After every Washington Huskies victory, coach Jedd Fisch hands out game balls to some of the team’s top performers and also singles out one player as the team’s “Dawg of the Week” for an exemplary week both on and off the field.
In Washington’s 27-17 victory over the No. 10 Michigan Wolverines, that honor went to linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala. On the field, the senior was a critical part of stopping Michigan’s run-heavy offense, tallying 5 tackles in the win.
He played disciplined, gap-sound football as defensive coordinator Steve Belichick’s group allowed just two rushes of over 10 yards, including holding Kalel Mullings, the No. 3 rusher in the Big Ten, to just 49 yards, his second-lowest output of the season.
Our DAWG of The Week, ➡️ @ATuputala 😤🙌. pic.twitter.com/yWcpdQjX0r
— Washington Football (@UW_Football) October 8, 2024
Off the field, one of Washington’s six captains appeared to be a critical part of inspiring the team ahead of the national championship rematch. While there were so many new faces on both sides, the Huskies were clearly out for redemption and Tuputala was Washington’s only starter on Saturday that also started the game in January.
“I feel it,” wide receiver Denzel Boston said of the revenge factor. “I mean, I was out there last year. Obviously we have a lot of different transfers, we’ve got 40 different players on the team from different schools last year, but I’d say for the players who were in this locker room last year and felt that loss in that championship definitely felt that revenge from last year.”
While Tuputala was unavailable for comment postgame, it’s clear that revenge, while it wasn’t the central message of the week, was part of the discussion throughout the week. That was also apparent in Washington’s postgame cinematic recap, as Fisch was captured giving a game ball to all the players from the 2023 roster.