Huskies’ Psalm Wooching enjoying time as reserve buck linebacker this season

Sometimes, Psalm Wooching uses eye-black to paint two stripes, one running down either side of his face from his eye, to simulate the face of a cheetah.

It reminds him to play fast.

Before other games, Wooching might paint what looks like a scratch mark over his eye as an homage to his school’s mascot, the Huskies.

It reminds him to be strong and relentless.

The face-painting always includes a thick, black application around his eyes, which accentuates the whites and gives the fourth-year junior buck linebacker a menacing look. He paints his face, he says, because it is a Samoan battle tradition, and he is fiercely proud of his heritage.

“Every game, I try to implement that in my kind of way,” he said.

Fans are seeing more of Wooching’s face this season (even if his artwork is obscured by his facemask). After playing sparingly last season behind Hau’oli Kikaha — he had just two tackles in eight games — Wooching has earned more playing time behind starter Travis Feeney.

Wooching, a converted fullback, has appeared in every game this season. He has 17 tackles and two sacks, and returned a fumble 41 yards in UW’s victory over Arizona.

It’s the most Wooching has contributed in his UW career, and he says he’s having a great year.

He also relished his time learning from Kikaha, who set UW’s career and single-season sacks records in 2014. Feeney, who has flourished as the team’s starting buck, also credits Kikaha for helping him with his technique.

Playing behind Kikaha, Wooching said, “was great, because I knew that he was a senior and I could learn from him — look at the game situation, see how he prepares, see what he accomplishes in the games, his technique and all that, and break it down each game and watch him. It was good to learn.”

Wooching was a running back at Kealakehe High School in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on the Big Island. Former UW coach Steve Sarkisian recruited him as a fullback, where he played as a redshirt freshman in 2013.

When Sarkisian left and Petersen was hired, Wooching met with the new coach to discuss his role. Petersen told him his offense didn’t really use a fullback. Wooching asked if he could switch to defense.

“He said, ‘Yeah, that’s where we’re going to try you at, anyway,’ ” Wooching said. “It was great to be on the same page.”

Defense feels more comfortable to him, anyway, because of his rugby background. He played the sport growing up in Hawaii, and has played for the UW club team. So even though he never played defense in high school, it’s what he prefers.

“Defense is my strong point,” he said, “so it was a little bit easier with me, I feel like, just coming in already having a defensive mindset.”

And while Feeney gets the bulk of the snaps at the position — he is second in the Pac-12 with 7 sacks and third with 14.5 tackles for loss — Wooching has at least carved out a consistent role for himself.

“Psalm’s getting better every day,” Feeney said. “He’s going to be really good. He’s going to do a lot of good stuff in the future and he’s going to be a good guy to watch.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 9:27 PM with the headline "Huskies’ Psalm Wooching enjoying time as reserve buck linebacker this season."