Boise State Football: First Look At The Washington Huskies

The Broncos will get a big test right away this fall on the road against the Huskies. Here’s a first look at Washington.

Boise State Football: First Look at the Washington Huskies

The Broncos will get a big test right away this fall on the road against the Huskies. Here’s a first look at Washington.

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A big-time opportunity.

Boise State Football: First Look at 2023 Non-conference Opponents

Washington | UCF | North Dakota | Memphis

Nearly every football team in the Mountain West challenges themselves in non-conference play for one reason or another every year, but perhaps no team has set a bigger challenge for themselves in 2023 than Boise State’s Week 1 trip to Washington.

Location: Seattle, Washington

Conference: Pac-12

Series History: Washington leads the all-time series against Boise State, 3-2.

2022 Record: 11-2 (7-2 Pac-12)

Head Coach: Kalen DeBoer (second year; 11-2 at Washington, 90-11 overall). After leaving Fresno State for Washington, it didn’t take long for DeBoer to hit the ground running. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s followed his career to this point, though: After compiling a 67-3 record and winning three national titles at NAIA Sioux Falls in the mid- to late 2000s, he later guided Eastern Michigan out of the abyss as the team’s offensive coordinator from 2014-16 and subsequently engineered dramatic turnarounds with the Bulldogs and at Indiana before getting his first shot as a FBS head coach in 2020.

After two more relatively successful seasons at Fresno State, the Huskies came calling and, in year one, they finished oh-so-close to a season for the ages. Only a pair of one-score losses on the road to UCLA and Arizona State kept Washington from an unbeaten season, but they finished 11-2 and could be even better in 2023 because they return 71% of last year’s production.

Key Players

Michael Penix Jr., QB

If you’re putting together a list of potential Heisman Trophy candidates this summer, Penix Jr. has to be on it. He first broke out in 2019 under DeBoer’s tutelage at Indiana, but injuries hampered his ability to stay on the field for a full season until 2022 when, reunited with DeBoer, he completed 65.1% of his throws for 4,641 yards (a single-season UW record) and 31 touchdowns against a 1.4% interception rate. The lefty from Tampa is going to be difficult for anyone to slow down this fall.

Jalen McMillan, WR

After two seasons as a starter, McMillan might be the best slot receiver in the country. He made seven starts in 13 total games but finished second in the Pac-12 with 79 receptions, third with 1,098 receiving yards, and in a tie for first with nine receiving touchdowns. According to Pro Football Focus, he was also one of just 16 FBS players to force at least 16 missed tackles, so the Broncos will need to have their fundamentals down pat to keep him from running wild.

Rome Odunze, WR

There’s a chance that McMillan is not even the best pass catcher on the Huskies roster, though, while Odunze is around. Like McMillan, Odunze had a breakout 2022 with 75 catches for 1,145 yards and seven touchdowns but, unlike his peer, he was a first-team all-Pac 12 selection and led the team’s wide receivers with an overall PFF grade of 79.1. He’ll cause plenty of problems for opposing defenses this year, too.

Bralen Trice, DE

2022 marked Trice’s first full year as a starter and that proved to be a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks and running backs. Another of Washington’s first-team all-conference selections last year, he finished third in the Pac-12 with nine sacks and in a tie for fourth with 12 tackles for loss, posting an overall PFF grade of 88.5 that ranked second among all conference defenders.

Troy Fautanu, OT

It would be difficult for Penix Jr. and company to get anything done without reliable protection, but Fautanu anchored the blind side for Washington in 2022 without much trouble. He allowed zero sacks and two quarterback hits in 949 total snaps, the fifth-most in the Pac-12, and earned a second-team all-conference nod for his efforts.

Overview:

Offense

If you needed one word to describe the Washington offense in 2022, it would be “potent”. The Huskies tied for first among all FBS teams in averaging 3.76 points per drive and stood alone in earning 69.3% of available yards per drive. With a star quarterback and his top five pass catchers back in the fold, could they be even scarier this fall?

One thing that would help is to replace top running back Wayne Taulapapa, though Cameron Davis and Richard Newton both return after combining to average 4.84 yards per carry. Davis, too, had 13 rushing touchdowns, though that duo could be pushed by incoming transfers Daniyel Ngata (Arizona State) and Dillon Johnson (2,062 career all-purpose yards at Mississippi State).

Odunze and McMillan, meanwhile, headline a deep crew of pass catchers that could be the envy of nearly everyone in the country. Ja’Lynn Polk finished third among Pac-12 receivers with 16.9 yards per catch as a redshirt freshman while tight ends Jack Westover and Devin Culp (combined 60-608-2) give defenses plenty to think about over the middle.

If there’s one yellow flag on this unit, it’s the offensive line. Fautanu and Roger Rosengarten provide the Huskies with a pair of reliable tackles, but they’re the only starters back from last season. Considering that Washington allowed the lowest overall sack rate in the nation, finding the right combination of newcomers will be key to maintaining the high-flying passing game.

Defense

Stopping opponents wasn’t really Washington’s strong suit last year. Where the offense paced the country in points per drive and available yards percentage earned, the Huskies finished 102nd and 108th by those same metrics despite finishing second in the Pac-12 in allowing 5.53 yards per play.

They did a few things well, though, like getting after the quarterback (8% sack rate, 27th in FBS), but star defensive end Jeremiah Martin was a big reason for that and he’s gone for 2023. Trice returns, as do the defensive tackle tandem of Faatui Tuitele and Tuli Letuligasenoa, so experience is on their side up front.

The linebackers could play a big role in shoring up that pass rush, too, given that Edefuan Ulofoshio should be healthy after missing most of 2021 and 2022 with injury, Alphonzo Tuputala (71 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks) proved he can disrupt, and Ralen Goforth (17 starts at USC) is in from the transfer portal.

In the secondary, the Huskies will look for improvement from a veteran unit that got pushed a bit in 2022, allowing 7.8 yards per attempt and a 62.9% opponents’ completion rate. Dominique Hampton, Kamren Fabiculanan, and Asa Turner give them a solid trio of safeties, but the big difference maker might be Jabbar Muhammad, who transferred in from Oklahoma State after earning an all-conference honorable mention with nine pass breakups and one interception.

Early Prediction

Boise State might be the most talented team overall in the Mountain West, but it’s difficult to envision them containing the powerful Huskies offense for four quarters. They’re strong enough on offense themselves to push back often, but they may not have the same kind of weapons to match Washington in a track meet.

Washington 42, Boise State 31

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