Powell Is One Reason Teams Can't Go Deep on the Huskies Anymore

Twelve months and 14 games ago, when the University of Washington lost its last football game of the DeBoer era to Arizona State, Mishael Powell was nowhere near the desert, which was one of the problems.

The then-starting cornerback was at home, watching the game on TV, not long after having surgery to repair an upper-body injury, presumably a shoulder.

Powell was with other Huskies who didn't make the trip for whatever reason and the outcome was an eye-opener for everyone back in Seattle.

"We were surprised," he said. "That for sure left a bad taste in our mouth."

The opportunistic Sun Devils went after the shorthanded UW secondary hard, until they had come away with a 45-38 upset in Tempe.

It would be two more weeks before Powell was cleared to play against California — and it's probably no coincidence the Huskies haven't lost again with him and his veteran leadership back in the lineup, now halfway through this regular-season schedule.

Powell, who moved from corner to nickel in the spring, brings a confident and a tough-minded presence to this Husky defensive backfield. He's been making things happen, chalking up his first career interception at Michigan State and delivering a head-hunting tackle on Oregon's Jordan James last weekend.

Notably, Powell and his fellow DBs have fixed the UW's biggest shortcoming from 2022 — giving up the long ball.

Mishael Powell just killed someone 🤯@UW_Football

pic.twitter.com/EI7KP0glAN
— Matt Williams (@MattWi77iams) October 14, 2023

A year ago, the Huskies permitted 26 touchdown passes, with seven of them covering 46 to 78 yards. So far this season, there's been just one that's gone half a football field or more, and it wasn't over the top to a wide receiver.

Instead, Boise State lobbed a flat pass to Ashton Jeanty, a running back no less, and he zipped 50 yards to score in the season opener.

Denying the home-run ball has been a much-repeated mantra for the Husky secondary this season.

"Starting from spring ball, we just made that a highlight, a key — when the ball goes in the air, it's either ours or nobody's," Powell shared. "Regardless of whether it's a fade ball, a screen or a crossing route, those guys shouldn't catch it. That's the goal."

Against Oregon, the Huskies actually permitted their longest touchdown pass of the season to a wideout, a 30-yard scoring strike to Troy Franklin, who got behind safety Dominique Hampton. The year before, Franklin scored on a 67-yarder against the UW's Jaivion Green. That's progress.

Other than that, UW opponents have had to earn their points with extended drives, which is one reason the Huskies are 6-0 and fifth-ranked nationally when facing ASU rather than 4-2 and falling out of the AP poll, which is what happened after the Sun Devils beat them.

A healthy and self-assured Powell has gone a long way to the UW tightening up its coverage while taking everything up a notch this season to become one of the nation's top-ranked teams. It can't be done without adequate pass defense or better.

"I'm doing good," Powell said. "I'm working on learning every day, focusing on the details, focusing on making sure I have everything locked in for every single game. Nickel is demanding when it comes to technique, knowing where everyone's at, knowing where everyone needs to be and being in the right spot."

And, this time against another Arizona State team looking for a breakthrough, that right spot would be somewhere other than a couch at home.

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