It Was Life in Fast Lane for Husky Edge Rusher in Practice No. 12

The junior defender had a big day knocking down passes and running backs.

Jacob Lane had a big day in Saturday's Husky football scrimmage. / Dan Raley

On the third play of Saturday's University of Washington football scrimmage, Jacob Lane emphatically swatted down a Demond Williams Jr. pass and was immediately surrounded by fired-up defensive teammates.

On his next defensive series in Husky Stadium, the junior edge rusher from Puyallup, Washington, showed excellent mobility and rather forcefully dropped senior running back Jonah Coleman for a 2-yard loss.

And not long after that, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Lane crashed inside from his exterior sentry post and once more stuffed Coleman, this time for a 1-yard loss.

With spring ball down to three practices out of 15, Lane put on a memorable performance during this three-hour session under cloudy skies as he continued to make a strong bid for a starting job in one of the UW's most talent-laden position groups.

"I felt confident in the way I played today," he said, surrounded by media members. "I just came out and worked on my preparation all week and sat in with all of the new scheme we've been learning. Just keeping my head down and been working, and I think that's been paying off."

This veteran defender always has been ahead of the curve since arriving in Montlake, playing in nine games as a freshman for Kalen DeBoer's staff and passing on a redshirt option he likely will never use.

Last season, Jedd Fisch's defensive coaches used Lane in 12 games as he rotated in and out and came up with a couple of tackles for loss.

His next logical step is to become a starter for the Huskies, which won't be easy considering the overly capable job candidates lined up for the two edge rusher spots.

They include junior Isaiah Ward, a two-year starter counting Arizona and the UW; junior Zach Durfee, often injured but considered an NFL prospect; junior Russell Davis II, a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after a 3-sack outing against UCLA; Arizona transfer Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei, who was a 12-game starter last fall in Tucson; and senior Deshawn Lynch, likewise having a productive spring.

Observation No. 2: Northern Arizona safety transfer Alex McLaughlin continues to show himself to be a big hitter. On Saturday, he took Coleman off his feet for a 1-yard loss, which had his fellow defensive players howling no end, and he followed up with a hard tackle on sophomore running back Adam Mohammed for a 1-yard loss.

Observation No. 3: It wouldn't be a Husky spring practice without a Rahshawn Clark interception, and he came up with yet another -- 7 this spring, by unofficial count -- with the redshirt freshman corner and nickel stealing a Demond Williams Jr. pass on the 10-yard line, coming over a receiver's shoulder to get it.

Observation No. 4: Florida International safety transfer CJ Christian made a diving interception of a Kai Horton pass, then tossed the ball in the air and took aim at it as if he was skeet shooting. However, Christian suffered some sort of leg injury and was done for the day before everyone else.

Observation No. 5: Redshirt freshman Omar Khan, a 6-foot-3, 310-pound defensive tackle and former high school wrestler who knows a few things about leverage points, stepped into a hole and took on extra-large freshman running back Julian McMahan and threw him backward for a 4-yard loss.

Observation No. 6: Amid all of these aforementioined Saturday defensive heroics, freshman quarterback Dash Beierly delivered a perfect 35-yard touchdown strike to redshirt freshman receiver Justice Williams, hitting him in stride up the left sideline and beating freshman corner D'Aryhian Clemons. It was so precise, it was a thing of beauty.

Observation No. 7: Having a big spring, sophomore linebacker Deven Bryant -- in a goal-line series with each play snapped from the 1 -- stepped up and dropped Mohammed for no gain. He pumped both arms in celebration and stalked off, with teammates running after him to slap him on the helmet or back to show him they noticed what he did.

Observation No. 8: Spring football has been notably devoid of practices scuffles, but freshman offensive lineman Jack Shaffer momentarily got into a shoving match with a defensive player who was difficult to identify, before they were separated and he returned to his offensive huddle.

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