Morrell Says Time for Performance Payback for Initiated Young DBs
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Chuck Morrell is a point-blank guy, a former college football head coach in Montana, someone who gets your attention right away.
So his answer was no surprise on Monday when the University of Washington co-defensive coordinator was asked why he played 11 defensive backs — actually it was a dozen — in the 45-38 loss to Arizona State last Saturday in Tempe.
"Necessity," he responded with a deadpan face, letting that word sink in.
Morrell, who doubles as the safeties coach, acknowledged that his young players are learning tough lessons as some of them have been put in difficult spots and the player rotation continues to shuffle on a weekly basis.
He noted how the Husky secondary has had six different starting lineups in as many games. No excuses, he said resolutely. He also suggested that those who have been getting victimized should be ready to turn those breakdowns into success.
"The biggest thing, though, is now we need to now get paid off by some of those guys who have had to be on the field," Morrell said, "and then to really be able to build up our depth chart based on those guys now having some great game experience."
Against Arizona State, the Huskies opened at the cornerback slots with UC Davis transfer Jordan Perryman, who played his first full game for the UW after getting injured, and redshirt freshman Elijah Jackson, who made his first career start for the UW; at the safeties with veterans Alex Cook and Kamren Fabiculanan; and at the hybrid Husky spot with the well-used Dominique Hampton.
Veteran safety Asa Turner soon made his first game appearance in a month after overcoming an injury. He was expected to play a lot more, but Turner was ejected midway through the second quarter for targeting after he hit ASU quarterback Emory Jones with his shoulder and the player went out of the game with concussion symptoms and didn't return. The Huskies had planned to rely on Turner in its struggling secondary.
"I always feel like 20 has a calming effect over the top of everybody," Morrell said. "He's one of the most veteran guys."
DIRTY DOZEN DBS IN DESERT
In the second quarter, the Huskies swapped out the safeties for Makell Esteen and Tristan Dunn, and put them on the field with Jackson, all redshirt or true freshmen.
Eventually, redshirt freshmen Davon Banks and Dyson McCutcheon were inserted at cornerbacks, and even walk-on and redshirt freshman Sean Toomey-Stout, a redshirt freshman who made the travel team to ASU, earned some safety snaps.
Sophomore Mishael Powell, who started the first three games and got hurt at the end of the 39-28 victory over Michigan State, still is not ready to return.
Banks remains the best example of the painstaking ups and downs many players are dealing with in the Husky defensive backfield.
He made a heady, toe-tapping interception at the ASU 47 in the fourth quarter that enabled the Huskies to score five plays later and tie the game in Tempe at 38-38. On the next series, he got beat on the 2-yard scoring pass to ASU's Elijhah Badger that decided things.
Two weeks earlier, Banks made his first career start against Stanford. He's a player with a lot of talent who's paying some painful dues at times.
"I felt a little more comfortable with him coming off the bench this last week," Morrell said. "I think you've seen in special teams and in secondary play that he's been really productive in short bursts. What we're really looking for from him right now is to carry over those big plays and that consistency over an entire game."
That goes for a number of Banks' teammates, as well.
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