Story by
The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
In loss to San Diego State, WSU's tackling issues surface again
- Story byThe Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
- In loss to San Diego State, WSU's tackling issues surface again
Oct. 31—SAN DIEGO — Jaylen Thomas shook his head ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly so, as he thought about one of the problems holding back this Washington State team.
The Cougars had just turned in another loss, a 26-20 road setback to San Diego State on Saturday evening, and their secondary had just borne a fair share of the blame for this one. They are slogging through a considerable tackling issue, a key reason why the Aztecs ran wild on them.
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"I just gotta find ways to get better at wrapping up," Thomas said, "either taking the extra step to get closer to the running back. It's just stuff I work on, just making sure I get the guy down as opposed to just making contact."
SDSU racked up 202 yards and two touchdowns on 37 carries, including 115 from tailback Lucky Sutton, who broke free for several huge gains: a 46-yarder, two 11-yarders, a 16-yarder. His backfield mate, Javion Kinnard, scored two touchdowns on rushes of 9 and 10 yards.
The common denominator on those plays: The Cougars' secondary, from Thomas to safety Jeremiah Bernard to nickelback Jamarey Smith, couldn't bring down the Aztecs' ballcarriers when they had the chance. They whiffed on several occasions, a problem that has sprung up lots of times this fall, most noticeably last week, when WSU missed 18 tackles in a loss to Boise State.
Give the Cougars credit for this: Their interior defensive linemen are making it difficult for opponents to run up the middle. Linemen like Kaden Beatty, Jirah Leaupepetele, Damarjhe Lewis and Paul Hutson have engineered that much, and they've done their job more often than not, using their hulking size and strength to deter Aztecs and Broncos, Bulldogs and Aggies.
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So teams have wised up. San Diego State realized tailbacks had better chances going to the outside, which is true. That's where Bernard and Thomas live, plus cornerbacks Jalil Tucker and Khamari Terrell, who are athletic and smart players. But they've been subject to bad tackling and some worse decision-making, choosing poor pursuit routes as they follow the ball.
"We had two goals going into the game," WSU coach Kirby Moore said, "and the first one was to take care of the football and take the ball away. They'd won one game over three years when they lost the turnover battle. We didn't do that. It was tied. Defensively, we wanted to keep them under 150 yards rushing. They rushed for 202. Did a better job of executing from that standpoint. There was a number of times to win the game outside of the last drive. Appreciate our players' fight. We gotta go back to work."
Here's another trend that is holding back WSU's defense: It can't produce sacks. The Cougars didn't bring down Aztec QB Stone Saunders for any sacks in this one, which might bely the pressure that defensive ends Matyus McLain and Linus Zunk have generated with consistency, but they haven't been able to finish those plays.
Headed into this game, WSU ranked No. 131 of 138 FBS teams with only eight sacks on the year. After the game, that number will stay the same. What has to change is the Cougars' tackling ability, especially on the perimeter, if they want to earn one FBS win this season.
