Inside The Huskies

Huskies Blitz Off Both Edges With ZTF, Trice Announcing 2023 Return

This pair of UW defenders will let their NFL ambitions sit for another season.
Dan Raley|
Huskies Blitz Off Both Edges With ZTF, Trice Announcing 2023 Return
Huskies Blitz Off Both Edges With ZTF, Trice Announcing 2023 Return

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Washington Huskies

Zion Tupuola-Fetui and Bralen Trice have never been far apart as University of Washington edge rushers throughout this ongoing season in a most unique arrangement. 

They've shared the same position for the Huskies — as the former first-team, All-Pac-12 selection and the new one — and seemed to thrive in these roles rather than let egos and pride get in their way.

On Sunday, ZTF and Trice took this teamwork to a new level and simultaneously announced their return for the 2023 season, with their Kalen DeBoer-coached UW team still awaiting an Alamo Bowl match-up with Texas and not done with a resurgent 10-2 season.

"WE BACK ... with every intention to be the Best Pass Rush Duo in the Nation," ZTF wrote on Twitter.

To which co-defensive coordinator William Inge responded in another post, "Let's get it. Some QB's won't sleep well now."

A 6-foot-4, 269-pound sophomore from Phoenix, Trice started 10 of 12 games and turned himself into one of the Pac-12's leading sack artists with 8 and counting, and no doubt enhanced his NFL ambitions, leaving him with a big decision to make about his football future. 

The 6-foot-4, 249-pound ZTF, a junior from Pearl City, Hawaii, who was a 2020 sensation with 7 sacks in four pandemic-restrictive outings, started the two games this fall that Trice didn't and came up with 4.5 more sacks while seeking to reclaim his previous stature. 

ZTF was considered a possible first-round NFL pick entering 2021 before he ruptured an Achilles tendon in spring practice and has been in a comeback mode ever since. Still, he received All-Pac-12 honorable-mention attention from the conference coaches while largely coming off the bench. 

Trice and ZTF should start opposite each other next season with the graduation of senior Jeremiah Martin, the one-time Texas A&M transfer who also was rewarded with first-team, All-Pac-12 accolades by the coaches this season, giving the Huskies an embarrassing amount of edge-rushing riches.

The UW, even with the Alamo Bowl still to come, has built incredible momentum for next season with starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. earlier announcing his 2023 return and the Huskies making considerable recruiting and transfer portal inroads, namely wide receiver Germie Bernard leaving Michigan State after a lone season and committing to DeBoer's team for a second time in 12 months. 

Now they have a proven pass rush to go with all of the other pieces. 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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