Taking a look at WSU’s struggles on defense and what could be behind them

Oct. 10—PULLMAN — Jake Dickert may not be a perfect coach, but he does keep up.

In his third full season as Washington State’s head coach, Dickert likes to pride himself on staying fresh and on top of the ways the game is changing.

As his team prepares for a road contest against Fresno State this weekend, Dickert understands one main thing about the Bulldogs: As much as the Cougars’ defense works to improve and study FSU’s tendencies, it might be for naught.

That’s because Fresno State, Dickert said, is a lot like many teams in college football these days. The Bulldogs evolve as they go. They might come out in a formation the Cougars recognize, but the play call might be completely different than what they’ve run out of it during their previous five games. Whatever WSU prepares for, Fresno State might have something else up its sleeve.

To Dickert, that’s why his team must improve in one area, which he thinks is behind many of the struggles on defense this fall — communication.

“You gotta be able to adjust on your feet quickly,” Dickert said. “That’s what makes great coaching, in my opinion — to have the guys prepared and ready to go out there and adjust and attack. Right now, we’re on our heels a little bit, thinking. We need to get in a forward positive stance, attacking these guys and going out there and playing to the level I still believe our defense is capable of playing. But it starts with communication.”

Without being on the WSU sideline during games, it may be impossible to know the extent to which communication issues have impacted the defense. What’s clear is, WSU may be 4-1 on the season, but its defensive problems are real.

By now, the Cougars’ tackling issues are well known. They remain Pro Football Focus’ second-worst-graded tackling team in the country, with a figure of 34.0. WSU has missed 85…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/taking-look-wsus-struggles-defense-020100992.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-10-11 02:01:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.