UW Receivers Are Seeing Double with New Offense — And That's a Good Thing
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On an overcast day in Husky Stadium following a spring practice, Rome Odunze was seeing double, yet there was no cause for concern, no need for a trainer to examine his vision.
The sophomore wide receiver had embraced a new coach, offense and quarterback, and he was feeling overly optimistic. A bit of anticipation. That only positive stuff was coming. In fact, twice as much as before.
With Kalen DeBoer and his offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb installing a pass-minded spread offense with Indiana quarterback transfer Michael Penix Jr. as the trigger man, Odunze was asked if he expected to double his receiving numbers in the coming season.
"Oh yeah, 100 percent — I'm not sure what the numbers were," he said, metaphorically scratching his head. "We're trying to have at least 80 [catches], at least up there in the K's [thousands] for yards, at least double-digit touchdowns. At least that's the goal, that's what we're going to strive for."
Twelve games and seven months later, with a bowl game yet to play, we decided to see how all this numbers-crunching has turned out for him so far, if not for his Husky receiving counterpart Jalen McMillan and their teammates, with everyone being fed laser throws from Penix Jr., now the nation's leading passer in yards (4,354) and yards per game (362.8).
Very well, we might add.
Consider these two Odunze stat lines from year to year:
2021 — 41 catches, 415 yards, 4 TDs, 46.1 ypg (9 games)
2022 — 70 catches, 1,088 yards, 7 TDs, 98.9 ypg (11 games)
Odunze, who was held out of the Portland State game with a minor injury, has more than doubled his yards, is close to doubling his touchdown catches (for that matter, he had a scoring run against WSU) and has far exceeded his yardage per game, which is a Pac-12-leading total and seventh nationally.
He also has six 100-yard receiving games, topped by 169 against Arizona.
The only way his numbers have been held down is by the fact he's had to share the receiving wealth — Odunze is one of 18 different players who have caught at least a pass for the UW this season.
He and McMillan (1,040) also rank as the only receivers in the same season in Husky history who have crossed the thousand-yard threshold.
Before Odunze and McMillan came along, the Huskies had had just six different players surpass 1,000 yards in one fall, with the great Reggie Williams doing it three times (1,454 in 2002, 1,109 in 2003 and 1,035 in 2001), followed by Jerome Pathon (1,299 in 1997), Walter Bailey (1,163 in 1991), John Ross (1,150 in 2016), Andre Riley (1,071 in 1989) and Jerome Kearse (1,005 in 2010).
Which brings us to McMillan, who shares the overhead receiving marquee sign with his buddy Odunze. Consider his year-to-year improvement in the DeBoer/Grubb fireworks show:
2021 — 41 catches, 415 yards, 4 TDs, 42.7 ypg (11 games)
2022 — 71 catches, 1,040 yards, 8 TDs, 86.7 ypg (12 games)
McMillan could double his catches with a productive bowl game, has more than doubled his receiving yards, has doubled his TD receptions and has more than doubled his yards per game, the later number ranking him fourth in the Pac-12 and 21st nationally. He has three 100-yard receiving games, topped by 150 at WSU.
Of the other Husky receivers, Ja'Lynn Polk, the Texas Tech transfer who missed nearly all of 2021 with a broken collarbone, has 38 catches for 649 yards and 6 TDs, averaging 54.1 yards per game, in 12 appearances. He turned in a 153-yard receiving game against Michigan State. His limited totals from just three appearances the year before were 5 catches for 114 yards and a score, averaging 38 yards per game.
Taj Davis actually has showed a slight dip this season after starting six games in 2021 and catching 26 passes for 329 yards and a score, averaging 29.9 yards per game. With three starts this fall, Davis currently has collected 17 receptions for 245 yards and 2 TDs, averaging 20.4 yards per game. Of course, he shared in possibly the biggest play of the season when he and Penix teamed up on a 62-yard scoring strike at Oregon in the closing minutes that helped bring about a 37-34 victory in Eugene.
Finally, we have Giles Jackson, who has amassed 28 receptions for 328 yards and a touchdown, averaging 27.3 yards per game. That's a noticeable bump in all categories over his 2021 totals when he caught 8 balls for 87 yards and no scores, while averaging 7.3 per game. He's started four games this season, one more than last year after transferring in from Michigan. Notably, Jackson replaced Odunze against Portland State and came up with a 105-yard receiving game.
As Odunze projected in spring football, nearly everyone in the receiving room has doubled their pleasure with a new approach to Husky football.
"I'm down to earning my stripes this season," he said way back in April. "I thought it was time for a change."
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