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Inside The Huskies

Husky Offensive Line Receives More Joe Moore Attention

The UW is in contention once more to win an award given to the nation's top O-Line.
Dan Raley|
Landen Hatchett prepares to snap the football against Ohio State.
Landen Hatchett prepares to snap the football against Ohio State. | Dave Sizer photo

The Joe Moore Award, annually given to college football's top offensive line, named the University of Washington among two dozen under consideration for this honor at the midseason point, which is both a sense of vindication, but also panic, for the Huskies.

Vindication because the UW, after claiming this coveted accolade in 2023, has had to twice almost completely rebuild its line to get it back to a high standard again.

Panic because, if the Huskies win it again, where in the name of Montlake would they display a Moore trophy that weighs 800 pounds and stands 7 feet tall, making it the most enormous bauble across all of the college game?

At least for now, the UW finds itself simply sharing the spotlight among 24 lines singled out for consideration as the best one with the regular season reaching the halfway point.

"We're doing a good thing with the O-line," starting right tackle Drew Azzopardi said. "We've just got to keep it going."

The current UW line, when healthy, consists of 6-foot-5, 312-pound senior left tackle Carver Willis, 6-foot-6, 342-pound freshman left guard John Mills, 6-foot-3, 315-pound junior center Landen Hatchett, 6-foot-4, 310-pound senior right guard Geirean Hatchett and 6-foot-7, 315-pound junior right tackle Drew Azzopardi.

The Huskies average 6-foot-5 and 319 pounds per regular starter.

Add to that 6-foot-6, 302-pound senior left tackle Max McCree and 6-foot-5, 310-pound left guard Paki Finau, who have replaced the injured Willis and Mills as temporary starters, plus 6-foot-8, 330-pound sophomore tackle Soane Faasolo, 6-foot-5, 310-pound sophomore center Zach Henning and 6-foot-5, 330-pound freshman guard Champ Taulealea.

"I'd say it was a little bit of everything.," Azzopardi said of making offseason gains. "The main focus in the offseason was to lose more body fat, get more flexible and grinding all winter and spring."

The Joe Moore Award, won by the UW offensive line in 2023, is shown at Dempsey Indoor.
The Joe Moore Award, won by the UW offensive line in 2023, is shown at Dempsey Indoor. | Joe Moore

The UW averages 468.5 yards of total offense per game to rank 17th nationally and 188.8 yards rushing yards alone.

The Moore midseason honor roll: Air Force, Army, Alabama, Cincinnati, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa, Memphis, Miami, Michigan, Missouri, Navy, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, Southern California, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Tulane, Utah, Vanderbilt and Washington.

Semifinalists will be revealed on November 5.

Drew Azzopardi has been much improved this season at right tackle.
Drew Azzopardi has been much improved this season at right tackle. | Dave Sizer photo

Husky coach Jedd Fisch continually has stressed what it takes to be competitive in the Big Ten -- that it starts up front.

"You really needs to build your team in the trenches and it's going to come from size," Fisch said. "It can't be just weight and it can't be just height. It has to be a combination of them both."

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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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