Limiting freshman TE is key to Washington football's success vs. USC

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Much like Jedd Fisch and the Washington Huskies, coach Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans have turned to promising young pass catchers to support veteran quarterback Jayden Maiava.

Among those pass catchers is freshman tight end Mark Bowman, who reclassified to the 2026 class and through five games, ranks No. 2 on the Trojans in catches (21) and No. 3 in yards (204), with a pair of touchdowns to his name. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound product of Mater Dei High School is a unique, talented athlete who appears to have had no trouble adjusting to the college game and presents a unique challenge for defensive coordinator Ryan Walters.

"He was the No. 1 tight end in the country for a reason," Walters said on Tuesday. "He's big; he looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger did back in the day. He's a cut-up dude, has really good athleticism, good catch radius; they find ways to creatively get him the ball. He's really good with the ball in his hands, yards after contact; you can't go low, so you've got to hit him up high and get him down, and as the season has gone on, he's getting better in the run game as well."

Washington hasn't necessarily been hurt by tight ends much in the passing game through the first four games of the season, but Walters' unit also hasn't faced a player at the position anywhere near Bowman's caliber. That has given the second-year defensive coordinator several different ideas when it comes to covering the freshman.

"Will we match up a linebacker on Mark Bowman? Probably not," he continued. "Not on purpose; there might be times if we're in zone coverages or things of that nature where they might get matched up, but, I like Zaydrius (Rainey-Sale). He's athletic, and he can cover tight ends; so can Xe'ree (Alexander), and by the nature of their positions, they might be matched up a couple times. But the pressure collectively to get off the field is going to be high."

As the Huskies look to shut down a Trojan passing attack that ranks No. 3 in the Big Ten, the potential returns of cornerback Emmanuel Karnley and nickelback Rahshawn Clark should bring a lift to the secondary, but finding ways to limit Bowman is key.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Limiting freshman TE is key to Washington football's success vs. USC

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