WSU rewind: With four takeaways, Cougs’ defense paved the way for 37-16 win over Texas Tech

PULLMAN – Check out the final score of Washington State’s rout over Texas Tech, a 37-16 decision Saturday evening, and it might feel tempting to walk away thinking the Cougars had the game in hand most of the way.

They churned out 301 rushing yards. John Mateer broke the program record for single-game rushing yards by a QB with 197. The Cougs’ defense secured four takeaways, two via interception, grounding a Red Raiders offense that was a week removed from a 52-point showing.

But there came a moment in the fourth quarter when WSU’s defense had to make a play to make sure Texas Tech didn’t make things interesting. It happened with about eight minutes to go, after the Red Raiders had just scored a touchdown and recovered the ensuing onside kick, facing a fourth down and trying to make up a 34-16 deficit.

At that point, Texas Tech faced a steep uphill climb. Their chances at a comeback were slim, but with a touchdown on this drive, you could squint your eyes and see how they could put together a rally. It wouldn’t be the first time Washington State found itself on the wrong end of something like it.

That’s about when WSU edge rusher Raam Stevenson surged through the line unblocked, forcing Texas Tech QB Behren Morton to scamper backward and away from pressure. On the left side, edge Nusi Malani shed his blocker, reaching out and nearly forcing Morton to the ground. Scrambling toward the sideline, Morton had to unfurl a heave toward the end zone, where none of his receivers could track it down.

Another fourth-down stop from WSU’s defense. Game over.

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“The way that whole D-line front played was just really, really good,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said.

It may have only been one play, but it captured the way this sterling outing from the Cougars’ defense came together. They got interceptions from redshirt freshman cornerback Ethan O’Connor and nickelback Kapena Gushiken, the latter of whom benefited from edge Quinn Roff’s massive hit on Morton. Linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah also ripped former WSU receiver Josh Kelly and took the fumble back to the 2-yard line.

That goes a long way in explaining how the Cougs’ defense laid the foundation for this win, grounding a Texas Tech offense a week removed from a 52-point showing. Their front seven disrupted Morton all night, and because WSU’s secondary flew to the ball and took things away downfield, the Red Raiders could seldom establish anything resembling a rhythm.

If there’s one Coug to credit in the pass-rush department, it’s defensive tackle David Gusta, who led the team with five quarterback pressures, two hits and three hurries, according to Pro Football Focus. He totaled five tackles as well. Gusta also played 63 snaps, the most of anyone on WSU’s defensive line, underscoring this reality: He may not be the Cougs’ most athletic pass-rusher, but he is their most consistent.

“You don’t get stats for a lot of things that David does,” Dickert said. “It’s grimy, it’s dirty, it’s tough. But he is as physical and demanding of presence inside as we’ve seen here. So to see David go out and play that way, with heart and passion and physicality and with an edge – and David plays with an edge.”

The good news for Gusta was that he wasn’t alone in that way in this win. Stevenson brought down Morton for the Cougs’ only sack of the game, which came late in the fourth frame. Roff and Syrus Webster, two of WSU’s best edges, each recorded three pressures. In just 30 snaps, sophomore tackle Khalil Laufau pocketed a pair of hurries.

That freed up the Cougs’ secondary to make plays, and boy did they make plays. Transfer safety Tyson Durant swatted away two passes, both on fourth down, helping limit the Red Raiders to a 1-for-5 effort in those situations. He tied for the team lead with seven tackles, recording the club’s best PFF coverage grade with a figure of 74.0.

Then there was O’Connor, who Texas Tech decided to pick on. He’s starting as a redshirt freshman, and he’s being pressed into action because of an injury to junior Jamorri Colson. In that way, the Red Raiders’ calculus made sense ahead of time. If they were going to test anyone in the Cougs’ secondary, O’Connor was the easiest target.

O’Connor made the Red Raiders pay for their impudence. He allowed just one reception on nine targets, per PFF, snagging his first career interception along the way (which came in part because Gusta was in Morton’s face). He won’t get credit in the box score for it, but O’Connor also picked off a pass for a two-point conversion.

O’Connor’s defense keyed the entire operation. He didn’t allow Tech receiver Coy Eakin a reception the four times Morton targeted him with O’Connor in coverage. WSU cornerback Steve Hall forced five incompletions as well. He wasn’t perfect – he allowed Kelly three receptions on three targets, unable to shed a block that allowed Kelly to spring free for a 37-yard catch-and-run – but Dickert and defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding will take a 16-point outing from Texas Tech’s offense, even without injured running back Tahj Brooks.

“I think they finally took that step of putting it together,” Dickert said of his team’s secondary. “I’m really proud of Coach (Jordan) Malone, Coach (Allen) Brown, obviously Coach Schmed and what those guys went out there and executed. This is a good offense. I think we had the QB rattled. I thought he was just a little bit off all night. They just kept punching, kept swinging. The botched downside, all those things, the defense just kept answering the bell, and the secondary was a big part of that.”

That’s also to make little mention of Al-Uqdah’s contributions to this win. Last week, after WSU yielded 30 points to FCS Portland State, Al-Uqdah took it upon himself to speak up more in practice, to lead the Cougs’ effort to improve. He knew that kind of outing wouldn’t fly against the Texas Techs of the world.

Against the Red Raiders, Al-Uqdah recorded a defensive grade of 86.0, the team’s best on PFF. He did miss three tackles, but he recorded three as well, plus two quarterback hurries.

But his best play came in the second quarter, when he stripped Kelly, recovered the fumble and nearly returned it for six. That play really started to take shape earlier in the game, Al-Uqdah said, when a couple teammates remarked that Kelly wasn’t protecting the ball very well. Al-Uqdah made a mental note.

So on the first play of the Red Raiders’ sixth drive, he read a screen play and met Kelly for a thunderous hit. Except he didn’t bring him to the ground right away.

“I was kinda mad that I didn’t take him down on the initial hit,” Al-Uqdah said.

When he realized Kelly was still on his feet, Al-Uqdah remembered Kelly had been careless with the ball earlier in the game. He ripped the ball free. Turned around, caught it off a couple bounces and took it all the way to the Texas Tech 2, where WSU running back Djouvensky Schlenbaker punched it in one play later.

The Cougs did make their fair share of mistakes on defense. They missed 19 tackles, which comes on the heels of their 17 misses against Portland State. Veteran linebacker Kyle Thornton didn’t recognize a trick play in time to prevent a touchdown, and Texas Tech scored another when backup linebacker Wesley Steiner took an unwise route to the ball, allowing Cameron Dickey to waltz into the end zone.

But these guys are human, and they allowed just 16 points to a Texas Tech offense that has weapons lots of teams would kill for. For WSU, there are worse ways to go into next week’s Apple Cup in Seattle.