Defense Needs to Show Up for Huskies to Beat USC

It's safe to say the University of Washington football team won't be putting up 52 points and winning by a shootout on Saturday at USC, as the Huskies did three years ago with Michael Penix Jr. as a hot-button player.

No, if the UW (3-1 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) intends to win this one, it will have to be with defense, one which entered the season fairly well regarded but didn't exert itself last weekend against Minnesota, at least in the first half, which was enough to enable the Gophers to slink away with a 27-24 victory.

The UW stop unit, according to coach Jedd Fisch, missed 20 tackles in its Big Ten opener.

"We can clean it up," UW defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said. "I've seen us tackle better, seen us play better. I hope it's not an issue moving forward. I don't anticipate it to be."

Minnesota's 27 points were the most given up by the Huskies over the past 17 games, or since they lost 35-34 to Louisville in the 2024 Sun Bowl.

Last season, the UW allowed no more than 26 points to Oregon, followed by 25 to Illinois and 24 each to Ohio State and Michigan.

While linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale had his best outing so far with a game-high 8 tackles, the Huskies couldn't get much pressure on Minnesota quarterback Drake Lindsey.

Minnesota's TJ Thomas breaks a tackle by edge rusher Isaiah Ward. | Dave Sizer photo

He was sacked just once midway through the fourth quarter by reserve edge rusher Isaiah Ward and linebacker Jacob Manu.

"Some of the issues were not being on the right leverage side," Walters said. "It's harder to make those type of plays against a physical back when you're not in great position. Too many times it was where we were just running to contact instead of wrapping up and not leaving our feet on contact rather than after contact."

Twenty missed tackles is a lot. It was more than evident when Minnesota put together an 11-play, 74-yard drive that ate up 7 minutes and 16 seconds of time, or half of the second quarter.

The UW will require more of a push up front against USC. Starting defensive tackles Elinneus Davis and Derek Colman-Brusa had just 3 tackles among them.

The Huskies also suffered some from having starting cornerback Manny Karnley and No. 1 nickelback Rahshawn Clark sit out the game or play only special teams because of soft-tissue leg issues. They're back for this one.

USC (4-1, 1-1) enters this game averaging a gaudy 39.8 points and 489.4 yards of total offense per game, while coming up with 10 explosive plays per outing, or plays of 15 yards or more. Defensive improvement might be tough.

"The pressure collectively as a defense to get off the field is going to be high," Walters said.

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