Athlete of the Week: Jahad Woods

He made nine tackles in Saturday’s game, has 101 this

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HSING-HAN CHEN

Redshirt junior linebacker Jahad Woods goes up for the interception against Stanford on Saturday at Martin Stadium.

SAM GRANT, Evergreen reporter

Redshirt junior linebacker Jahad Woods is The Daily Evergreen’s Athlete of the Week for his performance in WSU football’s victory over Stanford on Saturday.

Woods had a total of nine tackles during the game, a sack for seven yards, as well as an interception. Woods has 101 tackles on the season and is the first to do so since Peyton Pelluer in 2015.

In a post-game press conference, Woods said he and his teammates have worked hard all season and getting his 100th tackle was one of the outcomes.

“It’s a good feeling, but I’m just happy to get the win,” Woods said.

The Cougars held Stanford to 22 points, which is the fourth-lowest their opponent has scored against them.

The WSU defense had a taste of their own medicine against Stanford, as the Cardinal offense stuck to a passing theme, throwing the ball 50 times throughout the game.

“I was kind of surprised,” Woods said. “It was annoying, they threw the ball at us kind of every play, but they gave the [defensive backs] a chance to make plays.”

Stanford junior quarterback Davis Mills threw for over 500 yards, along with three touchdowns in their loss to the Cougars.

Stanford is known for incorporating a heavy run game, something that was absent against WSU, with only 10 rushing attempts and six yards to show for it.

“Every year we play Stanford,” Woods said. “Stanford’s always, you know, a physical team that’s going to run the ball down your throat, and that’s what we expected.”

In a post-game press conference, head coach Mike Leach said he does think the defense is improving and thought this was WSU’s most complete game of the season so far.

“We had contributions on offense, defense, and special teams,” Leach said.

The Cougar defense finished the game with two interceptions, which ended two crucial drives for Stanford.

With the victory against Stanford, the Cougars moved up to 5-5 on the season, with a 2-5 Pac-12 conference record.

WSU will prepare to take on Oregon State University in their final home game of the season in hopes to become bowl eligible before the final game of the regular season against the University of Washington.