In Wide-Open Offense, Polk and UW Teammates Pass the Test
If it's not abundantly clear by now, University of Washington wide receivers regularly are engaged in a Game of Thrones — each week, a different guy gets to sit on one.
Jalen McMillan led the Huskies with two touchdown passes in the opener against Kent State.
Giles Jackson topped the UW in catches against Portland State.
Ja'Lynn Polk found the end zone a season-high three times with receptions against Michigan State.
Rome Ondunze, last year's leading receiver, is still waiting on a big game after sitting out one of the early outings.
Opponents find this like stirring up a bee hive and being unable to keep from getting stung.
"We all believe we're the best in the room and that's how it should be," Odunze said. "We're happy to see everybody out there being talented and 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 get to see our brothers eat."
If you recall, Polk regrettably broke his collarbone on the first play of the season against Montana but somehow made a 13-yard catch with his body caved in before heading for surgery.
Today, the 6-foot-2, 199-pound redshirt freshman from Lufkin, Texas, has been as healthy as can be for three Husky outings and ranks second on the team in receptions with 12 for 245 yards and he has a team-best 4 touchdowns.
In overall catches and yardage, Polk trails only McMillan, who has accumulated 16 receptions for 308 yards and 3 scores.
CATCH THEM IF YOU CAN
Behind those two is Odunze, who has a 10-catch, 132-yard and 1-TD stat line while taking into consideration he sat out the Portland State game with some minor ailment that has limited his numbers some.
Fifteen different Huskies, counting tight ends and running backs, have caught at least one pass in Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb's high-octane offense, with the team collectively holding up 76 receptions for 1,166 yards and 10 touchdowns.
"We're spreading the wealth around," DeBoer said. "It makes it even harder for teams to figure out who to stop."
Polk remains an interesting case study because the native Texan transferred from Texas Tech after a successful freshman year (28 catches, 284 yards, 2 scores) to join Jimmy Lake and John Donovan's pro-style offense that emphasized the run, hoping for the best.
Rather than bash the previous offense now, the always polite Polk prefers to acknowledge the good things that came out of that prior relationship.
"All love to Coach Lake, for allowing me to come here and play for this university and I appreciate the opportunity," he said. "We didn't have the offense that we really wanted last year, but we stuck to the process and trusted everything that came with this."
Polk was the first one to publicly declare his allegiance to DeBoer's newly arrived staff, followed by Odunze and McMillan, which they felt were important steps to take rather than transfer.
"It was a decision that was made," Polk said. "We just wanted to let Husky know that we were not going nowhere, that we're fully committed to this university, to this team and this brotherhood."
And surely dedicated to catching every last ball that comes their way, which promises to be an abundance.
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