SALT LAKE CITY — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham knows Washington State coach Mike Leach quite well. They’re both BYU graduates, married to women from Utah and have a long-running friendship.
Whittingham said conversations with Leach are awesome.
“He is the most entertaining coach you will come across. He is as smart as a whip and personable,” Whittingham said. “You can literally choose any topic and you will get a couple of hours’ worth of dialogue. He knows a lot. He must read a lot.”
They’ll match wits Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium when the 19th-ranked Utes (3-1, 0-1) face the Cougars (3-1, 0-1). Leach has won the past four head-to-head meetings after Whittingham and the Utes prevailed 49-6 in 2012.
Washington State’s pass-oriented offense presents a variety of challenges, especially as the program has evolved in eight seasons under Leach. They’ve won 40 games since 2015, posting a Pac-12 best 11-2 record last season.
“You can play Air Force and you can line up in 99 different ways and they have seen it all and they have an answer for it all. It is the same with Mike. He has been doing the same thing for so long and so well that there is nothing you can do,” Whittingham said.
“You can rush one, drop 10, you can do whatever you want to do and he will have seen it somewhere along the line and he will have an answer for it. That is what makes it so difficult. You aren’t going to trick him. You just have to try to play better defense and better pass coverage while trying to keep things in front of you than they do with their offensive throw game.”