UW Defense Hasn't Showed Itself to Be Attack-Minded Crew Just Yet

A handful of plays into the University of Washington football team's opening defensive series against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, the Huskies were down two senior starters.

On a pleasantly warm fall Saturday at Husky Stadium, edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui stood idle on the sideline and wore a purple bucket hat instead of a gold helmet, kept out of the non-conference game by some unspecified health issue.

Safety Asa Turner made the Huskies' first tackle of the afternoon and appeared to get hurt on the play. He lasted just one more defensive snap before heading to the locker room with an injury not spelled out and didn't return to action. When the game began, he already wore a cast on his left hand and he seemed to be favoring his right hand when he left the field.

That's nearly 20 percent of the UW's starting firepower unavailable right there, not a huge deal when stopping Tulsa 43-10. Yet it's a legitimate concern when heading to Michigan State next Saturday for a rematch of last season's game in which the Huskies put together a 39-29 victory in Seattle.

Here's the bigger problem: While the high-powered Husky offense has been virtually unstoppable over eight fun-filled and imaginative quarters so far, its defensive counterparts — with or without the services of ZTF and Turner — haven't been nearly as stout or as attack-minded as Kalen DeBoer's coaching staff suggested they might be this season.

Consider that Bralen Trice, the UW's staunch junior edge rusher and preseason AP All-America selection, still doesn't have a sack yet this season, while his former Husky running mate Laiatu Latu, now at UCLA, has piled up 4 in two outings. With his reputation, Trice has faced plenty of double-teams.

For that matter, the UW has just 3 sacks so far, one each coming from stalwart senior linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio, transfer cornerback Jabbar Muhammad and always active back-up edge rusher Voi Tunuufi.

That's none from the starting edges. None from the first-teamers on the defensive interior. Not nearly as many as anticipated for everyone so far.

While leading the Huskies with 8 tackles against Tulsa, Ulofoshio afterward talked about dropping a potential interception and was far from satisfied with his team's performance, especially on defense.

"It just wasn't crisp," the linebacker said. "The fact we did all this with the outcome and made the mistakes, it's good but at the same time it's frustrating, too. You know we're a better football team."

Against Tulsa, the Huskies seemingly got pushed off the ball more than anyone would have envisioned, too, while giving up 168 yards rushing, and getting outgained 306-187 on the ground over two games now.

On the plus side, Muhammad, the much needed Oklahoma State portal pick-up, has been everything as advertised at corner and a solidifying presence for a UW defense now holding up an impressive 11 pass break-ups after these two outings.

If ZTF and Turner remain idle for the Michigan State game, they'll be replaced by senior edge rusher Sekai Asoau-Afoa, who had a tackle for loss as a first-time starter against Tulsa, and junior safety Kamren Fabiculanan, who's come up with an acrobatic interception in each game so far.

The Huskies have three interceptions as a team to date, all by reserve players. They've committed four pass interference penalties, two by starting corner Elijah Jackson.

Ulofoshio has been fairly solid while rounding himself into shape since reclaiming a starting job after injuries and surgeries knocked him out of the lineup for a season and a half. He has 14 tackles in two outings, the aforementioned sack and a PBU. Fellow LB starter Alphonzo Tuputala has 8 tackles.

Up front, sixth-year senior starters Ulumoo Ale and Tuli Letuligasenoa haven't been all that visible yet, combining for just 4 tackles over two Saturdays.

The most memorable Husky hits so far have come from edge rusher Maurice Heims and safety Triston Dunn, yet on kickoff coverage, with each player knocking an opponent completely off his feet.

Everyone across the UW defense will be asked to do a little more the next time out at Michigan State or the offense will be burdened with winning something on the order of a 45-42 game.

While putting up 88 points in two home outings, the Huskies will need a much more disruptive defensive effort on the road in East Lansing next Saturday or it will be a long flight home.

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