Durfee Makes Long-Awaited UW Start, Still Knocking Off Rust

Jedd Fisch offered feedback on the edge rusher's first game-opening assignment.

Zach Durfee stares down Weber State QB Richie Munoz. / Skylar Lin Visuals

If there was a checklist for edge rusher Zach Durfee with the University of Washington football team, it would go something like this.

Get him into a game -- check.

Start him in a game -- check.

Dominate somone -- not yet.

One of the more anticipated Husky football players in years, the 6-foot-5, 256-pound Durfee was on the field when last Saturday night's Weber State game began -- to the relief of his coaches, teammates, fans and himself -- and he got through it without being served any more papers by the NCAA or breaking another elbow.

Playing his first full game in almost two years, Durfee's defensive stat line consisted of 3 tackles and a pass deflection, He effectively had a ball bounce off his hands yet had he caught it Durfee would have skipped into the end zone from 45 yards out.

Sebastian Valdez (50) and Zach Durfee (5) provide a fierce pass rush against Weber State's Richie Munoz. / Syklar Lin Visuals

The general consensus was Durfee got through this one and there wasn't much more to it than that.

"He played OK," Husky coach Jedd Fisch said candidly. "It looked like he missed two years. There were some plays he made because he's big, strong and good. And then there were other plays that he'd probably take back, like he wished he had another opportunity or made a better play on a play."

Durfee, of course, transferred from Division II Sioux Falls, where he had 11 sacks in 11 games in 2022, though starting just two of them.

He ended up at Washington because somebody told former Husky leader Kalen DeBoer, who played and coached at that school with unmatched success, about him, about this promising pass rusher. It was if it was a gift for DeBoer for pass services rendered.

On New Year's Day, Durfee made his UW debut by appearing in just five plays against Texas in the Sugar Bowl and CFP semifinal because the NCAA called him a double transfer -- he took classes at North Dakota State before playing football for Sioux Falls. He was forced to sit out the Huskies' first 13 games.

Zach Durfee (5) and Carson Bruener (42) chest bump during the Weber State game. / Skylar Lin Visuals

The college game's governing body, of course, backtracked on that rule, made it obsolete and offered players, such as Durfee, eligibility to make up for any slights last season. Durfee simply has some catching up to do because of his absence from game action. He's also coming back from an elbow injury in spring ball that required surgery and limited him for half of fall camp.

"He's a really good football player that I would expect to improve every week the more he's comfortable being on the field," Fisch said.

Getting Durfee through a full UW game was a victory in itself. Again, check it off. As for Husky dominance, still to come.

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