New starters Richardson,Thornton thriving in WSU defense

Sep. 21—Looking at Washington State's linebacker situation at the end of last season, it would've been easy to press the panic button.

The team's best overall player, linebacker Daiyan Henley, was headed to the NFL, WSU's other two co-starting linebackers were transferring out of the program and defensive coordinator Brian Ward was departing for fellow Pac-12 program Arizona State.

What was WSU going to do about arguably the most important position group on defense?

Well, say hello to junior Kyle Thornton and senior Devin Richardson.

Although they took different paths to the same spot, Thornton and Richardson patiently bided their time until they were given the opportunity to plant themselves in a starting role.

Through three games this season, Richardson and Thornton have combined for a whopping 40 tackles despite sitting on the sideline for much of Saturday's blowout win against Northern Colorado. Richardson's 21 tackles are tied for No. 6 in the Pac-12 with WSU safety Sam Lockett.

The two have been a welcome bright spot for the position group with the most question marks heading into the season.

"He's a technician, a vocal leader, and he just gets the job done," Richardson said of Thornton. "He definitely makes my job easy as well just how he vocalizes when he's on the field. And he's a hard worker and a high-effort guy."

Thornton's journey shows how hard work pays off.

He started out as a preferred walk-on out of Upland, Calif., in 2019 before earning his first scholarship in 2021. Last season, he saw his most extensive time yet mostly as a backup linebacker, recording 36 tackles and starting one game. He also led the team in special teams snaps with 239.

"Nothing's been given to me ... it's been all earned," Thornton said. "That's just what makes it that much sweeter knowing that I earned everything that I get out there."

While Thornton's journey was a steady rise, Richardson's has been one with ups and downs.

After starting out as a freshman All-American at Texas in 2019, Richardson saw significantly less playing time over the next three seasons.

That's when he decided to look for a fresh start and connected with WSU coach Jake Dickert, who had tried to recruit him out of Klein High School in Texas about five years prior.

Dickert decided to give Richardson another opportunity to join his program.

"The fact that he still had faith in me even though I didn't go to Washington State the first time said a lot," Richardson said back in spring camp.

The duo eliminated any questions about their abilities in a Week 2 victory against then-No. 19 Wisconsin in which they combined for 14 tackles and helped hold a potent Badgers' rushing offense to just 91 yards one week after it had amassed 314 on the ground against Buffalo. Thornton added two tackles for loss and a sack in the 31-22 win.

But Thornton says the confidence they had in themselves goes all the way back to the offseason with the arrivals of the freshmen, the transfers and new defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding.

"I think it's been a lot of buy-in since everyone came together here in the spring," Thornton said. "Once we got everyone in the building, we kind of looked around and said 'We know what we have to do. We know what we lost, but we also knew what we gained.' "

WSU's defense will face its biggest test yet Saturday against No. 14 Oregon State (3-0) and an offense that averages 466 yards and 41 points per game. The No. 21 Cougars and Beavers kick off at 4 p.m. Saturday (Fox) at Gesa Field in Pullman.

"It's going to be a dogfight from the jump," Richardson said. "It just matters (we're) setting the tone and just making sure they know we're not going to back down and play our brand of football."

Said Thornton, "It's going to be a good one, but that's nothing new to us. We love the big games and we're ready for them."

Wiebe may be contacted at (208) 848-2277, swiebe@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @StephanSports.