The Washington Huskies’ defense is much improved from the product put on the field in 2022. A combination of new faces through the transfer portal and the maturation and development process from players already on campus has this defense playing at a high level.
As of last week the defense has been one of the best kept secrets nationally. Josh Pate, host of Late Kick with Josh Pate, explained in his prediction of the Oregon-Washington matchup that the Ducks would get to the 38 point mark against this defense.
Going into the matchup the Washington defense was going to see the second ranked offense, just behind the Washington offense. While Oregon was able to move the ball with their dynamic running back Bucky Irving, the Duck offense was shut out for the final thirteen minutes of the game and ended 0-3 on 4th down attempts—twice inside Washington’s 10 yard line.
Defensive Line
Like all heavyweight matchups the battle in the trenches was a battle of attrition. On the plays the Washington defensive line prevailed, while in other the Oregon offensive line created huge holes for Irving and co.
In the end when the game was in the balance Ulumoo Ale came up big on a tackle for loss and Faatui Tuitele grabbed Bo Nix with one hand and brought him down for no gain.
Washington’s defensive front got pressure when the game was on the line and gave the offense a chance to win.
Grade: B
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Edge
Zion Tupuola-Fetui was shot out of a cannon a few times on Saturday. He was explosive off the ball and at times got the passing game off rhythm. His aggressive play also burned the Huskies a few times when Nix was able to break contain.
Bralen Trice had a good day as well recording five tackles and was right there on the Ulofoshio sack.
Sekai Asoau-Afoa was highlighted by co defensive coordination William Inge for having the best game of his college career.
Grade: B-
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Linebackers
One day Bucky Irving will be carving out a career in the NFL. He is extremally balanced and is hard to tackle. The main job of the four linebackers was to get him on the ground. Just like the matchup of O-line and D-line the running backs won many of the one-on-one matchups with the linebackers, but the Husky LB’s also got theirs.
Edefuan Ulofoshio did miss some tackles, but he also wrestled Duck runners to the ground many times setting up third and long plays. That effort gave UW a chance to get off the field several times. He also got home on a sack of Bo Nix.
Ralen Goforth had a chance to stop Bo on a 3rd and long, but was worried about a receiver coming into his zone which made him a step slower.
Overall, the linebackers were better than in 2022 and made the plays down the stretch to give the Huskies a chance to win.
Grade: B
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Corners
For most of the day Jabbar Muhammad and the corners did a pretty good job of keep Troy Franklin and the passing attack at bay.
Mishael Powell maybe had the best game of his career. He started the game out with a punishing hit on the receiving running back Jordan James in the flat. Later in the game he missed a pic-6 by inches, but was still able to keep the receiver out of the end zone.
Finally, he was in the passing lane for Nix on the final 4th down stop. Elijah Jackson was exposed a few times by Nix and Franklin as they got much of their production picking on him.
Thaddeus Dixon missed a rub on Franklin that didn’t give Dom Hampton the chance to get to the corner of the end zone. This again was the battle of two very good units and Washington’s corners made the plays down the stretch to give the offense the chance to win.
Grade: B
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Safeties
Welcome back Asa. The long-haired, clubbed tackling machine put a few good licks on the running backs. His tackling was night and day from the year before where Duck runners slid right off him.
Dom Hampton continued to play strong safety at a high level. His hitting ability stopped Duck runs from being chunk plays.
Grade: B+
