Inside The Huskies

With Ulofoshio Fully in the Mix, Will UW Defense Become More of a Stopper?

This Husky unit finally has all of its major pieces together.

Dan Raley

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Finally, the University of Washington football team will take the field on game day with all of its major defensive components tested and available, with everyone ready to hit someone. 

Linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio — who just might be the most talented player among this collection of Husky defenders and a solid NFL prospect some day— came off his year-long injury absence last week to get a taste against Oregon State and should be ready for extended duty and maybe even a starting assignment on Saturday afternoon against Oregon.

The original starting secondary of cornerbacks Mishael Powell and Jordan Perryman, safeties Alex Cook and Asa Turner, and hybrid Husky Dominique Hampton just played its first full game together this season against the Beavers.

Whether all of this sudden defensive continuity coming out of Montlake is enough to slow down the high-scoring Ducks (43.1 points per game) in a nationally televised matchup in Eugene remains to be determined.

Whereas incoming UW coach Kalen DeBoer had no trouble coming in and mixing and matching inherited players and new faces to create a prolific offense, defense has been a bit more of a challenge. A daunting one. A severe test.

Tuli Letuligasenoa blows past OSU's Heneli Bloomfield to get to quarterback Ben Gulbranson.
Tuli Letuligasenoa gave Oregon State fi / Skylar Lin Visuals

Once all-conference corners Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon left for the NFL, it became clear Jimmy Lake didn't leave DeBoer with an overabundance of proven defensive playmakers, or at least healthy ones. 

Coaching-change turnover was inevitable, too, but especially harmful to the UW defensive depth. Players such as starting inside linebacker Jackson Sirmon (California), starting defensive tackle Taki Taimani (Oregon), reserve cornerback Jacobe Covington (USC) and even medically retired edge rusher Laiatu Latu (UCLA) found new Pac-12 homes.

For a revealing talent indicator between the UW and Oregon, consider that Taimani left Seattle as a 14-game starter and turned up as a reserve in the Willamette Valley who doesn't play in every game. After the Ducks went wild for 329 yards rushing against him and his former UW defensive teammates at Husky Stadium a year ago, it's a wonder they took him on. 

Taimani's new teammates, however, won't be compelled to pound the ball this time as much as they did 12 months ago.

"The challenge is they can do both — run and pass," DeBoer said. "And you have a quarterback [Bo Nix] who can make things happen." 

That said, a healthy Ulofoshio will make his first appearance against the Ducks as someone other than a special-teamer, which he previously did in 2019. His presence could go a long way to making the other guys around him much more effective.

He's a big-play guy, something this defense has been sorely lacking. Through nine games, the Huskies have just nine turnovers — six interceptions and three recovered fumbles, or one per game.

Ulofoshio, of course, wasn't on the field in any capacity last year against Oregon, forced to watch the game from the sideline after having arm surgery and while wearing a sling. 

This time, the linebacker will face the Ducks coming off a much-needed test run in last Friday's 24-21 victory over Oregon State at Husky Stadium.

"I definitely didn't want my first game back to be against Oregon because I knew the magnitude of it," Ulofoshio said. "If I had any nerves, I didn't want it to be against Oregon."

The Huskies could have just three defensive starters back from that 26-16 Oregon defeat at Husky Stadium in defensive tackle Tuli Letuligasenoa, edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui and Hampton, though the latter plays a different position now, as the hybrid Husky rather than safety. It'll be two starters if ZTF is limited after getting helped off the field twice against Oregon State and returns to a reserve role.

So it's a rebuilt UW defense, which had to happen anyway following an overly generous 2021 season overall. These Huskies now give up 355 yards per game and have held only Portland State under 20 points, so there's still a lot of work to be done.

Just five Husky defenders have started every game this season in edge rusher Jeremiah Martin, defensive tackle Faatui Tuitele, linebackers Cam Bright and Alphonzo Tupuola, and Cook, with the different lineup changes caused more by injury than performance. 

Ulofoshio's return and the timeliness of it can't be understated. His absence 12 months ago was one reason the Ducks ran at will on his teammates. He's someone who's piled up 18 tackles against Stanford, 16 against Oregon State and 14 against Utah n his career. NFL scouts see a little Bobby Wagner or Mike Singletary in him.

His presence could mean a much more competitive and compelling football game down south, though the Huskies likely still will need to come out on top in an offensive shootout to emerge victorious.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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