Washington State’s defense has found an unexpected bright spot in Isaiah Hung, and Kirby Moore isn’t pretending it came out of nowhere.
The redshirt freshman linebacker has been stacking up strong weekly grades from Pro Football Focus, and his team-best 82.3 overall mark would sit inside the top 50 nationally at his position. For a Cougars team sitting at 1-8, that kind of individual consistency stands out fast.
Moore said the bye week only reinforced what the staff has already been seeing from Hung.
“We showed clips during a Thursday team meeting on what guys did really well at Wednesday practice,” Moore said. “(Hung) was on multiple of them with just his energy and effort.
“I think he is playing at as high of a level as anyone on our defense.”
Hung, who lines up as one of the running mates to defensive captain Keith Brown at weakside linebacker, said he knew the grades were good. He just didn’t realize he was leading the team.
“I knew I had good PFF scores,” Hung said. “But I didn’t know it was the top one on the team.
“To be honest, it doesn’t really have much meaning to me. It’s cool obviously - and I am sure my parents have a PFF account.“
At 6-foot-2 and 229 pounds, Hung is still early in his Washington State career, and he says the game is already slowing down for him.
“For sure, I am definitely starting to understand the speed of the game better,” Hung said. “It’s different from high school. And honestly, it is different from (WSU) practice.
“Out on the field, it is truly 11-vs-11. Shrink it down more, it is 1-vs.1. So, me just going out and trying to win that (one-on-one battle) is the goal every time.”
Hung grew up just outside Kansas City, Missouri, and he said he had NFL dreams from the time he was a kid. He also had a front-row view of greatness in his own backyard with Patrick Mahomes and the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs.
“My mom is from Wisconsin,” he said. “I am a Green Bay fan.”
Each season, he wore a different Packers jersey. One year it was Jermichael Finley’s No.
- Another year it was Eddie Lacy’s No.
But the one that really stuck was Clay Matthews III’s No. 52.
“Growing up, I was a (middle) linebacker in youth football,” Hung said. “During that time, Clay Matthews and A.J. Hawk were my absolute favorite guys to watch.”
By the time he reached Liberty High School in Missouri, Hung was making noise in more than one sport. On the baseball field, the left-handed pitcher reached 93 mph with his fastball and backed it up with a sharp curveball.
In wrestling, he won the state 215-pound title as a junior for a nationally ranked program. On the football field, he piled up sack records as a hybrid defender who worked both on the edge and at linebacker.
“All three of my sports were equal in seriousness,” Hung said. “Whatever season it was, I was locked in.”
He first signed with South Dakota State, then got his release and headed to Washington State to follow Jimmy Rogers, the coach who recruited him. When Rogers left for Iowa State last December, Hung stayed with the Cougars and the new staff under Moore, who was hired days later.
“I feel like this town (Pullman) reminds me of my hometown, so honestly, coming here was so easy,” Hung said. “When I had announced on Twitter I was coming here, my comments were flooded with Cougar fans welcoming me … and I had never felt that kind of support.”
Hung said that sense of proving people wrong has been part of his football life for a long time.
“I was never supposed to be an (NCAA) Division I football player (based on recruiting rankings), and I felt like my whole life has been trying to prove people wrong,” Hung said. “It’s the ‘Wheatfield Underdog’ mindset, and the chip on everyone’s shoulder around here that just fits me and my work ethic.”
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Colorado States offense brings a different kind of problem, with quarterback Hauss Hejny adding stress to a Washington State secondary that will need to stay disciplined. For the Cougars, the opportunity is obvious: if they can handle the Rams defensive vulnerabilities and limit the damage on the back end, they can finally chase down their first Pac-12 win of the season. [Read more 🡒]