Washington Football victory keys on Greg Gaines and Vita Vea

Run defense is the difference in championship play. That being said, the Washington Football team has a stalwart run defense. The keys?  Greg Gaines and Vita Vea

The Washington Football team is not about spotlights, glitz, headliners, or individual accomplishments. Now, don’t get me wrong, the athletic program certainly has more than their fair share of record setting individual achievements. But that is not the objective of the Washington Huskies. Nor is it the objective of defensive tackles Vita Vea nor Greg Gaines.

The call to this University is the calling to something greater together – not apart. To become a Washington Husky, players grow by becoming part of something bigger, and better. That is how the “next man up” system works. that is how it succeeds.

Until now.

Gaines and Vea are keys to victory

The stakes quadruple this weekend. Suddenly the game is not “just a game”, but a rematch. It’s a battle against a seasoned opponent who wants desperately to win.  And so, the team must lean more heavily upon their own battle tested warriors.

Defensive tackles Greg Gaines and Vita Vea are two such warriors.

So far this year, the Washington Football team is one of the stingiest defenses at giving up yards. In fact, the team is second in both total yards and rushing yards surrendered in the Pac-12 for good reason.  Or better yet, “reasons”.  You see, when either Greg Gaines or Vita Vea place a hand in the dirt, they are next to impossible to push off the line of scrimmage.

It starts with trust.

Washington Football team head coach Chris Petersen trusts his run defense.  As a matter of fact, he has good cause to do so. So far, the Huskies have not allowed a single 100 yard rusher. The closest to that mark was Rutger’s running back Gus Edwards, who rushed for 79 yards on 24 carries.

Cat Crave

That is the number of carries either Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman have amassed all season, respectively. On one hand, it’s not easy to contain a running back all day with those number of carries. On the other hand, the Colorado Buffalo are counting on that fact. You see, the Buffalo hand the ball off to top running back Phillip Lindsay an average of … 24 times per game.

Friends with a common bond

So stopping the opponent’s running backs needs more trust than that from the sidelines. It’s a mutual trust that happens between players  who know one another.

It takes friendship. That is something the pair of Washington defensive tackles know and understand.

Roommates off the field, a dominating matched set of defensive wrecking balls on the field. But not identical. They are a matched set, each possessing different but vital talents.  Think of them like a blacksmith shops hammer and anvil. To be truly effective, each needs the other.

Huskies’ hammer

They are a matched set. Defensive tackle Vita Vea is the hammer. He does more than redirect the offense away from him. He attacks. Like a blacksmith hammer, he smashes the offensive line and disrupts the backfield while plays are developing.   That means he is present when a quarterback is setting up to throw as well.

And that means quarterback sacks.

Vea makes things happen on defense. That ability to toss blockers to the side throws complete chaos into an offense.  But eventually, they can turn that strength into a weakness. Bait pursuit with misdirection. Play action passing. Reverse running plays.  To stop that type of scheme, the Huskies must rely upon a different type of skillset.

And anvil

But Coach Petersen has another ace up his sleeve on that defensive front. While opposing offenses track Vea’s disruption and run from it, they run right into teammate Greg Gaines – the anvil.

Gaines won’t run down a dual threat quarterback from behind. That’s simply how it goes. But what he does is create an impenetrable force in the line of scrimmage which nobody gets past.  In short, he let’s Vita Vea “flush ’em out” and he waits to deliver the final blow.

That ability to anchor the defense gives Vea enough margin to burst into the backfield. And that ability to cause chaos in the offense allows Gaines the margin to stay put and feast on the ball carrier trying to escape Vita Vea’s devastation.

Gaines story is a Huskies story

Now, this is not simply an article from a biased fan. It’s how some very objective experts see it as well. Earlier in the year, Gaines was rated as one of the best defensive linemen.

And he deserves every accolade. His story was not easy. Considered too short to be a top recruit at 6-foot-2, he simply stopped growing during his senior year in high school. He joined the 2014 recruiting class of the Washington Football team. That class was ranked 38th in the nation, and seventh in the Pac-12 recruiting classes for that year.

Next: Washington Football Team Red Zone defense on RED ALERT

But these Huskies ignore the hype, and the decryers. Coach Petersen has convinced each player that a new week is a new slate. There is no carryover.  Suit up and prove yourself one more time.

That is the task for this Washington Football team this weekend. Suit up and prove one more time. That is exactly what Vita Vea and Greg Gaines plan to do this weekend.