Hugh Freeze pointed to third-down defense as a previous weakness but praised Wednesday's performance while singling out linebackers Xavier Atkins and Bryce Deas.

Mabson joined the roster a year earlier than anticipated after reclassifying to the 2025 recruiting class and is quickly making strides with his new team. Freeze went on to say that Mabson is hard to tackle due to his 5-9, 213-pound frame and is great at finishing runs.