By Khalid Bennett, The Seattle Medium
The Washington Huskies opened the 2023 football season as the 10th-ranked team in the nation. The shores of Lake Washington provided the backdrop for what is known as the greatest setting in college football: Husky Stadium, where the Dawgs would welcome the Broncos of Boise State.
Although the two schools have only played five total games against one another, they feel more connected because of their success under former head coach Chris Petersen. Petersen’s tenure with Boise State helped them become a nationally recognized program and made him a top candidate for the coaching position he would eventually take at Washington. Petersen won conference titles with both programs and made the CFP (College Football Playoff) in 2016 with Washington. Kalen DeBoer, in his second season with Washington, is looking to put the Huskies back in that position once again.
Coming off an impressive 9-2 record last season, DeBoer would see the return of not only his all-conference receivers but also his quarterback. Rome Odunze was named a preseason AP All-American, and quarterback Michael Penix has put up numbers last year that have him in the Heisman Trophy conversation. Wide receiver Jalen McMillan makes up the other half of a pass-catching duo that many believe is among the best in the country.
The Huskies high-powered offense started a little slow. It’s rare for this team to start a game 3-and-out offensively, and even more rare for this offense to go a whole quarter without a score, but once they got rolling, Boise State had no answer.
“Even though it was a slow start in the first quarter… I just thought using the second quarter to build up and displaying resiliency and throwing a little adversity in there… they stayed in there and battled. I’m just really proud of our guys,” said UW Head Coach Kalen DeBoer following the game.
Penix added to his legacy by tying a school record, throwing four touchdown passes in the second quarter, with two of them collected by McMillan.
“I know somebody’s going to be open every play, so I just have to be focused on what I’m dialed in on like protection and keep myself up… if I can get them the ball, I know special things are going to happen,” said Penix following the game.
Penix finished the game with 450 yards passing and 5 touchdowns. McMillan added a rushing touchdown to his stat line, while Rome Odunze was a workhorse, making tough catches and picking up tough yards after the catch.
“We’re out there, and we’re unselfish, and we know sometimes our routes get other people open, and then when our number is called, we’re prepared to make plays to help the team. So, we just feed off each other’s energy,” said Odunze in the post-game press conference.
Odunze, the AP All-American, finished the game with 135 yards receiving and a touchdown. The Husky defense provided two takeaways by Carson Bruener and Kam Fabiculanan to help the Huskies put Boise State away in the second half, as Washington rolled to its first victory of the season, 56-19, over Boise State.
Tulsa comes into Husky Stadium on Saturday before their first road trip to East Lansing to face Michigan State.
