For quarterback Adam Schulz and the rest of Utah’s offensive players, the time should be spent worrying less about a bowl game and more about a Washington State hard-hitting safety who’s determined to keep the Utes from getting to the postseason.
Senior Deone Bucannon leads the Pac-12 in tackles with 96 and is second in the conference in interceptions with five. He is a versatile player who has made a name for himself as an efficient pass defender and an explosive tackler on the ground.
“You want to have both,” says Cougars head coach Mike Leach, referring to Bucannon’s dual roles on defense. “As long as they stay within themselves and just do what they do best, and [Bucannon] is good at the physical part of it.”
“Physical” is certainly one way to describe Bucannon’s play. Known for his bone-rattling hits, Bucannon’s main weakness this season has been his habit for picking up penalties for unnecessary roughness or taunting. Last season, he served a half-game suspension for a big late-hit against an Eastern Washington receiver.
But as aggressive as he is on the field, Bucannon is soft-spoken off of it. Earlier this week, he shared his feelings surrounding what will be the final home game of his college career.
“I love this school so much, and I love playing with my teammates,” he says. “I love playing in Martin Stadium … It’s something
that’s crazy and surreal because it’s like, just yesterday I was a freshman playing my first game … the fact that my last one is coming up is crazy. There’s definitely going to be a lot of emotions.”
Bucannon assured the media, however, that no amount of emotion would lessen the intensity with which he will play.
“You play for so long somewhere, and just seeing it wind down is hard to swallow,” he says, “But my teammates know I’m not going to be thinking about that on the field. I’m going as hard as I possibly can for them each and every play, each and every second. It doesn’t matter if I have 50 games left or if this is my last play. I’m going to play every play as hard as I possibly can for my team.”
Bucannon has been named a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which honors the nation’s top defensive back. He has also been getting a lot of buzz recently as one of the top safety prospects in next year’s NFL Draft.
Despite all the hype surrounding him off the gridiron, Bucannon remains focused on his team’s final two regular season games. A win against Utah on Saturday will make the Cougars bowl eligible, a benchmark they have not reached since 2003.
“It would be huge,” Bucannon says. “It would be something I’d remember for the rest of my life … something I’d be able to look back at, like, ‘OK, that’s how I went out at Martin Stadium, with a victory, with my teammates, my family and the chance to go to a bowl game.”