{"id":73270,"date":"2025-04-02T20:00:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T00:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=73270"},"modified":"2025-04-02T13:36:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T17:36:35","slug":"takeaways-from-husky-defense-at-spring-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/04\/02\/takeaways-from-husky-defense-at-spring-opener\/","title":{"rendered":"Takeaways From Husky Defense At Spring Opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Husky defense played with energy on its first day of Spring. New defensive coordinator Ryan Walters was vocal in his coaching, commanded the defense from behind the formation during scrimmage sessions, and actively bounced between defensive drills all evening. Washington also debuted several new faces on defense and we began to see glimpses of Walters’ defensive installation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Obviously,<\/span> they give you some problems schematically,\u201d Jedd Fisch said of Walters’ defense after practice. \u201cThey <\/span>play certain coverages in a unique manner<\/span>\u2026You can see certain challenges that they bring to the offense.\u201d Fisch went on to describe Walters\u2019 understanding of all eleven positions of the defense and certainly seems excited to have him on his staff. \u201cI love his energy, I love the way he coaches and teaches.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Husky Defense At Spring Opener<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Tacario Davis and the Cornerbacks<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

In Walters\u2019 secondary, <\/span>Tacario Davis<\/span><\/a> highlighted the group of incoming Huskies at Tuesday\u2019s opening practice. Davis\u2019 6\u2019-4\u201d frame stands out in the <\/span>group of cornerbacks that\u2019s<\/span> currently without Ephesians Prysock<\/span><\/a>, who\u2019s also 6\u2019-4\u201d. He\u2019s not just tall, but Davis is built solidly and moves fluidly in his frame.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Davis made a few plays during the scrimmage portions of practice on Tuesday as well. That included two pass breakups against <\/span>Demond Williams Jr.<\/span><\/a> at quarterback. The first one came during the seven-on-seven session. The receiver\u2019s route took him over the middle of the field where Davis\u2019 tight coverage allowed him to break on the throw and deflect the pass Later on during the two-minute session, Williams led his receiver to the sideline on an out-breaking route. But Davis had it diagnosed. He crashed down on the receiver and popped the football away as he took the receiver to the turf. Two quality plays from the veteran during his first opportunity in the Husky defense.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the seven-on-seven session of practice, Davis and <\/span>Leroy Bryant<\/span><\/a> lined up at cornerback for the first set of reps. <\/span>Rahshawn Clark<\/span><\/a> then rotated in for Davis, taking reps at outside cornerback. Clark would later appear as slot cornerback during the two-minute drill at the end of practice with the second team. The redshirt freshman was on the field <\/span>a lot<\/span> on Tuesday, appearing to be making an impression on the coaches. <\/span>Walters said during Monday\u2019s press conference that Clark was a <\/span>player who was<\/span> versatile enough to play at nickelback or out wide.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other Transfer Standouts<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the versatile players that Washington picked up in the transfer portal was <\/span>Ta\u2019ita\u2019i Uiagalelei<\/span><\/a>. Fisch said that they plan to use the defensive lineman both inside and outside. \u201cHe\u2019s in a great spot right now,\u201d Fisch said after practice. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at him as a guy that can play four technique, three-technique, six technique, he can line up on a tight end, he can line up on a guard or tackle.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He, along with <\/span>Anterio Thompson<\/span><\/a>, has great quickness on the defensive line, and Fisch believes the two will create havoc on the interior this Fall. \u201cI think him and Anterio Thompson are two <\/span>really<\/span> good-looking defensive linemen that we\u2019ve just brought in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Washington State transfer <\/span>Buddah Al-Uqdah<\/span><\/a> also made an early impression at practice on Tuesday. The former Cougar pulled down an interception during the team\u2019s two-minute drill at the end of practice. He\u2019s listed at 6\u2019-0\u201d and 232 pounds on the Husky roster.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defensive Line Schematics<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The five-man front is one of the components of Walters\u2019 defense <\/span>that he\u2019s<\/span> used for years. On Tuesday, Walters inserted a few different combinations of players for this formation in the Husky defense. One look featured <\/span>Elinneus Davis<\/span><\/a> in the middle with Thompson and Uiagalelei at the tackle spots. <\/span>Jacob Lane<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Isaiah Ward<\/span><\/a> were at rush end. In a heavier set front, <\/span>Logan Sagapolu<\/span><\/a> set up in the middle with <\/span>Simote Pepa<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Bryce Butler<\/span><\/a> at tackle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During the position group drills, the interior defensive linemen featured 11 players. That\u2019s not including Jayvon Parker who\u2019s out for the Spring recovering from his Achilles injury. Walters will have several <\/span>different<\/span> options to rotate at the interior, beginning to sort them out at practice.<\/span><\/p>\n

The EDGE group, however, was light a few players at Washington\u2019s opening practice. Just four rush ends were working in individual drills. The group included Milton Hopkins, Deshawn Lynch, Ward, and Lane. Zach Durfee and Deuce Davis are both out this Spring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: Nick Lemkau \/ Last Word on College Football 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Husky defense played with energy on its first day of Spring. New defensive coordinator Ryan Walters was vocal in his coaching, commanded the defense from behind the formation during scrimmage sessions, and actively bounced between defensive drills all evening. Washington also debuted several new faces on defense and we began to see glimpses of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3944,"featured_media":73272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[34739,79,33633,35000,34018,1666,35007,10272,35006,33144,509,33385,33797],"class_list":["post-73270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-featured","tag-anterio-thompson","tag-college-football","tag-deshawn-lynch","tag-deuce-davis","tag-jayvon-parker","tag-jedd-fisch","tag-milton-hopkins","tag-ryan-walters","tag-taitai-uiagalelei","tag-tacario-davis","tag-washington-huskies","tag-washington-spring-practice","tag-zach-durfee"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3944"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73270"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73276,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73270\/revisions\/73276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}