Huskies’ secondary in real dogfight over picks
Washington, with 19 interceptions, leads nation in takeaways.
ATLANTA — The competitive fire that has helped Washington’s defense lead the nation in takeaways is not used just against opposing teams.
Washington players also compete against each other, including in the secondary where the “pick board” tally will carry into Saturday’s Peach Bowl semifinal against top-ranked Alabama.
The Huskies have 19 interceptions, including four by freshman Taylor Rapp. The safet y took the team lead wi t h t wo i n t e r c e p t i o n s , including one returned for a touchdown, in Washington’s 41-10 win over Colorado in the Pac-12 championship game. Rapp was named the game’s MVP.
Rapp’s more experienced teammates in the secondary aren’t ready to give up on the season-long competition.
Clearly, this battle is serious for cornerbacks Sidney Jones, who claimed the prize with four interceptions in 2015 and has three this year, and Kevin King, who has two picks.
“We ’ r e a c o mp e t i t i v e unit,” King said Wednesday. “I think each one of us wants to be leading in picks. We have a pick board that we tally up and at the end of the year, we give out a little award for who got the most picks.”
With Jones sitting beside him at a news conference, King explained that the winner receives a football.
“Yo u g e t y o u r n a m e engraved on it,” he said. “It’s got the names from the prior years.” Jones then cut in. “Tell them,” Jones insisted. King continued: “I’m about to tell them. It has Sidney’s name on it, I think, twice.”
Added a s mil i ng Ki ng: “That just means he’s targeted more.”
King’s good-natured prod drew an “ooh” from linebacker Keishawn Bierria.
The star of the secondary is safety Budda Baker, a second-team AP All-America who has 65 tackles and two interceptions — two behind Rapp’s lead.
“So this freshman comes in, and he’s winning right now,” Baker said of Rapp. “We’re all trying to one-up him.”
Washington is a two-touchdown underdog in the semifinal, but the secondary is one area where the Huskies may at least match the Crim- son Tide’s talent.
Alabama coach Nick Saban said Monday the Washington secondary is “sort of a little bit Seattle Seahawk-like.”
Saban said the Huskies’ defensive backs “do a great job of executing the things that they play. They do a great job of breaking on the ball.”
Jones appreciated the comparison.
“That’s a big compliment,” Jones said. “Nick Saban’s a great coach. For him to see that mentality in us, that’s pretty amazing.”
Defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski said the defense began to emerge as a force last season, when Washington finished only 7-6.
“As a team last year, we weren’t able to finish games that we could have won,” Kwiatkowski said. “And so I know these guys took that to heart and that was a big issue in the offseason. ... These guys could feel and understand what it took to seal the deal.”
Washi n g t o n’s 3 3 t a ke - aways, including 14 forced fumbles, lead the nation. Alabama leads the nation in total defense and scoring defense; the Huskies are 11th and seventh, respectively.
“T h e y ’ r e v e r y g o o d , ” S a b a n s a i d . “T h e y h ave length at corner. They’re very good cover guys. I think the scheme that they play, they don’t make a lot of mistakes.”
Baker stopped short of endorsing Saban’s comparison of Washington’s secondary to the NFL’s Seahawks.
“That’s cool,” Baker said. “... We watch NFL defenses and all that type of stuff and, you know, see our defense as a great defense, but we feel like we’re Washington defense-like. So that’s it.” to Orlando as a child, is cherishing the opportunity to see members of his family while playing in Miami for the second time this year.
Francois played two years of high school football at Olympia High in Orlando, but transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton for his senior season, where he was coached by former FSU quarterback Chris Weinke.
Francois also spent a lot of time in his youth in South Florida, visiting his aunt and uncles in the Miramar area.
“I t ’s j u s t a b l e s s i n g t o be here,” Francois said. “I never thought I’d make it this far, but now that I’m here, I’m trying to soak in every moment of it, try to have fun.”
Francois became FSU’s s t ar ter af ter s enior Sean Maguire, who finished the 2015 season as the starter, suffered multiple preseason injuries.
Many figured Francoi s (6-2, 205 pounds) had the physi c a l g i f t s t hat c oul d make him a prolific quarterback at a program that was a year removed from losing Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston.
Despite having no prior experience at the college level, Francois had a tremendous debut by throwing for 419 yards and two touchdowns that helped the Seminoles erase a 22-point deficit for their largest comeback win ever against Mississippi.
That led to a season in which Francois has passed for 3,128 yards and 18 touchdowns with six interceptions. He has rushed for 187 yards and four touchdowns.
He is the third freshman quarterback in school history to surpass the 3,000yard mark in a season, joining Winston in 2013 and Drew Weatherford in 2005.
Resilience has been one of Francois’ most valuable attributes.
FSU enters the Orange Bowl having allowed 34 sacks this season, which ranks 108th in the nation.
Francois has been dropped 32 of those times.
Michigan ranks second in the nation in sacks with 44 behind FSU’s 47, and second in total defense behind Alabama.
FSU has had success, however, against top 10 defenses this season.The Seminoles faced three of them during the final five games of the season (Florida, Clemson and Boston College) and averaged 36.7 points per game.
“Whether it’s on the quarterback-designed runs or the scrambles, he does get out, and he’s a tough kid,” Michigan defensive lineman Ryan Glasgow said. “He takes a lot of shots, doesn’t go down, and he’s trying to pick up the tough extra yards that a lot of quarterbacks wouldn’t really want to pick up.”