Apple Cup: WSU Cougars take positives from defensive performance

With their third head coach in as many seasons, the WSU Cougars once again feature a slew of new faces throughout their roster and coaching staff.

More Apple Cup coverage: Recap | Takeaways | UW notebook | Box score

That’s especially the case on defense, where former Oregon State head coach Trent Bray serves as the coordinator for a unit that took the field for Sunday’s season-opening Apple Cup with a starting lineup of eight transfers from eight different schools.

That would seem like a situation ripe with growing pains – especially considering that WSU was facing talented dual-threat quarterback Demond Williams Jr. and the No. 17 UW Huskies.

And yet, WSU’s defense held its own in the Cougars’ 24-10 loss to cross-state rival UW. WSU held the Huskies to just 10 points and 246 total yards through the first three quarters before UW pulled away in the fourth.

“On paper, they’re a really high-powered offense, so defensively I think we did a pretty good job,” WSU senior linebacker Keith Brown said. “Obviously there’s places we can continue to get better. As a player, I look forward to playing Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5 with these guys on defense.”

Among the highlights for WSU’s defense were a pair of fourth-down stops.

On the final play of the first half, with the Huskies facing fourth-and-goal on the 1-yard line, Brown burst through the line to take down running back Jayden Limar for a goal-line stand.

And in the final minute of third quarter, with UW facing fourth-and-1 from the WSU 38, safety Jaylen Thomas forced an incompletion by corralling Williams outside the pocket and hitting him as he released the ball.

“I think we came out great, and we executed well for the most part,” WSU senior defensive end Linus Zunk said. “… We left plays out there that would’ve been important, that would’ve helped us a lot. But as much as there is to learn from, I think we had a bunch of guys making a lot of plays today. A lot of stuff to be proud of, and a lot of stuff to look forward to as well.”

However, WSU’s strong defensive showing only magnified the Cougars’ struggles on the other side of the ball. WSU was scoreless through three quarters, missed two missed field goals, committed three turnovers, went 0 for 11 on third downs and finished with just 242 total yards.

“We had our opportunities earlier in the game,” said first-year WSU head coach Kirby Moore, whose team travels to face Kansas State on Saturday. “… We got a lot of things to learn from this game, but we’ve got to respond in a hurry.”

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