Oct. 21—PULLMAN — When Khamari Terrell makes a tackle in space, for a brief moment, he enters a world all by himself. Washington State's veteran cornerback will usually lower his head, staring down into the turf, maybe closing his eyes, closing himself off to the chaos unfolding around him.
Then he usually takes his hands and slaps himself on the helmet. Once. Twice. Lets his energy seep off him like condensation off a glass of ice water.
Then he rejoins the action, ready to make another play for the Cougars, for whom he's playing his fifth and final season of college football.
"I think it's big, especially in college, just knowing that the corners have to tackle every game," Terrell said earlier this week. "Especially this week, I'm gonna make it noticed that you're not gonna be able to just run to my side and just think that you're gonna get a big gain or anything."
Terrell and the WSU defense will get a chance to prove it this weekend, when No. 21 Boise State comes to town for a showdown, the teams' first clash in Pullman since 2017, the night the late Tyler Hilinski came off the bench to lead the Cougars to a triple-overtime comeback.
Here's the short version of why Terrell and his fellow defensive backs, like cornerback Jalil Tucker and safety Jaylen Thomas, will have to come up big for their team: The Broncos own one of the country's best rushing attacks, spearheaded by junior tailback Dylan Riley, who ranks second nationwide with 139 rushing yards per game. As a team, the Broncos' 234 rushing yards per contest ranks ninth in the country.
That figures to put quite the strain on this WSU defense, which was gashed last weekend, giving up 48 points to Oregon State's prolific offense in a three-score loss. But for the Cougars, as they prepare for their next outing, it's not all about preventing scoring. It's about one of Terrell's favorite parts of the game: tackling.
All things considered, WSU (1-6, 0-3 Pac-12) has done a fine job of that this season. The Cougars have earned a Pro Football Focus tackling grade of 61.4, which ranks No. 93 nationwide, fifth in the Pac-12. They've turned in some gems of tackling outings, including in their loss to Fresno State earlier this season, when they missed just three total tackles.
In fact, some of the WSU defenders who have logged the most snaps are also the ones who have tackled the best. Veteran linebacker Keith Brown, who leads the team with 418 snaps, has missed only six tackles. Terrell, who has played 339 snaps, has whiffed only three times. And redshirt freshman nickelback Jamarey Smith, who has 313 snaps, has missed only one tackle all season.
So from a 30,000-foot view, the Cougars have done well to tackle, and their coaches deserve credit for that: Defensive coordinator Trent Bray, cornerbacks coach Brandyn Thompson and defensive line coach Eti Ena, among others. Past Cougar teams have not tackled particularly well — Jake Dickert's 2024 team finished the season ranked fifth-to-last in PFF's tackling grades, while Jimmy Rogers' 2025 club finished dead last — so for the program, this represents a key step in the right direction.
"Game to game, you gotta be prepared to tackle," Terrell said, "especially going against a team that runs a lot. So just be physical and just shut down the side of the field and just stop the run, so they won't try to keep running to that side."
The only problem at hand: Boise State's playmakers have excelled at forcing missed tackles. In six games, Riley has forced 28 whiffs, which ranks second in the Pac-12. Riley has forced 18. They have excelled in space, and while the Cougars have usually done well to tackle in those types of settings, they aren't coming off a particularly encouraging outing on that front.
In WSU's loss to Oregon State last weekend, the Cougs missed 18 tackles, one off their most of the season, which came in a season-opening loss to Washington back in early September. In Corvallis, safety Jeremiah Bernard led the way with five whiffs, while fellow safety Jaylen Thomas followed with three and two players missed two tackles apiece: Linebacker Isaiah Hung and cornerback Kai Rapolla.
How will those two realities clash on Saturday afternoon on the Palouse? If the Cougars can't make tackles in space, they might be in for a long day, and as 14-point underdogs, they're expected to meet that fate anyway. But it's an interesting conversation because of one key development: Bray's unit has done a stellar job of stacking up runs up the middle.
That's where some of the Cougars' best defenders play, from defensive tackles like Leaupepetele and Kaden Beatty to defensive ends Matyus McLain and Linus Zunk, which is why opponents haven't enjoyed much success running up the middle this season. Even Brown, a linebacker, has graded out as the Cougars' best run defender, with a mark of 79.9.
It's on the outsides where the Cougs have had less luck, at least in their most recent showing. To turn that fortune around — to reverse the fortune of this entire season — WSU defenders will have to clean that up. Maybe that's where Terrell, a veteran cornerback, could come in handy.