How Buddha Peleti Asesses Washington State's Defensive Growth Through Two Games

Washington State senior defensive end Buddha Peleti helped spearhead a strong defensive effort from the Cougars over the weekend. Peleti himself saw a surge in his play in the fourth quarter, making a critical fourth-down stop in the backfield alongside Isaac "Bobby" Terrell, bringing down SDSU quarterback Jayden Dengal in the backfield.

Peleti spoke with local media after the game to assess the growth of the WSU defense through their first two contests of 2025.

On having an opposing offense on their heels:

"I think, you know, as a whole, as a unit, we love it. You know, just that feeling of dominance and, you know, being able to go out there as a unit, work together, and just kind of see them kind of giving up, it just makes us want to go harder and I mean, that's that's what we look for every week. So, once we get it, you know, it's just a matter of doing what we worked through all week."

On his joint sack with Isaac Terrell:

"Nothing special. Just doing my job, you know. That's what I was told to do. Just went in there, did it. Nothing too crazy. It's just great coaching by coach Bibbs. It was a great call."

On Isaac Terrell's play on Saturday:

"Bobby works his tail off. Every day he comes in, you know he's going to come with the same mentality. He's a great player. He has a great work ethic, you know, and it kind of pushes and elevates everybody around him. Just seeing him come in and be so hungry. You kind of can't be not hungry, you kind of have to work with being around Bobby."

On being surprised that San Diego State was trying to throw from their own end zone:

"Honestly, yeah, I was very surprised, but it also kind of felt like they were undermining us. So, it was a great feeling, you know, seeing Bobby go in there, just fly through, and then I didn't really have todo anything. I just kind of celebrate, you know, it's a it's a great feeling. I mean, it sucks for them, but, you know, we capitalized on it and it's a great play for Bobby."

What did you learn from your team after this win?

"Honestly, that you know throughout each week, we're going to grow. You know, after last week I thought we had a lot to work on. I thought that we came out today and worked on a lot and you could see a lot of progress and, you know, obviously we still have a lot to work on but I would say that there was a lot of progress and everybody just had a lot more hunger in their eyes after having that first game. You know, nobody was complacent about their first win. Yeah, I would just say that you know our team is ready to go."