Malik Washington on Pace to Put Up Historic Receiving Numbers at Virginia

Washington is among the nation's leading receivers and is on pace to break several program records in his lone season at Virginia

Despite what has been, in many respects, a frustrating and disappointing first half of the season, Virginia has still had many a bright moment even as the Cavaliers have struggled to a 1-5 record. Many of those bright moments have directly involved senior wide receiver Malik Washington, a transfer from Northwestern who has been arguably UVA's best player this season. 

Through six games, Malik Washington has posted 44 receptions, 668 receiving yards, and five touchdowns. He has also recorded four games with at least 100 receiving yards, an especially impressive mark considering he never once eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark in his four seasons at Northwestern. 

Weighing those numbers against the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Washington currently finds himself the ACC's leader in receiving yards, receptions, receiving yards per game, and receptions per game. He's also 2nd in receiving touchdowns and 8th in yards per catch. In all of college football, Washington is 4th in receiving yards, 7th in receiving yards per game, 8th in receptions, 11th in receptions per game, and 20th in receiving touchdowns. 

Virginia's first football season was in the year 1888. Malik Washington is on pace for one of the best seasons for a Cavalier receiver in UVA program history. Olamide Zaccheaus owns Virginia's single-season receptions record with 93 in 2018 and Dontayvion Wicks set the receiving yards record with 1,203 in 2021. Additionally, just three UVA receivers have had more than four games with 100+ receiving yards in a single season: Kris Burd (five in 2011), Germane Crowell (six in 1997), and Dontayvion Wicks (six in 2021). 

While Washington certainly has the potential for a record-breaking season if he can keep up this pace, he has already had himself an astonishing half of a season. Hoos Football on Twitter compared Washington's stats at the midway point of the season to those of perhaps the two greatest wide receiver seasons in program history, with Herman Moore in 1990 and Dontayvion Wicks in 2021. 

Malik Washington is having a historically great season. Through six games:

Herman Moore, 1990: 26 receptions, 571 yards, 9 TDs

Dontayvion Wicks, 2021: 25 receptions, 554 yards, 5 TDs

Malik Washington, 2023: 44 receptions, 668 yards, 5 TDs pic.twitter.com/AOHrJzwL4l

— Hoos Football (@HoosFootball) October 13, 2023

What is especially remarkable is that Washington has delivered this astonishing level of production with two different quarterbacks throwing him the ball. Washington has developed great chemistry with both Tony Muskett and Anthony Colandrea, who have split UVA's six games with three starts each. Muskett and Colandrea have both played well and Washington has certainly played a significant role in that outcome. 

As Malik Washington continues his journey towards what could be one of the greatest seasons by a wide receiver in Virginia football history, the only downside is that the Cavaliers didn't get him sooner, as this is final season of college football. 

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