11 minute read
ALL OUT ATTACK
OFFENSE
Balanced, poised and experienced — the Penix-led UW O-line, backfield and wideout corps have never been more revved up
BY BOB SHERWIN • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE
Little more than two years ago, as the 2021 football season ended, Washington’s quarterback situation appeared ever-so promising. Sam Huard, a redshirt freshman who had entered the school as one of the most touted quarterbacks in America, was set to finally take charge.
Huard, son of Damon and nephew of Brock — both successful U-Dub quarterbacks in the 90s — was ranked as the country’s top-ranked pro style QB out of Kennedy Catholic High. He was a first-team All-America selection by USA Today. Legacy. Tradition. Excellence.
Sam played in four games in 2021, preserving his redshirt, closing the season as a surprise Apple Cup starter. He completed 17 of 31 passes for 190 yards and one touchdown in a 40-13 loss to the Cougars. Not spectacular but showed the promise that he was ready to carry the 2022 load.
At the same time, 2,000 miles away in Bloomington, Ind., another left-handed quarterback, Michael Penix Jr., appeared to be closing out his injury-riddled collegiate career. He had played four seasons for the Hoosiers, each one ending abruptly by injury. By the end of the 2021 season, he was playing limited minutes.
“They had written him off a little bit. He was practicing with the scout team,” Washington offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said. “There’s a lot to be said about his mindset, where he had to get himself to.”
Where his mindset took him was to Washington, through the transfer portal. He won the starting job last season and would lead the nation in passing at 357 yards per game as the Huskies finished with a 10-2 record.
Penix now enters his sixth and final season as a bona fide Heisman Trophy award candidate. Huard, who played just one game last season, has transferred out, to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.
How things change, how fortunes change, within one season of college football.
“It’s been fun to see those types of challenges he’s (Penix) had throughout his career and to see that resilience paying off. You don’t often see that,” Grubb added. “I think Mike showed in spring ball, how much further he is ahead already.”
How many times in school history has UW entered the season projected to be a top-10 team with a quarterback projected to be among the Heisman candidates, symbolic of the best player in the nation?
Here’s a look at the 2023 Washington offense, beginning with the guy who will make it operate.
Quarterback — Penix is QB1 and Led Nation in Passing
Michael Penix Jr. finished first in the nation in passing yards per game (357 yards), second in total offense (370 yards), third in completions (27.5), 11th in passing touchdowns (29) and 11th in points responsible (208).
Just days after that productive season ended, Penix cut through the drama and uncertainty, announcing that he would return for his sixth and final collegiate season. Almost immediately, he was thrust onto every preseason All-America team. It also put him on the Watch List for the Heisman Trophy award along with, among others, USC QB Caleb Williams (Washington plays at USC Nov. 4).
All this speculation, this talk, and projections — before the first snap from center — goes right past Penix. He doesn’t pay attention to it.
“I think about winning the national championship,” he said after a spring practice. “And whatever comes with that comes with it.”
He’s not there for the personal laurels. He’s a team guy.
“What’s awesome, you do not hear Mike talking about that (Heisman),” offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said. “You see him or hear him talking about the team. I love that. He’s focused on what the team needs.”
Penix set a school single-game record against Arizona with 516 passing yards. He had 485 yards in a 55-33 victory over Washington State and 408 yards in a come-from-behind 37-34 win over Oregon. For some UW folks, merely beating WSU and the Ducks would be considered a successful season.
“He’s got a year under his belt,” Grubb added. “It was a great steppingstone for him.”
This team needs Michael Penix Jr. to step it up to another level this season. It’s a team built around him. The wide receiver corps and offensive line have been bolstered. As Penix goes, so go the Huskies.
And while Sam Huard has transferred, junior Dylan Morris is an experienced backup. He started all four games in 2020 and 11 of 12 in 2021. He threw for 897 yards and four touchdowns in the four-game 2020 season then 2,458 yards and 14 touchdowns in his 11-game 2021 effort.
Wide Receiver — UW is Wide Open
The primary receiver Penix is expected to favor is redshirt junior Rome Odunze, a preseason AllAmerica selection. Odunze caught 75 passes last season for 1,145 yards and seven touchdowns in 2021.
“He’s a true, true, true student of the game,” Grubb said. “He practices very hard. He’s a cerebral player, one of the more intelligent receivers I’ve been around. He knows what it takes to produce week in and week out when people are trying to stop him.
“And he’s just fantastic to be around, a phenomenal kid.”
The Huskies also have another 1,000-yard receiver from last season in redshirt junior Jalen McMillan (79 catches for 1,098 and nine touchdowns).
Sophomore Ja'Lynn Polk played in all 13 games last season after transferring from Texas Tech, finishing with 41 catches for 694 yards. Grubb said, “He is the heartbeat in that (receiver) room. He’s a tough, physical player who plays through stuff to make those tough catches.”
Polk gives the Huskies substantial depth along with senior Giles Jackson, a Michigan transfer from a year ago, and sophomore Germie Bernard, who arrived through the transfer portal from Michigan State this spring.
Running Back — Slots Packed Via Portal
For the past two seasons, Washington has been looking for something at the running back spot that apparently has not been there. Instead of building from within around a recruited stalwart, the staff has searched the nation for candidates.
Last season, the first-year coaching staff brought in three running back transfers, Wayne Taulapapa (Virginia), Will Nixon (Nebraska) and Aaron Dumas (New Mexico). Taulapapa worked out, the team’s leading rusher, gaining 905 yards on 140 carries, a modest 68.2 yards per game. But it was a one-and-out deal as his eligibility has expired. Nixon carried just 21 times for 90 yards while Dumas was redshirted and decided to venture back into the transfer portal this spring.
