Notebook: WSU to ‘finish what we started’ with DC Jeff Schmedding, plus injury updates

Nov. 25—PULLMAN — Even amid serious struggles on defense, Washington State coach Jake Dickert is sticking with his defensive coordinator.

He indicated as much on Monday, saying that he wants to “finish what we started” with second-year DC Jeff Schmedding, whose unit allowed Oregon State to score a season-high 41 points in Saturday’s win over WSU — more points than the Beavers had scored in their previous three games combined.

“Just like anything else in our program, I’m in a constant evaluation on what’s best for the team,” Dickert said, “and as we go throughout this game, I think it’s important that we finish what we started. We’ll constantly evaluate, just like I do everything in the program .

“This isn’t just the defensive coordinator. It’s offense, it’s personnel, it’s all our support staff. It’s myself, first and foremost. So we’ll continue to do that as we continue to go forward.”

After WSU’s loss to OSU on Saturday, asked at what point he would consider making a change at defensive coordinator, Dickert said much the same thing: “These are all things I keep in-house. Just like anything else, I evaluate everything for the best of the team constantly, and I’ll continue to do that.”

Schmedding — who came to WSU in 2023 after spending the previous two seasons at Auburn, the first as linebackers coach and the second as defensive coordinator — has had little luck stabilizing the Cougs’ defense lately. On top of allowing a depleted OSU offense to erupt for 41 points, WSU permitted 38 to New Mexico in a loss the previous week, and quarterback Devon Dampier racked up nearly 200 yards on the ground, including three rushing touchdowns.

Schmedding has done well this season to generate timely turnovers, including six takeaways from third-year linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah and four interceptions by redshirt freshman…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/notebook-wsu-finish-started-dc-030300981.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-11-26 03:03:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

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