SEATTLE — The first time the Washington Huskies lined up to punt against the Utah Utes on Saturday, there was no punt.
Korey Durkee instead dropped the snap, Utah wound up taking over at UW’s 32-yard line, and the Utes turned that ideal field position into a touchdown.
It was with that play in mind that when the Huskies next found themselves in a punting situation, with a fourth down at their own 15-yard line, special-teams coordinator Jeff Choate decided not to send Durkee back into a high-pressure situation.
“That (dropped snap)’s the last thing in his mind,” Choate said. “I don’t want him to be in that situation. I don’t think that’s fair to the kid. We want to put our team and every one of our players in the best opportunity to have success, and I just felt like at that particular moment, that was the best decision for our team.”
So he inserted sophomore Tristan Vizcaino, who handles the team’s kickoff duties but practices at every kicking position, for the rest of UW’s punts. Vizcaino mis-hit that first kick from UW’s 15, and it traveled just 25 yards. His next attempt, though, went 49 yards before the ball checked up and the Huskies downed it at Utah’s 4-yard line. His final punt was a 43-yard line drive in the fourth quarter.
“I was excited just to get the opportunity to go out there and do what I’ve been practicing to do for the past two years,” Vizcaino said. “It’s unfortunate what happened with Korey’s play, but you’ve got to be ready to step in any time. The first punt didn’t go as well as expected, but after that I kind of found my bearings and did all right. I was excited. It was a fun time. It was good to be out there.”
Huskies coach Chris Petersen said both Durkee and Vizcaino “should get work” on Saturday at Arizona State (noon, Pac-12 Network), saying that Durkee is “a good punter” who just needs to be more consistent.
“I thought he was pretty good this week. I do,” Petersen said. “I think he was pretty solid, and we paid closer attention to he and Tristan, charting some things and (getting) some more eyes on (them) and trying to challenge them a little bit.”
The Huskies recruited Vizcaino in part due to his versatility, though he’s mostly kicked off in his two seasons at UW. He had only one career punt prior to last week, and he’s never attempted a field goal. His only career point-after-touchdown came, well, after his one career touchdown, a 2-yard score on a fake field goal against Utah State earlier this season.
In a way, that’s a testament to the depth of UW’s special teams: the Huskies have one player who kicks field goals (junior Cameron Van Winkle, who has made 10-of-12 this season and 30-of-36 in his career), one player who punts (Durkee), and one player, Vizcaino, who handles kickoffs and can back up the other two positions.
The competition between Vizcaino and Durkee has been close.
“We’re friends off the field, and when we get on the field, we support each other,” Vizcaino said. “If one of us has a good punt during practice, we say, ‘hey, good punt.’ We’re just trying to get each other better just so we’re both ready for the game, whoever gets called on, and it’s a constructive competition, for sure.”
Ball security has been an emphasis this week for not only UW’s punters, but the entire team — aside from Durkee’s drop, the Huskies committed four other turnovers, and Utah scored another 14 points off those errors.
Three of the four were fumbles. They hope to reduce that number this week at Arizona State, which has recovered only three fumbles all season (only five FBS teams have recovered fewer).
“Those are some of the things that can slide late in the year. It’s not like we don’t talk about it every day, but sometimes it’s a wake up call. But I know this: If we have five turnovers again, we’re not winning.”
Extra point
Petersen had no update on the status of defensive tackle Elijah Qualls (ankle) or safety Budda Baker (concussion), other to say that each of them could “possibly” travel to ASU. He had not yet met with trainers on Thursday, Petersen said.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
