WSU has relied on a bend-but-don’t-break defense. Is it sustainable?

PULLMAN — Early last year, when Washington State head coach Jake Dickert made Jeff Schmedding the Cougars’ new defensive coordinator, he did so understanding the two men shared a strategy on playing defense.

Bend but don’t break.

The Cougars broke plenty last season, Schmedding’s first at WSU. They allowed 28 points per game. In one stretch, in the middle of a six-game losing streak, WSU allowed 38-plus points in four of five games. They had plenty of talent, from edges Ron Stone Jr. and Brennan Jackson to safety Jaden Hicks to cornerback Chau Smith-Wade, but they could only turn it into five wins.

That much is changing this season, at least so far, as Washington State has raced to a 3-0 start.

The Cougars have still given up plenty of yardage. In their past two games, wins over Texas Tech and rival Washington, they have given up a combined 35 points. They have been far from perfect, but when it has mattered most, they’ve created turnovers and generated stops.

The story is in the numbers. In WSU’s win over Texas Tech earlier this month, it permitted 323 passing yards and 148 rushing yards. WSU yielded six plays of 20-plus yards, including passing plays of 42 yards and 37, plus rushing plays of 22 and 20 yards.

But the Cougars held the Red Raiders to 16 points — a week after they scored 52 and a week before they put up 66.

Last weekend, in WSU’s first Apple Cup win over Washington in three years, something similar unfolded. The Cougars let the Huskies register another six plays of 20-plus yards. Running back Jonah Coleman had a 29-yard rush. Quarterback Will Rogers completed passes of 20, 31, 39, 21 and 45 yards, the last of which moved UW deep into WSU territory in the final minutes of the game.

The Huskies, however, didn’t score. Cougars linebacker Kyle Thornton brought down Coleman short of the goal line on fourth down, sealing the win and vaulting himself into Apple Cup lore.

To Dickert, his group’s outing against UW provided the perfect encapsulation of the ideals he’s trying to establish in his defense.

Bend but don’t break.

“You saw that to the maximum on Saturday,” Dickert said. “Red-zone defense can make you feel great walking off that field, and our guys were nails in the red zone. They had the one big play, but then four field goals, I believe I’m doing my math right. Obviously, the big fourth-down stop. So sometimes, if you’re mentally really sturdy and strong, however they got down there doesn’t matter. If you give that group an inch, they’re gonna defend it.”

It presents an interesting dynamic: How much are Dickert and Schmedding willing to live with their defense giving up several big plays if their guys bow up in the red zone? How much is too much to give up between the 20-yard lines? Maybe more important, as WSU faces road tests against Boise State and Fresno State coming up in the schedule, is this sustainable?

For the Cougars, the most impressive number is the percentage of scores (67%) they’re allowing opponents in the red zone. That ranks No. 17 nationally, and in the traditional Power Five structure, it would rank No. 12. The rest of the country has allowed scores on red-zone opportunities in more than 70% of opportunities.

WSU has just made plays. Against Texas Tech, Washington State nickelback Kapena Gushiken had an interception, made possible by edge Quinn Roff’s hit on quarterback Behren Morton.

Against Washington, WSU cornerback Stephen Hall made the play of his life, breaking up a pass in the end zone intended for Denzel Boston, prying it out of his hands at the last second. Then he pushed Boston out of bounds short of the pylon. One play later, WSU edge Andrew Edson and tackle Ansel Din-Mbuh generated enough push to prompt Rogers to pitch it to Coleman, who had no chance when Thorton had a clear lane to tackle him.

“They play with great effort. They play with great emotion and energy,” Dickert said. “I think that can win a lot of games on that side of the ball, and I think that’s what it was on Saturday.”

But WSU has had plenty of issues. Headed into Friday night’s game with San Jose State, the Cougars rank No. 127 of 134 FBS teams in Pro Football Focus’ tackling grades, checking in with a figure of 48.2, well below average. WSU has missed 51 tackles this season, second-most in the country, behind only Nevada, which has missed 55.

The Cougars’ main culprit has been third-year linebacker Taariq (Buddah) Al-Uqdah, who is tied for third nationwide with nine missed tackles. Free safety Tyson Durant is second with five, No. 43 in the country, and strong safety Jackson Lataimua is third with four.

Some of those numbers can be a tad misleading. For example, Gushiken’s miss against Texas Tech tight end Jalin Conyers also jarred the ball loose a little bit, giving other Cougars time to converge and make the tackle. But taken as a whole, they must concern WSU. Only one other team in the country has missed more tackles, and it’s the team picked to finish last in the Mountain West preseason poll.

The Cougs also rank No. 119 nationally in PFF’s pass-rush grades, coming in at 60.0, right at about average. They have totaled just three sacks, two from edge Raam Stevenson and one from backup defensive tackle Khalil Laufau, and 24 total pressures, six from Stevenson and six from transfer edge Syrus Webster.

That has gone hand in hand with WSU’s big-play issue. Rogers had just nine dropbacks under pressure, per PFF, and he completed 5 of 7 passes for 125 yards and one touchdown in those situations. Otherwise, he was kept clean on 26 dropbacks, which he turned into 18 completions for 189 yards.

Against Texas Tech, Morton was pressured on 11 dropbacks, resulting in 3-for-11 passing for just 3 yards and two interceptions. But when he was kept clean, like he was on 50 dropbacks, he connected on 32 of 48 passes for 320 yards and one touchdown.

The Cougars haven’t been perfect when they’ve received pressure, but when they get to the quarterback, they’ve eased the pressure on the rest of their defense. They’ve also created turnover chances.

WSU will get another test on that front when San Jose State quarterback Emmett Brown — a Cougars transfer — visits Pullman on Friday night. He’ll be looking to air things out.

WSU will try to bow up in the red zone, but with even tougher challenges just around the corner, the Cougars would do well to shore up some of the tackling and pass-rush issues that have surfaced the past two weeks.