Inside The Huskies

Top 10 Most Compelling Husky Plays of the Season: No. 1

A fourth-down run deep in UW territory by Rome Odunze was the most unforgettable snap.
Dan Raley|
Top 10 Most Compelling Husky Plays of the Season: No. 1
Top 10 Most Compelling Husky Plays of the Season: No. 1

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Washington Huskies

It was a scene straight out of the Hollywood film "Rain Man." Kalen DeBoer was the Tom Cruise character, suddenly realizing that Ryan Grubb, in the long-lost brother role portrayed by Dustin Hoffman, was clairvoyant.

Time to bet it all. This was Purple Rain Man.

Rather than sit in a casino and count cards, they were at the Apple Cup and gambled everything on a fourth-and-1 play call from their own 29 in a tie game with just 1:14 left on the clock.

They put an entire season on the line. 

It was all or nothing with this extra-bold decision orchestrated by the University of Washington coach in concert with his trusty offensive coordinator, someone who's as close to him as a sibling.

"Are you sure?" DeBoer asked Grubb over their headset conversation.

After initially sending the Husky punt team on to the field to try and draw someone from Washington State offside, these coaches called timeout and went with plan B. 

"I wanted to go out and not be crazy, but I wanted to make sure we had the ball to win the game," DeBoer said.

In a season full of heroic, heart-felt and sometimes weird moments, we count down in reverse order the 10 most memorable plays for DeBoer's 13-0 UW team. 

At No. 1, the Huskies went with crazy. Make a first down and everything remains possible. Fall short on this fearless snap, and WSU doesn't need to do much more than kick a field goal and go back to the Palouse with a huge upset.

Waiting in the wings during the coaches' discussion was Grady Gross, the Husky place-kicker who would be an obvious recipient of all sorts of good stuff if his team was successful.

"I trust our coaches," Gross said. "They've gone for it on fourth down a few times the last couple of years with them. They're pretty ballsy, but they know what they're doing."

The play carefully unfolded with UW quarterback Michael Penix Jr. receiving the snap, faking to running back Dillon Johnson, spinning in a perfectly orchestrated manner and flipping the ball to Rome Odunze, who dashed around the left side for 23 yards — to pick up 22 more than he needed.

"It definitely was a risky call," Odunze said. "But for me, every time it's lets go get the first down. I would go for it on fourth-and-45 in Madden sometimes. I don't care, I want to go get the first down."

Huge responsibility rested with Penix, who had the option of handing off to Johnson, but read wide-open spaces on the outside all the way.

"I was looking at the guy on the edge of the defense and he squeezed in," Penix said. "There was just a lot of grass out there."

Lined up on the right side, Odunze took off running left on the snap. Had he gone in motion, a defender would have been running step for step with him and had a much better chance of making the tackle. 

"I was looking down — I couldn't watch," said UW cornerback Jabbar Muhammad, on the sideline. "I went on the crowd noise."

As he took a short pitch, Odunze found no one in front of him. He raced 15 yards before he encountered a Cougars defender at all, sharply cut back on him and added another eight yards to the total.

Six plays later, Gross trotted on to the field, energized by all of this UW impertinence, and twice kicked through a 42-yard game-winner with five seconds to play, with the first one negated by a WSU timeout.

There was no pressure, none at all, outside of a College Football Playoff, a Pac-12 championship game berth, an unbeaten season and Apple Cup bragging rights all riding on it.

DeBoer, Grubb and the Huskies had gambled big and come away with impressive football winnings, namely a trip to Las Vegas, of all places, and a Pac-12 title game berth against Oregon, which has now led to the CFP semifinals against Texas on Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Like a lottery winner, the UW football team knows you simply can't win big unless you buy a ticket and play the game. This was the equivalent of purchasing 100 of them. 

"Way back there's been some risky plays," DeBoer said, "but it's certainly up there."

UW TOP 10 PLAYS OF THE SEASON

1. Rome Odunze's 4th-and-1 run from UW 29

2. Mishael Powell's 89-yard interception TD return

3. Rome Odunze's 18-yard game-winning TD catch

4. Devin Culp's 22-yard touchdown catch

5. Zion Tupuola-Fetui's USC sack

6. Rome Odunze's 83-yard TD punt return

7. Grady Gross' Apple Cup 42-yard walk-off field goal

8. Edefuan Ulofoshio's 45-yard interception TD return

9. Ja'Lynn Polk's 92-yard touchdown catch

10. Alphonzo Tuputala's 76-yard interception return

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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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