A Wazzu need: more pop at D-tackle

One of the marvels of Washington State’s 2021 football season was the way the Cougars used their No. 1 team strength to offset their No. 1 team weakness.

They played side-by-side, which made it easier.

The Cougs’ brilliant edge rushers, led by Ron Stone Jr. and Brennan Jackson, created as much havoc as they could on first and second downs, then took over the neighborhood on third, nudging their smallish defensive tackles off the field and raising Cain with a four-edge defensive front.

Stone finished with five sacks, 11½ tackles for loss and first-team All-Pac-12 honors, while Jackson racked up four sacks, six TFLs and six quarterback hurries. Those were prime reasons the Cougs wound up above .500, going 7-6 amid a tumultuous season. The team pulled off 29 takeaways, six more than anyone else in the league.

All in all, though, the Cougars would like to play things a little straighter this year.

Virtually everyone on the D-line — edges and tackles alike — returns in 2022, raising hopes that the tackles can do a better job of holding their own. A year ago, none of them placed in the top 15 in team tackles, with now-senior Christian Mejia placing 16th with 17.

So it was a minor miracle that the Cougars ranked seventh in the conference in rush defense, thanks largely to the savvy of linebackers Jahad Woods and Justus Rogers and safeties Daniel Isom and George Hicks III — all now graduated. The attrition adds impetus to the quest for a slightly more conventional approach up front.

At critical times, the Cougs’ Achilles heel flared in obvious ways. In five of their six losses, an opposing player rushed for 120-plus yards, culminating in Lew Nichols’ 138 yards in Central Michigan’s 24-21 triumph in the Sun Bowl. In the other instance, Utah State rushers combined for 222 yards in a season-opening 26-23 upset of the Cougs.

Wazzu coaches liked the rapid progress last season of now-senior tackle Antonio Pule, and they’ll benefit from the return of Mejia, who was injured during spring drills. Also moving along are junior Ahmir Crowder and a sophomore transfer from Virginia, Nusi Malani.

But the Cougs don’t have a defensive tackle who tops 300 pounds. And having placed a huge emphasis on the D-line in their 2021 recruiting class, they took only one player at that position this year.

So any progress they make at defensive tackle will be hard-won in the weight room, the practice field and the training table.

“We return really every major piece from our defensive front,” Jake Dickert, entering his first full season as head coach, said at the conclusion of spring drills.

He pointed out that freshman edge rusher Gabriel Lopez had gained weight even amid the rigors of spring drills.

“A tip of the cap to our nutrition staff,” Dickert said, “and our guys being mature enough to understand that it’s a major part of their development.”