​Aug. 13—PULLMAN — Jaylen Thomas first started to accelerate when he saw Caden Pinnick load up to release the football, a cheetah perking up seeing an antelope saunter into its field of view. From his spot in Washington State’s secondary, Thomas watched as Pinnick targeted a receiver over the middle, then launched himself into a full sprint in that direction.The ball sailed in the air for a moment, a tight spiral zipping like a torpedo over the crimson Cougar logo at Gesa Field’s 50-yard mark. For a brief second, it looked like Pinnick was about to build on what had been a solid practice, the seventh session in WSU’s fall camp slate. But in a blink, Thomas whisked into the picture, snagged the interception and raced the other way, cruising into the end zone, a pick-six that sent the Cougar defenders into bedlam.In the back of the end zone, Thomas completed a backflip with the ball in hand. He dapped up a teammate who had made the sprint to the end zone with him. Then the duo returned to the far sideline and celebrated, soaking in the moment, adding another feather in the cap of a defense that has been the story of this WSU fall camp.”We’re in the middle of camp,” Eastern Washington transfer defensive tackle Jirah Leaupepetele said. “Need some energy going.”Across seven practices, Cougar defenders have supplied oodles of it. They have now recorded three interceptions in 11-on-11 periods, one from each quarterback vying for the starting job this fall: Julian Dugger, Owen Eshleman and now Pinnick. Their defensive line has forced all three to think quickly, to scramble, to make errant throws. In recent days, their secondary has held up their end of the bargain, underscoring the theme of six of WSU’s seven practices this August.The unit is coached by Greg Burns, who has quite the resume. After wrapping up a three-year playing career at WSU in 1995, he went on to coach defensive backs at all manner of schools: Idaho, Louisville, USC, the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas State, Arizona State, Purdue, UMass, Cal, Oregon State, USC, Arizona and most recently San Jose State, where he coached Thomas for the previous two seasons.This fall, he’s in charge of a safety room that has looked promising so far. Thomas and Cal Poly transfer Jeremiah Bernard have been repping with the Cougars’ first-team defense, which means they’ll likely earn starting roles this season. Those two have been hot lately. In Monday’s practice, Bernard went horizontal for a diving pass breakup. Three days later, his counterpart turned in one of the top highlights of WSU fall camp so far.”I like his whole football intelligence,” Thomas said after one practice last week, referring to Burns. “He’s such a football guru, and he’s just been around so long. He’s learned so many things, and I feel like every day I’m learning something new from him. He has something he thought about last night that he’s like, oh, this could help you help the defense, help the team in just the littlest way.