Huskies Backed Into Corner Trying to Play Pass Defense

Injuries and inexperience continue to expose major UW weakness.

It wasn't supposed to be this hard finding a couple of cornerback replacements for the NFL-bound Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon.

Mishael Powell and Jordan Perryman were touted as adequate successors at the very least, taking over in the University of Washington secondary as this former walk-on who deserved a scholarship and a UC Davis transfer with something to prove at a level up.

Yet Perryman wasn't on the field for even three quarters when he came up lame in the season opener against Kent State and missed the next three games. On Saturday, he played his first full game as a Husky against Arizona State. It's still not clear if he's completely recovered and as mobile as he should be..

The veteran of the group, Powell was injured at the end of the Michigan State game and hasn't been seen again, missing the past three Husky outings. There's no return date in sight for him.

On Saturday against the Sun Devils, redshirt freshman Elijah Jackson made his first collegiate start at cornerback for the Huskies. He overcame his own injury that sidelined him for multiple games while bringing a limited resume that counted just five previous appearances. It should have been a chance for him to ease into the lineup, but instead it was a situation where he had to play.

Jackson became the fifth different starting cornerback for the UW over its six games, this after Jimmy Lake's staff started seven different safeties a year ago — which means the Husky defensive backfield generally remains a mess. Injuries have prevented sustainable growth, cohesiveness, a chance to build something reliable.

"It's different guys on the football field playing together," said first-year Husky coach Kalen DeBoer, when asked if he foresaw so many defensive difficulties. "We knew we didn't have a lot of depth, as far as experience, and that's showing up. A lot of what we practice during the course of the week is not those guys on the field. We're pretty dinged up."

ASU's Bryan Thompson gets behind Davon Banks and makes a catch near the goal line.  :: Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports

Against the Sun Devils, the UW corners played well off the receivers and made a hero out of backup quarterback Trenton Bourguet, who came off the bench as an emergency replacement for ASU starter Emory Jones, who appeared to suffer a concussion in the second quarter and never returned. 

Bourguet unexpectedly was on the field for two and a half quarters and connected on 15 of 21 passes for 182 yards and 3 touchdowns to make his coach-less and QB-weakened team an unlikely 45-38 winner in Tempe.

Two glaring stats: No Husky sacks and just one pass break-up — by defensive tackle Faatui Tuitele.

Either the edge rushers aren't supplying much pressure or the corners are playing so loose behind them these blitzers don't stand a chance of getting into the backfield.

The Huskies are clearly short on cornerbacks and it's curious how they might have fared had they been able to keep Powell and Perryman healthy through the first six games.

Redshirt freshman Davon Banks, who drew his first and only UW cornerback start against Stanford, is a prime example of what's been happening in the patched-up secondary.

Early in the fourth quarter, Banks made a diving interception at the ASU 38, a heads-up play that led to a Husky touchdown that tied the game at 38-38. However, on the ensuing series, Banks got completely turned around in the end zone by the Sun Devils' Elijhah Badger with a veteran move and beaten for the game-winning score on a pass play from 2 yards out.

Another cornerback, UW true freshman Jaivion Green, didn't play in this one presumably because he has logged four appearances, which means he loses his redshirt year if plays in another Husky game. Unless he's injured.

Safety isn't any more reliable with senior starter Alex Cook in and out of the lineup against Arizona State, presumably dealing with health issues or simply not playing well. 

Junior safety Asa Turner returned after missing three games with a leg injury to give the UW a momentary boost. Yet he got flagged for targeting midway through the second quarter when he ran into a sliding Sun Devils quarterback Emory Jones and both he and an injured Jones were done for the day.

"There's a lot of guys who played snaps today [and] I wouldn't have thought would have played at all," DeBoer said of the ailing defensive players. "The continuity is what it is. The.game of football is a physical sport. We just need to get over this hump."

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