The Washington defense delivered once again Saturday afternoon inside Husky Stadium, holding Utah State to just 14 points in a tightly contested affair. While many names deserve credit for the stout performance, safety Alex McLaughlin seemed everywhere at once for Ryan Walters’ defense. Starting his second season at Washington, the former Northern Arizona standout has become a staple in the Huskies’ secondary. However, McLaughlin has done more than make plays in coverage.

The fourth-year player filled up the stat sheet as the team’s leading tackler, recording 9 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 pass breakups, and an interception. Through the early parts of the season, McLaughlin has become a Swiss Army knife for Walters, showcasing both elite ball-hawking skills and the ability to be disruptive in the backfield.

In what was his most impressive sequence of the day, the do-it-all safety came untouched off the edge and pummeled quarterback Grady Brosterhous for a six-yard loss. The very next play, McLaughlin picked off Brosterhous while playing tight coverage around midfield.

Fellow defensive backs Dylan Robinson and Rahshawn Clark also got in on the pick party, as Robinson grabbed his first career interception, and Clark’s came on Utah State’s Hail Mary on the last play of the game. With the secondary consisting of promising young talent such as Robinson and fellow sophomore Rylon Dillard-Allen, McLaughlin’s leadership on and off the field has proven to be critical.

After earning first-team All-Big Sky honors as a sophomore, the FCS star decided to take his talents to Montlake, where Jedd Fisch and company were unsure of what they were getting in the Arizona native. Safeties coach Taylor Mays wasn’t even sure if the transfer had what it takes to have an impact in the Big Ten. Less than two years later, McLaughlin now finds himself in conversations as one of the most impactful defensive players in the conference.

While Fisch and the offense are still in search of any sort of consistency, the message on the other side of the ball couldn’t be any different. Having held their opponents to under 300 total yards in each of their first two games, the Huskies’ defense will be in search of another dominant performance against Eastern Washington.

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