SEATTLE -- Even when Washington coaches were recruiting JoJo McIntosh as a 170-pound, string-bean safety out of Chaminade Prep, there was one unmistakable quality they saw on film: He could hit.

Smallish but mighty, McIntosh was the guy who brought quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers (sometimes a lineman or two en route) to the ground. He was a play killer for opponents and an ultimate weapon for Chaminade.

"Even though he was a skinny," Chaminade coach Ed Corson said, "he could still bring the wood."

Three years later -- and after a bit of bulking up -- that hasn't changed a bit. McIntosh is known among the defense as the Huskies' hardest hitter. With Washington's reliance on rugby-style tackling, it has given him an opportunity to use more leverage in his hits, making them even bigger drive killers.

No one is safe from Washington safety JoJo McIntosh's hard-hitting approach -- and that includes his teammates. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

"He just likes contact," Washington co-defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski said. "He's a physical player who likes that part of the game. It's a mentality that he has had through high school and since he has been here."

That mentality can have its drawbacks -- and not only for opposing offensive players. Even McIntosh's teammates find themselves suffering the burden of his hits from time to time, and that has earned him the nickname of "Friendly Fire" on the Washington defense. Pick any other Huskies player, and ask him when he has been the collateral damage of a McIntosh hit. It won't take long for him to remember.

For linebacker Keishawn Bierria, it was the Cal game this year. For safety Budda Baker, it's constantly but most memorably last season against Utah. For cornerback Sidney Jones, it was Arizona and Utah State a season ago. For cornerback Kevin King, it's any time his fingers get jammed or wedged.

It has happened so much that the team has turned McIntosh's nickname into a verb.

"You were friendly fired?" they might ask when they see a player getting a finger taped or a shoulder looked at. "I got friendly fired last weekend."

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"Ultimately, it's a good thing," Baker said, explaining that an extra bruise is worth it if it means McIntosh is on his team.

The coaches aren't going to stop McIntosh any time soon.

"It's exactly the way you want him to play," co-defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake said. "He's really the enforcer back there. I tell guys all the time, if they have the ball and he's coming downhill, they better get on the ground quick."

McIntosh has 59 tackles this season, but there isn't a stat to define exactly how many of those were "cap-offs," or the final hit that brought a scrum to the ground and ended a play. Lake estimates that McIntosh leads the team in that category, but as long as the job gets done, no one on the Huskies' defense is too worried about who gets the credit.

The Huskies will face their toughest challenge of the season in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Alabama freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts has led an offense that has taken care of the ball well this season. The Crimson Tide have turned the ball over only 19 times this season, but they'll face McIntosh and a secondary that has accounted for 26 of the Huskies' Power 5-best 33 turnovers.

Getting the job done against No. 1 Alabama is going to require every player on the Washington defense to step up.

"I won't tell him to slow down," Bierria said. "Friendly fire, it's just a part of the game."

But Bierria does have one request for McIntosh on New Year's Eve: "Just make sure you hit the right person."