Through the first two weeks of the season, Washington’s defense has done more than hold up its end of the bargain. It has set the tone.
The Huskies have given up just three total touchdowns and 12 points per game, and that steadiness helped them get by Washington State 24-10 in Week 1 and Utah State 16-14 in Week 2, even with uneven offensive performances and injuries piling up on that side of the ball.
A big part of that early defensive success has been the work of third-year defensive back Rahshawn Clark, whose value goes well beyond what shows up in the box score.
Clark has only two total tackles, one of them solo, along with one pass defended and the interception that sealed Washington’s win over the Aggies on Sept. 12. Those numbers don’t scream impact at first glance, but his role has given the Huskies something important: flexibility.
Officially, Clark is the team’s starting slot corner/nickelback. In practice, he’s often sliding up to single-high/free safety, and that shift changes the shape of the entire defense. When Clark moves back, Washington can push its listed starting safeties, fourth-year Alex McLaughlin and second-year Rylon Dillard-Allen, closer to the line of scrimmage.
That has paid off in a major way for McLaughlin. Through two games, he has piled up 15 total tackles, 13 of them solo, plus three tackles for loss, two sacks, a pass defended and two interceptions.
Dillard-Allen has also benefited from the arrangement, posting five total tackles, four solo, and one pass breakup.
Clark’s move to free safety tends to come when the opponent is in 12-personnel - one running back and two tight ends - a look that usually points toward the run or shorter-to-intermediate passing game. That gives Washington a chance to crowd the box and tighten things up near the line of scrimmage.
And the Huskies already have plenty of bodies ready to attack from there. The front includes linebackers Jacob Manu and Xe'ree Alexander, among others, along with defensive linemen Elinneus Davis, Jacob Lane, Derek Colman-Brusa and Ramzak Fruean.
“(Clark moving back to safety) allows us to have some flexibility, defensively, with different variations in coverage,” UW defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said in a weekly news conference Tuesday. “When you get bigger, it limits what the bodies on the field can do from a coverage standpoint.
With his ball skills, his coverage ability, that's why I kind of put him back there and let Alex and RDA get closer to the box. ... It definitely helps us schematically.”
In Other News...
Washington Gets One Last Chance To Sharpen Up Before Big Ten Play
Before Washington dives into Big Ten play, it gets one more tune-up at Husky Stadium on Saturday afternoon against Eastern Washington. Kickoff is set for 4:15 p.m. PT, with the game on the Big Ten Network and radio coverage spread across multiple stations and platforms, giving the Huskies one last chance to clean up the details in front of their home crowd.
The timing matters, because Washington enters the weekend in the national conversation and still has a little room to sharpen things before the schedule tightens. It has handled Eastern Washington in all three previous meetings, but this one is less about history than about carrying momentum into conference play without leaving any loose ends behind. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Keeps Getting Chances But One Offensive Problem Still Lingers
Washington keeps finding ways to put itself in position to swing momentum, and the defensive side has done its part by creating extra chances. Jedd Fisch pointed to an offense that still has room to grow, with the line and run game lagging behind the rest of the operation, while also noting that those issues are fixable even if the turnaround will not happen overnight.
The bigger concern is what Washington has done with all those opportunities. The Huskies have been strong enough defensively to create turnovers, but the offense has not consistently turned those takeaways into the kind of points that separate good teams from dangerous ones. Demond Williams continues to give the program a meaningful rushing element, joining an elite group of UW quarterbacks to top 1,000 career rushing yards, but the next step is turning those flashes into something more reliable when the game opens up in front of them. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Just Added A Veteran Guard With A Chance To Matter Fast
Washington added another experienced piece to its backcourt with the signing of transfer guard Tayshawn Comer for the 2026-27 season, a move Danny Sprinkle announced as the Huskies continue shaping their future roster. Comer arrives with stops at Nevada, Eastern Kentucky and Evansville, bringing the kind of mileage and maturity that can matter for a program trying to keep its guard play steady and its locker room grounded.
Sprinkle pointed to Comers defense, leadership and ability to create offense as the traits that make him a useful fit in Montlake, especially for a team that values guards who can handle more than one job. The next question is how quickly that experience translates once he gets into Washingtons system, because the Huskies are clearly betting that his presence will be felt sooner rather than later. [Read more 🡒]