On Tuesday, it was time for the defense to stand up, take stock of their performance against Eastern Washington last weekend, and also look ahead to their next challenge, the California Golden Bears.
The defense gave up 274 total yards to the Eagles in their convincing 47-14 win. It hasn't always been that easy against Eastern. In 2011, it took a Desmond Trufant pick in the end zone to preserve a 30-27 win, and in Chris Petersen's first season at Washington (2014), the Huskies survived a 59-52 Wild West shootout.
But this past Saturday, the only thing the defense didn't do was cause a turnover, and Defensive Coordinator Jimmy Lake, senior defensive back Myles Bryant, and junior defensive back Elijah Molden talked a lot about that. There was also a bust when true freshman Cameron Williams ran into junior cornerback Keith Taylor, allowing Eastern receiver Andrew Boston to run 64 yards untouched to the end zone. Lake, Bryant, and Molden talked about cleaning that up and how Williams will bounce back from that learning experience.
Brandon Wellington talked about the inside linebackers group, as well as the budding play of redshirt freshman MJ Tafisi, who is quickly earning a reputation as a hard-hitting WIL.
Pete Kwiatkowski is going to be using the tape of Laiatu Latu's safety for years to come. He talked about the true freshman, as well as other outside linebacker combinations, and how the depth is starting to come back to the point where you might see more 'hockey shift' substitutions along the defensive front.
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