UW Defense Stifles Sun Devils When Offense Struggled to Get Going

The Washington football team normally wins games with offense, but against Arizona State, the Huskies had to turn to their defense to pull out a 15-7 win and remain unbeaten.

Trailing 7-3 to the Sun Devils at halftime, Huskies senior linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio took it upon himself to pull his football team together, even before coach Kalen DeBoer made it into the locker room.

That Ulofoshio-inspired energy helped lift up a defense that had given up 29 points per game since it held Michigan State to just seven points in week three.

"There was a buzz," DeBoer said. "There was a good vibe, understanding, hey, we've been through this. We can get through this. Let's learn from everything we've been through together. I thought it was awesome."

Sophomore cornerback Elijah Jackson got just enough of his hand on Arizona State kicker Dario Longhetto’s 43-yard field goal attempt with 3:31 remaining in the third quarter to keep the deficit to four.

Jackson, who came into the game with only two pass break-ups, matched it on separate drives in the second half and both gave the ball back to UW.

Husky nickelback Mishael Powell delivered the defensive play of the game when the junior jumped a Trenton Bourguet pass intended for Melquan Stovall and returned it 89 yards for a go-ahead touchdown to put the Huskies ahead for the first time at 12-7 with 8:11 left in the game.

"Don't blink, don't flinch," Powell said after the victory. "There's going to be times when you're going to get tested and there's going to be times when you're down all the way up until you're not down."

The Huskies held Oregon to no fourth-down conversions the previous Saturday, but Arizona State was good two of six attempts against them, though none resulted in points.

Among the UW's fourth-down stops were Sun Devils' missed and blocked field goals and three possessions that turned over on downs.

The UW defense permitted points only on a 1-yard run by ASU running back Cam Skattebo with 4:22 left in the first half.

Although the defense forced just one turnover, the Huskies came up with a season-high 9 pass break-ups, the most they've had in a game under DeBoer.

"We wanted to get back to the name of being DBU," Powell said.

Last season, UW gave up three ASU touchdown passes and a pair of rushing scores in Tempe.

On a cold, rainy night at Husky Stadium, the defense flipped the script where the Sun Devils offense was almost nowhere to be found.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Lars Hanson of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @LarsHanson or @UWFanNation

Have a question? Message me on Twitter!

Add us as a preferred source on Google