Khmori House has been one of the biggest revelations for the Washington Huskies in 2024. Since making his first career start against Washington State in the Apple Cup, the freshman linebacker has been a critical part of defensive coordinator Steve Belichick’s unit.
He has tallied 26 tackles, 1 for loss, 3 pass breakups, and an interception so far in his first year, but has also made a name for himself thanks to his speed and athleticism. House was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after Washington’s win over Northwestern and found his name on 247Sports’ Midseason True Freshman All-America list.
However, his impact has gone far beyond the stat sheet.
“I would say his best trait is his instincts,” Fisch said on Monday. “He’s so quick to diagnose plays that then he can be explosive because he’s fast. You could clearly see that on the last play on the goal line. Instinctively, he was able to diagnose the play and then find an open gap that he could rush through. Throughout spring ball, you started seeing the energy and passion that he played with, and then in training camp is when I would say we decided as a staff that let’s not be afraid to throw a true freshman in the games and kind of like what we did with Jacob Manu back at Arizona.”
House has quickly become an expert at shooting gaps with his speed and disrupting plays, and showed how much of an impact he can make with a fourth and goal stop of USC running back Woody Marks in Washington’s 26-21 win over the Trojans on a pressure that Belichick said is aptly named, “Bring the House.”
While the former three-star recruit has improved in every area of his game since he arrived on campus, he singled out one thing that has helped him adjust to the college level.
“Details,” he said. “Just being a detailed player, [linebackers coach Robert] Bala has really emphasized that to me. I used to come out and rely on my athleticism, but in college football and wanting to be a pro, you’ve got to be a detailed linebacker. It’s the little things like setting the edge, hitting the C gap, striking the primary or secondary that [set you apart].”
At Penn State, those details will be critical as the Huskies face the Big Ten’s No. 4 offense, as the Nittany Lions average 439.5 yards per game behind quarterback Drew Allar, running back Nicholas Singleton, and tight end Tyler Warren.