WSU’s Tyson Durant is bringing confidence and physicality to Cougars’ secondary

PULLMAN — Shortly after Washington State’s season opener, a romp over FCS Portland State on the last day of August, Jake Dickert sat down with Tyson Durant. The Cougars’ head coach didn’t like what he had seen from his starting free safety.

Durant, Dickert thought, had played timid. Cautious. Like he wasn’t ready to play at this level. Like he wasn’t ready to turn heads the way he had across three weeks of fall camp and spring practices. In that game, Durant didn’t make much of an impact, failing to record a tackle or pass breakup in 51 snaps.

Turns out, Durant was in his own head. He had just wrapped up a four-year career at Akron, where he totaled five interceptions and 13 pass breakups. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Durant had internalized that he couldn’t make those kinds of plays at Washington State.

“Coming from a MAC school, you can get those thoughts in your head,” Durant said.

With one scintillating outing in WSU’s win over Texas Tech, Durant may have put those doubts to rest. He recorded eight tackles, second on the team, and he broke up two fourth-down passes. He earned a Pro Football Focus coverage grade of 74.1, second-best among the Cougar defensive backs, helping limit a potent Texas Tech offense to just 16 points — including just six in the second half.

“He wasn’t perfect, but he was aces the other night,” Dickert said of Durant, who also recovered a muffed opening kickoff. “He played physical. He played confident. That’s the Tyson Durant I saw from the day he showed up all the way through fall camp. So just really proud of him.”

“I feel like I just had to bring confidence,” Durant said, “and that’s what was the main thing I think that showed with Texas Tech, starting fast, what he always preaches, and then just playing with confidence, knowing I could do it and that I belong here.”

The Cougars needed every drop of Durant’s defense in that game, and they will likely need the same moving forward. WSU recruited Durant out of the transfer portal to help replace its departing safeties, Jaden Hicks and Sam Lockett III, part of the team’s overhaul of its secondary. The Cougs are also starting two new cornerbacks, Steve Hall and redshirt freshman Ethan O’Connor, which is what makes their secondary a bit of a work in progress.

Durant is helping speed up that rebuild with his experience, with his nose for the ball, with his ability to snuff out plays like the Red Raiders’ fourth-down play at the beginning of the fourth quarter. He recognized Texas Tech’s formation from tape he had watched before the game: A running back and three receivers on one side of the formation.

The Red Raiders needed three yards on the play, and from the film he watched with coaches during the week, Durant knew that was about the range they might try this kind of play.

“We went over that,” Durant said, “and that’s all the coaching, coach (Jordan) Malone. So all I did was execute. I was in a curl, but we have to play tight when it’s close to the sticks, so I just went ahead and made a play right there.”

Durant may need to make even more this weekend, when WSU plays rival Washington at Lumen Field in the first nonconference Apple Cup in series history. The Huskies may have lost their entire starting offense, but to replace Michael Penix Jr. they’ve brought in Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers, who operates a pro-style offense that will likely put pressure on Durant and the Cougs’ secondary.

In UW’s Week 1 win over FCS Weber State, Rogers completed 20 of 27 passes for 250 yards and one touchdown. In the Huskies’ Week 2 shellacking of Eastern Michigan, Rogers went 21 for 26 for 261 yards and four scores. He has yet to toss an interception this fall.

Rogers is a pocket passer, though, which Durant figures plays to his club’s advantage.

“He’s a pretty accurate passer, not much on the legs,” Durant said. “He can get loose, but he’s not too much on the running side. I know he’s coming from Air Raid (at Mississippi State) as well, so they’re trying to fit him in a pro-style offense. So I know that might be a little difficult for him.

“So if we can just shake him up under center and get some pressure, get some people in his face. I know he hasn’t even faced near the D-line we have over here, so if we get some pressure on him, I think he’s gonna struggle.”

Does Durant have a point? When he’s been kept clean, Rogers has completed 36 of 45 passes (80%) for 469 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions, per PFF. Under pressure, Rogers has gone 5 for 8 for 42 yards, no touchdowns and no picks.

In 31 dropbacks against the blitz, Rogers has completed 21 of 28 passes for 343 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. In 26 non-blitzed dropbacks, Rogers has hit on 20 of 25 passes for 168 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.

Durant is right in one way for sure: Rogers isn’t a threat on the run. He has finished with negative rushing yards in each season of his career, which come mostly from sacks. On Saturday, Durant probably won’t have to stop Rogers rushing, but he might busy himself watching his eyes in coverage.

Either way, Durant will be playing with a renewed sense of confidence, knowing he can make all the plays he did at Akron in the crimson and gray laundry.

“It did take a reset of my mental,” Durant said of his conversation with Dickert. “I had to sit back and talk to myself and see what was wrong, figure out what it was. And I figured out it was my confidence out there. Picking up that confidence, I have it for the rest of the season now. So you’re gonna be able to see as many plays as you want now.”