Two more transfers are bidding for the starting job this fall, Dillon Johnson (Mississippi State) and Daniyel Ngata (Arizona State). Johnson gained 1,098 yards in three seasons at MSU but his real value in this Penix-driven attack may be his ball-catching ability out of the backfield as he has caught 149 passes for 864 yards in his career (48 for 265 yards last year). Ngata had 689 yards on 136 carries in two years for the Sun Devils but was not utilized much as a receiver.
However, after stepping up nicely last season, could Cameron Davis, a Chris Petersen recruit in his fourth season at Montlake as a redshirt junior, finally be ready for a whole season? Davis was second on the team last season with 527 rushing yards on 107 carries, averaging 47.5 yards per game. Playing in 11 of 13 games, his 13 rushing touchdowns tied him for ninth in UW’s single season history. He had three rushing touchdowns, and 77 yards, against Arizona State.
“CD is a super talented player that we’re really excited about,” Grubb said. Davis had the pedigree entering UW, with 3,328 rushing yards and 42 touchdowns for Upland High School in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. He was a prep All-America selection and ranked 15th among prep running backs. He was used sparingly until 2021 when he played in 12 games, starting one.
Grubb said Dillon Johnson made a strong impression during spring workouts.
“We really think he’s going to be an important guy for us,” he said, “once he gets through some of the injuries, he had in spring ball.”
There will be a competition for carries, not just from the new wave of transfers but from holdovers, like fifth-year senior Richard Newton and redshirt sophomore Sam Adams II, from Kirkland, Wash., part of a stout football family, including his father, former Seahawk Sam Adams Jr.
Also, potentially in the mix is touted incoming freshman RB Tybo Rogers from Bakersfield. He may show enough during fall camp to earn consideration or may need a redshirt year for seasoning.
Tight End — Chock-Full
Has there been any UW team in history (or any across the nation) that has had more experience at tight end than the 2023 Huskies?
There are not just one but two players entering the season with not just four years of experience but five collegiate seasons. Uniquely favored with extra (COVID) seasons, Devin Culp and Jack Westover, who both began their UW journey in 2018, have been in the program for a combined 10 seasons with 74 games played, and 25 starts between them.
They have combined for 91 catches for 919 yards and four touchdowns. However, the bulk of their statistical contributions came last season under first-year Head Coach Kalen DeBoer. Westover and Culp ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, among UW receivers a year ago, combining for 50 catches for 608 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
In a more refined second season under Grubb/DeBoer schemes and Penix at QB, those numbers should balloon this season.
“Dev has more straight-line speed while Jack has a thicker body making him capable of making the tough catch in traffic,” Grubb said. “We’ll utilize both those guys quite a bit.”
Washington has emerged as a sort of TE U with such strong former TEs as (Seahawk) Will Dissly, Cade Otton, Drew Sample, Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, Jerramy Stevens and Mark Bruener. Both Culp, at 6-4, 236 pounds, and Westover, 6-3, 248, hope that the path to the NFL will be forged by what transpires during this, their sixth season each.
The Huskies have a quality backup as well in sophomore Josh Cuevas, a 6-3, 239-pound transfer from Cal Poly. The reason he came to Montlake, despite having a pair of six-year guys in front of him, is his hands. He’s a receiving tight end, finishing second at Cal Poly in receptions with 57 (seven more than Westover/Culp combined last season) for 622 yards and six touchdowns. He had seven or more catches in four games. There’s value in those hands under a Penix aerial show.
Ryan Otton, younger brother of Cade, had injuries to overcome his first season. The still growing 6-6, 233-pound redshirt freshman should be able to mix in. He represents the future and the continuation of TE U.
Offensive Line — A 2023 Wall
The player who might be the runner-up (behind Penix) for the team’s MVP this season may go the entire season unnoticed and provide little in the way of statistical substance. That would be just fine with Roger Rosengarten.
Rosengarten, a 6-foot-6, 300-pound redshirt sophomore, started all 13 games at right guard in his first full season for the Huskies a year ago. That’s the critical position because the Huskies will start a left-hand quarterback. When Penix drops in the pocket his back will be to the right side, the blind side. Rosengarten has his back.
The Husky line allowed just seven sacks last season as Rosengarten, who won the job over twoyear starter Victor Curne, was a Freshman All-America selection. The UW is very fortunate to have Rosengarten in such an important position.
For added protection, the tackle on the left side, 6-4, 317-pound junior Troy Fautanu, also started all 13 games a year ago.
“Roger and Troy are two young tackles who are super talented. We’re blessed to have both,” Grubb said. “They are clearly the leaders in that room.”
Sixth-year center Matteo Mele will anchor the middle. Grubb added, “We think he’s going to be a big-time impact player for us.”
Redshirt junior guards Nate Kelepo, from Rainier Beach High, and Julius Buelow will squeeze in next to Mele for a formidable and veteran interior protective wall.
There’s also a considerable amount of bulk in support, such as sophomore Robert Wyrsch, sophomore Geirean Hatchett, redshirt freshman Parker Brailsford, freshman Landen Hatchett and Jalen Klemm, a transfer from Kansas State where he played both guard and tackle. He is the son of New England Patriots O-line coach Adrian Klemm.
Klemm is the ninth transfer from a four-year school added to the Husky roster since the 2022 season ended and the 17th transfer (including Penix) since DeBoer took over the program after the 2021 campaign, completely turning around the fortunes and the future of the program.
