Huskies Lost But Odunze Won Over More Fans of His Game
Rome Odunze, unlike his University of Washington football team, was good from start to finish last Friday night against UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
He scored the Huskies' first touchdown on the initial drive of the game, getting behind Bruins cornerback Devin Kirkwood to haul in a wide-open 33-yard catch from Michael Penix Jr.
Odunze also scored on the UW's final offensive series of the game, pulling in a 9-yard Penix delivery with no one around him in the back of the end zone with 3:59 left in the game.
Did we mention how clutch his performance was — on that first scoring pass, Odunze made it work on fourth-and-6 play and on the second one he put up points on a fourth-and-goal throw.
While the Huskies lost a little team momentum with their first loss of the season, a 40-32 defeat, the 6-foot-3, 201-pound Odunze had his coming-out party in front of a live Los Angeles-area audience and an ESPN national broadcast.
He went about his business while used in a lead role in UW offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb's wide-open attack.
"We give them certain looks and it's a great feeling," Odunze said of what he does before this game. "You're almost licking your chops when you step into that position and it's, oh yeah, that's right where I need them. Definitely it's fun to see it all work together and kudos to Grubb and all them for understanding what we're going to get and executing it."
People either didn't know about Odunze because he was hidden away in the UW's ill-fated pro-style offense of the Lake era, injured for last season's first three games or simply ignored when the analysts released their preseason lists of the nation's and even the Pac-12's top pass-catchers.
No more.
In four games, while missing the Portland State with an unspecified injury, Odunze totals 26 receptions for 409 yards and 4 touchdowns.
His 102.3 yards per game rank him second in the Pac-12 and 11th in the nation.
CATCHING UP WITH ODUNZE
His four touchdown catches, even after sitting out that early game, rank him tied for fifth in the conference and tied for 31st nationally, and he shares his scoring notoriety with Husky teammates Jalen McMillan and Ja'Lynn Polk, who likewise have four TD receptions.
Against UCLA, Odunze caught a career-best-tying and team-high 8 passes for 116 yards and a personal-best 2 scores on 10 targets. The week before against Stanford, he had 8 catches for a career-best 161 yards and one score.
Over five games, McMillan tops the team with 27 catches, one more than Odunze, and 428 yards, 19 more than Rome, and he has his 4 TDs. In his five outings, Polk stacks up 14 receptions for 271 yards and 4 TDs. It's a tough crowd to hang with it.
"We all believe we're best in the room and that's how it should be," Odunze said. "We're happy to have everybody out there being talented and being able to make plays. That just makes it easier for us.
"When the defense has to worry about so many people, we all get the ball and we all can see our brother eat."
Chances are, opposing defenses might begin worrying a little more about Odunze and wondering what he's chewing on.
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