When Jedd Fisch earned a commitment from Jacob Manu out of the transfer portal ahead of the 2025 season, Sunday's performance in the Apple Cup is exactly what the Washington Huskies were expecting out of the former Arizona Wildcat and All-Pac-12 First Team honoree.
The fifth-year linebacker starred in Washington's 24-10 victory, racking up a game-high 11 tackles and a sack of Cougars quarterback Caden Pinnick, which came on a perfectly timed stunt, but his impact went far beyond the stat sheet. Manu displayed the physicality that helped him establish himself as one of the nation's best linebackers in 2023, before a torn ACL cut his season short in 2025.
Whenever Manu made contact with a WSU ball carrier, the play was over rather quickly, as his
strength and leverage quickly stopped opponents in their tracks and helped hold the Cougars to an average of 3.2 yards per carry on 31 attempts.
Manu's impact was also felt in the locker room, as Fisch gave him a lot of credit for helping keep the team level-headed after the head coach called Washington's first-half performance "embarrassing" in an interview on NBC.
"I think Jacob did a great job of making sure that the defense bought that," Fisch said of Manu's impact at halftime. "I think that he was able to make sure that that wasn't just gonna be locker room speech, and then we were gonna get out there. I felt his energy throughout of keeping the guys on super high."
However, like practically everyone on Fisch's squad on Sunday, Manu wasn't perfect. He was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct in the third quarter, and after the game, he was quick to show that leadership to the media, owning up to his mistake in an undisciplined performance by the Huskies.
"We've just got to be more disciplined," Manu said. "The late hits, the unsportsmanlike conducts, stuff like that, that's hurting us; we're shooting ourselves in the foot."
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Jacob Manu turns in star effort for Washington football in Apple Cup
