Huskies' Odunze Had A Career Day In East Lansing
The Washington Huskies piled up more than 713 yards of offense in their 41-7 beatdown of the Michigan State Spartans, and a lot of that was thanks to Rome Odunze — he pulled in 8 receptions for a career-high 180 yards while taking part in only two drives in the second half.
In 2022, Odunze established himself as one of the best pass-catchers in the nation and this season he's continued to build an even more impressive resume.
With his bigger 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame, he resembled a possible first-round draft pick against the Spartans, continually taking the ball away from smaller defenders. His previous best was 166 yards receiving a year ago in a 40-22 victory over Stanford.
Odunze was far and away quarterback Michael Penix Jr.'s favorite target as the Heisman hopeful completed 77 percent of his passes for 473 yards and 4 touchdowns.
"Every time we touch the football field, we expect to execute," Odunze said in the Michigan State post-game news conference. "When things are going well and we're executing at a high level, we get the results we had to day."
Now as the focus shifts to Pac-12 play, Odunze has accumulated 419 receiving yards, the second most in the country behind Miami of Ohio's Gage Larvadain, who has 449, and doesn't look to be slowing down any time soon.
With fellow UW receivers Jalen McMillan, Ja'Lynn Polk and Germie Bernard all legitimate threats to score at any time, defenses can't afford to focus all of their attention on Odunze. Moving forward in conference play, the Huskies won't be facing a significant amount of talented defenses either.
Coach Kalen DeBoer, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and Penix probably receive the most credit for turning the Washington offense into one of the nation's best. Yet Odunze is a big part of the success week in and week out.
Odunze has become bigger, faster and stronger, and developed into a better route runner while working with UW receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard.
He's also become more sure-handed and, after dropping two passes against Tulsa, made sure he didn't make that mistake again in East Lansing.
The next NFL draft class is going to be deep at receiver with Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr. and Odunze among the headliners, with the Husky receiver already showing why some NFL scouts currently rank him as high as the second- or third-best receiver prospect in the class.
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