Beat-Up Husky Defense Took Some Hits, Kept Its Feet in Corvallis

Defensive tackle Tuli Letuligasenoa and strong safety Dominique Hampton sat next to each other on the field at Reser Stadium, slightly hunched over, both shaken up on the same play and trying to get their bearings. 

They would gingerly walk off the field, watch for a while from the sideline and then resume what they were doing for the University of Washington' football team in its hard-pressed 22-20 victory over Oregon State on a rainy Saturday night in Corvallis.

Such is the state of the Husky defense that continues to take a beating in terms of keeping personnel healthy and either shaking it off or digging deep for replacements.

While the UW is fourth-ranked in the Associated Press top 25, a perfect 11-0, riding an 18-game winning streak and qualified for the Pac-12 championship game, all genuinely positive developments, concern remains that Kalen DeBoer's defensive unit won't hold up when the postseason competition gets a lot tougher. Not because of talent, but because of the physical pounding.

Against the Beavers, the Huskies showed up without three safeties and a linebacker, and had four other defenders — collectively five original starters in all, or half of the starting lineup — either miss the game or a good portion of it.

DeBoer hasn't dwelled on those setbacks rather he says it's just football and he's marveled at how well his remaining players have been so resilient and prevented a total meltdown on behalf of the defense.

"T'heir backs were tough to bring down, but we kept fighting," DeBoer said, referring to Oregon State's Damien Martinez, the Pac-12's leading rusher, and his understudies. "We didn't give up the big one that goes for 6, which they've done a lot against other teams."

To beat the Beavers, the UW followed the lead of three stalwart defensive players — cornerback Jabbar Muhammad, linebacker Carson Bruener and edge rusher Bralen Trice — while it was outgained 319 to 272 in total yards and surpassed in picking up first downs, 21 to 14.

Muhammad, the Oklahoma State transfer, had a game for the ages with a pair of interceptions and 4 pass break-ups, either stealing or swatting away everything thrown at him.

Bruener, drawing his first start in 24 games over two seasons, replaced Alponzo Tuputala and piled up a game-high 14 tackles and forced a fumble with a strip move in the red zone.

The 6-foot-4, 275-pound Trice put pressure nearly the entire game on Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, sacking him once, and finishing with 6 tackles, including  2.5 tackles for loss. 

Besides dealing with the weather, the game was a noticeable grind, at times especially when the Beavers put together a 16-play, 78-yard drive that lasted nearly 10 minutes of the third quarter, keeping the defense on the field for an overextended amount of time. 

"You see the wear and tear," DeBoer said of the long drive. "You know in the fourth quarter, there are sometimes things that come back to haunt you."

Not this time. The Huskies just patched the holes and plugged the leaks wherever they appeared and kept Oregon State from a go-ahead score. 

While Trice carried a full load, his opposite edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui played only at the beginning of the game and at the end, requiring Sekai Asoau-Afoa to pull more game-day minutes than he has in his two seasons.

Inside, Letuligasenoa had a 4-tackle outing with a TFL, yet he was out for a significant time, putting juniors Jacob Bandes, Faatui Tuitele and Voi Tuunufi on the field for longer stretches than normal. Not only that, freshman edge rusher Jacob Lane drew several plays coming out of a stance on the interior of the defensive line, played in his fifth game and burned his redshirt year.

At linebacker, the Huskies were not only without Tuputala, apparently out with an unspecified injury, USC transfer Ralen Goforth got shaken up in the first half and didn't play again until late in the game. Besides Bruener's expanded role, senior Edefuan Ulofoshio subbed out less than usual and walk-on junior Drew Fowler received extended time.

"Zo wasn't available today; hopefully, we can get him back for next week." DeBoer said. "Ralen went down early and all of a sudden you go from a position that's got the most depth probably, healthy depth on our team, to guys having to gut it out."

In the secondary, the Huskies didn't have safeties in senior Asa Turner, junior Kam Fabiculanan or sophomore Vince Nunley for this game, and with Hampton out briefly, they had to turn to sophomore Makell Esteen and redshirt freshman Tristan Dunn for snaps. 

Turner recently disclosed on social media that he's had surgery on a hand or wrist so his return won't be soon if at all while Fabiculanan has been seen wearing a protective boot.

However, the Husky cornerbacks seemed to hold up well in Corvallis, though the ever tested Muhammad admitted to "running out of gas" and needing to sit out part of that energy-consuming 16-play Oregon State drive and give way to JC transfer Thaddeus Dixon.

"Those guys just lined up on every play and had to bring it," DeBoer said. "I'm proud of Eddie and Carson. Even Bralen gutted it out a little bit, too. They were ready to go."