Pac-12 coaches whose teams have played a string of night games.
It hasn’t really happened much with the Huskies during Petersen’s tenure. In his first three seasons, the UW has kicked off at 4 p.m. or earlier in 20 of its 41 games.
But so far this season, the Huskies have not had a kickoff time set earlier that 5 p.m.
“We want to play at 1 o’clock,” Petersen said. “It hurts us tremendously in terms of national exposure. No one wants to watch our game on the East Coast that late, and we all know it.
“It is painful for our team. It’s painful for our administration. And we know certainly the most important part is (it’s painful) for our fans.”
What compounds the scorn for the late kickoffs is the fact the Huskies have traditionally held morning practices under Petersen, so it is difficult for them to simulate late starts.
“We say, ‘We eat the frog’ around here. You get the hard part of your day out of the way,” Petersen said. “I know players I’ve had who have both schedules…really appreciate the morning schedule.”
If this scheduling trend continues in the future, would the UW consider practicing later?
“We wouldn’t change it this year, for sure,” Petersen said.
EXTRA POINTS
Petersen declined to name a starting kicker for Saturday between senior Tristan Vizcaino and redshirt freshman Van Soderberg. Vizcaino has missed three field goals and a PAT kick in his past two games. It is a decision, he said, that will be made at the end of the week…Petersen said wide receiver Chico McClatcher (foot) had successful surgery last week after suffering a season-ending injury at Colorado…The UW will hold a “Purple Out” for its home game Saturday, asking all fans to wear nothing but purple. The team will also wear all-purple tops and bottoms…Even though the Huskies gained 30 points in Associated Press voting, they stayed at No. 6 after their 42-7 win at Oregon State. Georgia leapfrogged them to the No. 5 spot after USC fell in the rankings.
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