PULLMAN - Washington State’s defense spent a lot of Saturday night on the field, and the snap counts tell the story as clearly as anything.
By halftime against Arizona, linebacker Keith Brown was still trying to catch up on the score after the Cougars had gone into the locker room with a three-point lead. Brown said he didn’t even know where things stood at that point, which says plenty about how busy WSU’s defense had been through the first two quarters. The Cougars had already given up two scoring drives, and quarterback Caden Pinnick’s interception had added one more defensive series to the workload.
Then came another turnover in the second half - a fumble from Pinnick while he was trying to throw the ball away as he got tackled. That was WSU’s seventh offensive turnover of the season, and it has become a real burden on a defense that keeps being sent back onto the field.
Brown, though, isn’t dwelling on it.
“I don’t even think about it, man,” Brown said. “As a defender, you’re so excited to go out there and play, no matter what….
We just go out there every single series, and that series right there is the only thing I’m worried about. I don’t care if I just came off the field or the offense has been out there for a while.
I’m excited to go out there and play.”
The numbers, though, are piling up. Cornerback Khamari Terrell led the Cougars with 72 snaps against the Wildcats. Brown followed with 69, while defensive backs Jackquintin Bal and Jamarey Smith logged 67 and 61, respectively.
That was the second time this season at least three WSU defenders cleared the 60-snap mark in a game. The first came in the earlier loss to Kansas State, when defensive backs Kai Rapolla, Jaylen Thomas and Smith all topped that number.
The overall workload is already heavy. Going into Friday’s home game against Fresno State to open Pac-12 play, two Cougars have already crossed 200 snaps: Thomas leads the team with 225, and Brown is right behind him with 222. Smith sits at 199, linebacker DJ Warner at 196 and safety Jeremiah Bernard at 192.
Kirby Moore said the strain is part of what happens when a defense is facing a quarterback like Arizona’s Noah Fifita and is being asked to play aggressively.
“It adds up in fact that you’re going against a really good quarterback,” Moore said, “and we were very aggressive on defense, and you saw that in the first half. Over time, he’s gonna make some plays.
He’s gonna create some passes downfield, and they had the quick drive right there, and just keeping our guys fresh because the coverage and the front, it’s all gotta work together. If the front is tired and we’re not getting the rush that we want to, well, that’s affecting the back end.
That’s what we gotta get solved there in the third quarter, and it really starts playing complementary football.”
The split between WSU’s early and late performance is stark. The Cougars rank No. 57 nationally in first-quarter scoring defense, allowing 4.3 points on average. In the fourth quarter, that number jumps to 11.3 points per game, which ranks No. 123 nationally, only about a dozen spots from the bottom.
Against Arizona, the defense flashed early. Linus Zunk sacked Fifita on the opening play of the game.
Bal turned a takeaway into points with a pick-six. Later in the first quarter, Jirah Leaupepele added another sack.
When asked about that play, Leaupepele kept it simple: “Just doing my job.”
But the second half looked very different. Arizona won the final two quarters 20-7 and averaged nearly 7 yards per play after halftime, while Fifita stayed clean the rest of the way.
That’s where the cumulative effect of all those extra snaps starts to show. WSU’s offense has given the ball away seven times, and only 18 teams in the country have committed more turnovers.
Every one of those giveaways adds more series to the defense’s plate. And while the Cougars have their own issues on that side of the ball - including trouble generating pressure on Fifita in the second half and the long touchdown run Kansas State broke off earlier this month - the snap counts help explain why the defense can look sharp early and then fade later.
Depth is part of the conversation, but it’s not a simple fix. Cornerback Jalil Tucker, who started in Week 1, has missed the last three games with an injury. Linebacker Nylan Brown was out last week, and defensive ends Malachi Wrice and Mike Hughes also missed that game and are expected to be out Saturday against Fresno State.
WSU could potentially lean more on younger players like safety Kyle Peterson, but after one early mistake that led to an Arizona touchdown, he didn’t return to the field. The Cougars could also ask for more from defensive lineman Josh Wedel, who has played 73 snaps, or defensive end Ben Beatty, who has logged 67.
One interesting wrinkle: coaches have not separated defensive ends Linus Zunk and Matyus McLain. They’ve both played 184 snaps, a sign the staff likes them best as a pair.
For now, the most practical answer may be on the other side of the ball. If the offense can hold onto possession longer, the defense won’t have to keep living in survival mode. That could be a more realistic path against Fresno State than it was against Washington, Kansas State and Arizona.
And if WSU can keep the ball away from the Bulldogs - whose defense ranks sixth nationally with a plus-seven turnover margin - it would help more than just the offense. It would give the defense a break, too.
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