Huskies Started 3 True Freshmen against Stanford by Necessity

In all, five first-year Huskies played in the 31-26 loss to Stanford, filling in for others or simply getting their careers moving.

His football team has turned into a slow starter. Not a run-stopper. Really young in some respects.

In dealing with myriad issues, University of Washington coach Jimmy Lake opened with three true freshmen as starters in the Huskies' 31-26 loss to Stanford on Saturday at Husky Stadium. 

Primarily for health reasons, Lake went with first-year wide receivers Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan, and outside linebacker Sav'ell Smalls in the lineup where they stayed much of the game.

They filled spots normally manned, in this order, by junior Terrell Bynum, sophomore Puka Nacua and senior Ryan Bowman. 

"We're all dealing with various issues with the pandemic," Lake said. "We'll continue to do so the rest of the season."

Odunze led the Huskies with 5 catches for 69, including a couple of acrobatic grabs. McMillan had a catch for 16 yards, as shown in the accompanying photo. Smalls contributed a lone tackle. 

A Las Vegas product, Odunze stretched out and pulled in a 16-yard reception in spectacular fashion near the Stanford end zone. He also ran the ball twice on fly sweeps, though those plays got blown up.

"I'm very proud of Rome," Lake said. "He made some fantastic catches. That's everything he's been doing in training camp. I can't wait to see his continual improvement. I also was very happy with Jalen McMillan, as well."

Overall, the Huskies used five true freshmen while turning to tight end Mark Redman and safety Jacobe Covington on special teams.

Smalls and the rest of the defensive line struggled to stop the Cardinal, who generated 443 yards of total offense, 191 on the ground.

Sad sack

After ringing up 7 sacks in three games, Husky sophomore outside linebacker Zion Tupuola-Fetui had no tackles at all against the Cardinal, let alone dropping the quarterback for a loss. He got his hands on Stanford's Davis Mills just once, hitting his arm to force an incomplete pass.

"By establishing the run and getting us on our heels, we weren't able to pin our ears back," Lake said.

Draw the line

The Huskies once more played without outside linebacker Laiatu Latu, who appeared in 12 games as a true freshman in 2019 and was pegged as a starter entering this season. He has missed all four games without explanation. 

The return of Latu would go a long way to helping shore up the run defense, which continues to go through a continual shuffle.

Sophomore Tuli Letuligasenoa, who missed a pair of games, started for the first time against Stanford, relegating sixth-year senior Josiah Bronson to a reserve role. 

No Newton

Sophomore running back Richard Newton, while in uniform, didn't get onto the field for the second consecutive week. 

Newton still appears to be in the doghouse. Three other backs, seniors Sean McGrew and Kamari Pleasant and redshirt freshman Cam Davis, each had carries. 

Asked about Newton, Lake said only this, "We're always going to rotate those guys. It's going to be changed up from week to week. We're going to play the guys who are ready to go."

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