Huskies Are Thick As Thieves in Secondary

For the University of Washington defensive unit, the team sacks are a little on the low side through eight games. Some guys have had their tackle totals fall off. Fumbles forced and recovered aren't overwhelming either.

Interceptions, however, represent one stop-unit statistic that has the Huskies walking around with puffed-out chests.

Collecting three more in a 17-10 victory over Nebraska on Saturday night, UW defenders collectively have a dozen pass thefts through eight outings -- leaving them tied for fifth nationally and trailing only New Mexico (17), UCLA (16), North Dakota State (14) and Texas Tech (13).

Rylon Dillard-Allen, Manny Karnley and Alex McLaughlin, in that order, intercepted passes thrown by Cornhuskers quarterback Anthony Colandrea, who had served up just four coming in and no more than one in any previous game.

"We knew he was going to give us some chances to make plays on the ball," McLaughlin said. "We just had to catch it."

With 1:15 left in the game, the UW strong safety returned his interception 48 yards unheeded for a touchdown, giving him three defensive scores for the Huskies over two seasons -- and it should have been his fourth.

Captain @AMcLaughlin28 back at it! Turnover Needle. pic.twitter.com/qJJuclROJL
— Washington Football (@UW_Football) November 1, 2026

With the season opener against Washington State winding down, he picked off a pass and returned it four yards to the Cougars 36 before suddenly taking an unforced knee to avoid a possible fumble when he seemed to have only open field in front of him.

"It kind of took me back to Washington State when I went down and I wasn't supposed to, so I wasn't going to go down," he said in Lincoln on Saturday night.

Said UW coach Jedd Fisch, "We told him to go score this time, man."

Dillard-Allen came up with the first Husky interception on the first defensive series, pilfering an overthrown ball. It was his third over the past four games, with the free safety previously intercepting balls against USC and Purdue.

A Virginia transfer, Karnley picked up his first career UW interception on the second Nebraska series and he actually had two in his hands, with another one getting nullified in the second quarter by an offsides penalty assessed to linebacker Xe'ree Alexander.

Huskies safety Rylon Dillard-Allen (4) and cornerback Emmanuel Karnley (3) each had first-quarter interceptions at Nebraska. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With his third interception of the season McLaughlin shares the team lead with Dillard-Allen. In his college career counting Northern Arizona, he has 11 pass thefts.

No one tops the safety for defensive scores on this team. In 2025, the opportunistic Husky captain returned an interception 47 yards for a touchdown against WSU and later had a fumble runback of 59 yards for a score at UCLA.

Against Nebraska, he intercepted the ball like a centerfielder and zipped 48 yards through the Cornhusker offense without anyone getting a hand on him to reach the end zone. He has four regular-season games left to get there again.

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