The Washington defensive players and coaches were all on the same page Tuesday when talking about what went wrong Saturday night against California. It was missed tackles, it was trying to do more than their assignment, which creates creases and gaps that the Golden Bears exploited.
Whether it was Jimmy Lake, Ikaika Malloe, Ryan Bowman, Elijah Molden, or Myles Bryant, they all talked about staying assignment sound, not doing more than their responsibility, and handling the fundamentals of their roles - namely tackling. In fact, Bowman thought a lack of tackling at times was the reason for pretty much every breakdown the defense had against Cal.
And that is going to be of paramount importance this coming Saturday, as the Huskies host Hawaii, a run-and-shoot offense that features a quarterback in Cole McDonald that can also tuck the ball and go if he needs to. The Rainbow Warriors are already averaging 429 yards passing per game, and have taken two Pac-12 scalps in their first two games of the season in Arizona and Oregon State. Can they make it a third on Saturday? Not if Death Row has their way.
And it wasn't all bad news on Tuesday. The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds and Chris Fetters - also spoke with specialists Peyton Henry and Joel Whitford. The special teams has been a bright spot so far through two games, and those guys intend to keep it that way. Whitford, in particular, has connections with the Hawaii specialists, as both their punter and placekicker are Australian. The UW senior punter shared a memorable story about him and Hawaii punter Stan Gaudion that needs to be heard to be believed.
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