Saturday night the Washington Huskies dropped the Weber State 35-3 at Husky Stadium.
Sure, it took one quarter to knock off the rust on the offensive side of the ball, but once underway it was the Jonah Coleman show.
The defense on the other hand was tasked with keeping the Wildcats off the scoreboard—and they nearly had the shutout.
On first drive by Weber State the Wildcats were able to move the ball into Husky territory before they were stopped on 4th down.
It was a struggle for Weber State all game to consistently move the ball down the field and Steve Belichick’s defense held the Wildcats to a field goal.
Defensive line
The interior of the line was gashed a few times early as Damon Bankston was explosive in getting to the second level of the defense. Bankston finished the day with over 100 yards on the ground and was able to find gaps at times between the tackles. The line showed signs of improvement in the second and third quarters as their pressure up the middle made life hard on the running game and the quarterback.
Grade: B-
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Edge
The edge rushers made quarterback Richie Munoz uncomfortable when he dropped back for any medium to longer developing plays. Zach Durfee and Jayden Wayne both got their hands on passes and Durfee’s was close to a pick-six. Voi Tunuufi notched a half sack on the only sack of the night.
Munoz was quick to get rid of the ball and moved well in the pocket limiting the sack opportunities but the edge rushes did a great job keeping him from getting outside for big gains.
The edge rushers tallied 3 pass breakups, showing their disruption of the Wildcat passing attack.
Grade: B+
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Linebackers
While technically Alphonzo Tuputala is listed as a linebacker he lined up all over the field. He looked more like a hybrid edge rusher at times throughout the game and was a big disrupter all game.
He led the team with six tackles including a half sack and a half tackle for loss. Carson Bruener also played a disciplined game and took good routes to the running back.
While others rotated in those two will continue to bring stability to the defense as the Huskies match up against run-heavy programs.
Grade: A
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Cornerbacks
The corners were as advertised. There was no separation all game. It didn’t matter who was on the field as the defense trotted out almost every corner in the program. Thaddeus Dixon has taken a step forward and looked great in converge but also physical in the run game. There is an embarrassment of riches at the position as both nickel corners, Jordan Shaw and Dyson McCutcheon, took away the quick reads for Munoz. The corners officially tallied 4 PBU’s. Outside of a horrible pass-interference call on Ephisians Prysock the corners were very effective.
Grade: A
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Safety
A budding star in the secondary is Makell Esteen (or Easton on the broadcast). Esteen was consistently around the ball and the position group as a whole was effective in stopping the run and the pass. There were a few communication issues with offensive shits that led to the little success Weber State had through the air.
Grade B+
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Overall
The defense gave up 3 points, got better as the game progressed and made life hell for the offense. Although this is an FCS program, the defense passed its first test.
Overall Grade: A
