After WSU’s third day of spring practice, Djouvensky Schlenbaker feeling confident in technique

PULLMAN – These days, Djouvensky Schlenbaker is lowering his pad level, burying the football deep in his chest. Over the offseason, Washington State’s rising sophomore running back realized he had been running with his pad level too high, which allowed tacklers to bring him down far easier.

“So now I’m just focusing on, every time I’m getting the ball, I’m going down low,” Schlenbaker said after Saturday’s WSU practice, the team’s third of the spring slate. “Even when it comes to running a route, staying low with my body.”

Schlenbaker has fashioned himself a physical back, an underclassman who never shies away from contact. It’s part of why he got his biggest opportunity last season, finishing with 33 carries for 146 yards, including one reception for a touchdown in a road loss to California.

That season, though, Schlenbaker was playing as an understudy to senior Nakia Watson. But now Watson has graduated and moved on, which means the Cougs’ running back reins have gone over to Schlenbaker, rising sophomore Leo Pulalasi and true freshman Wayshawn Parker, an early enrollee who has impressed early in spring ball.

Come next fall, those three will be in charge of helping Washington State turn around a troubling trend – an inability to run the ball. The Cougars never established a credible running game last season, in part due to their offensive line’s substandard run-blocking and in part due to Watson’s nagging injuries, which had a real hand in hurting their season.

WSU has never billed itself a ground-oriented offense – there’s a reason why so many quarterbacks like the Cougs’ Air Raid approach – but to avoid poor stretches like last season’s six-loss span, this group will need to improve on the ground.

That’s where guys like Schlenbaker, Pulalasi, Parker and Dylan Paine come in. Parker, a 6-foot back from the Sacramento, California, area, has had real playing time in practice, splitting between the first team and second team. It’s raised eyebrows for all the right reasons – he’s one of the youngest guys on the team, and he’s established himself in the running back rotation.

“I mean, he’s just a competitive dude to his core,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said. “He rushed for over 2,000 yards last year, and we went to one of his playoff games, and it was just like, ‘This guy’s incredible.’ So to do some early things is good for us. We’re giving him a lot of reps because it’s base offense.”

Elsewhere on the field, WSU defensive back Tyson Durant has continued to impress, including with an interception during Saturday’s practice. As the Cougars open up competition at their safety spots, a point of emphasis given their two offseason losses at the position, they like where Durant has fit in.

“I think he’s done a good job being a playmaker through the first three days,” Dickert said. “The biggest thing I look for – because we had a huge install today – he could handle it mentally. And I think that’s the first step in allowing yourself to go play fast and free.”

Also in the secondary, defensive back Tanner Moku is back to feeling like himself, back to feeling healthy. He missed a chunk of last season with an injury, but now that he’s healthy, he can feel himself making real strides. Maybe the most important for this new-look club: His confidence is growing in himself as a leader.

“In the meeting rooms, just making sure all the boys got their little notepads out,” Moku said. “Some of the young guys, especially the early freshman enrollees we got, they’re still getting used to the ropes. So just being that kind of gentle, older guy that is telling them, ‘Get your books out, get your pens out’ – it seems like you think about that already. But it’s something that you kinda gotta remind a little bit the young guys.”