No Immediate Change in Manpower for Thin Husky Secondary
Down three secondary starters and paying for it, the University of Washington coaching staff try to be as hopeful as it can, but its message heading into Saturday's Arizona State game in Tempe is the situation remains unchanged.
The Huskies will have to make do with who remains healthy and is available.
Cornerback Mishael Powell has been ruled out. Safety Asa Turner remains questionable, as does cornerback Jordan Perryman.
While Kalen DeBoer's staff typically doesn't detail injuries, Perryman and Turner have leg issues and have each missed three games now.
Perryman, who grabbed for the back of his leg and appeared to suffer a hamstring injury in the opener, started against UCLA but lasted only a couple of series before he was pulled. That's a month-old injury that still could linger for sometime.
Asked about this tenuous situation involving his shortage of defensive backs, Husky co-defensive coordinator William Inge tried to put a humorous spin on things when he said, "Slowly but surely, we're going to have some individuals coming out of the kennel."
Privately, the coaches must be really concerned about this. Not only are those three aforementioned starters hobbled, redshirt freshman cornerback Elijah Jackson still is trying to work his way back from an injury and hasn't been available.
On top of that, junior safety Cam Williams, who has 10 previous starts, didn't even play against UCLA, his first miss this season. Inge said the veteran DB was in "growth and development," adding that the other safeties currently give the Huskies the best chance to win.
Which means Williams hasn't made a connection at all with this new coaching staff. He has registered a lone tackle so far.
Moving forward, defensive improvement is needed most in creating turnovers — the Huskies had none at the Rose Bowl — and in coming up with third-down stops — the UW failed to get one on 10 occasions against UCLA.
Asked who played well on defense against the Bruins, Inge lauded the efforts of junior defensive tackle Tuli Letuligasenoa for his outing against the Bruins. He contributed 3 tackles and 2 pass break-ups.
"Tuli graded out very well — he probably had one of his better games," Inge said. "Up front, he did a great job of being able to attack the line of scrimmage, holding his space, knocking his guys back. Hey made a couple of plays. He definitely did his job."
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