In Final Scrimmage, Zach Durfee Had Husky Offense on Edge

The UW football newcomer made himself a noticeable player on Saturday.

Dan Raley | May 20, 2023

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Washington Huskies

Upon arrival in Montlake, linebacker Ralen Goforth, the USC transfer, talked about making adjustments, such as dealing with a cooler climate. For former Oklahoma State cornerback Jabbar Muhammad, it was the food.

Finding himself in a new college football environment, edge rusher Zach Durfee had to do something about the ringing in his ears — because the Sioux Falls transfer got his bell run in practice a couple of times.

On Saturday, in the final University of Washington spring scrimmage, the 6-foot-5, 252-pound Durfee, after earlier travails, looked comfortable in Husky Stadium as he continuously made his way into the backfield and created a commotion, chalking up at least 1.5 sacks.

Throughout the two-hour competition, he was a handful. Durfee was particularly impressive when he came off the left side and dragged down running back Will Nixon from behind on the right side, six yards short of the goal line. He had adapted to Seattle now.

"There were some big hits that caught him by surprise midway through spring ball and now he's ready for them and actually delivering some of those hits," UW coach Kalen DeBoer said. "I'm excited for him."

In a week where veteran edge rusher Sav'ell Smalls left the Huskies for the transfer portal, maybe prompted by his latest coaching staff evaluation and the looming presence of Durfee, the new guy took over.

Durfee earlier had sat out multiple Husky practices after getting dinged up, with those big hits no doubt taking a toll, but he came back renewed on Saturday.

"I think he got a chance for some perspective and to sit back," DeBoer said. "I will say this, we saw him at another level at practice on Monday. In particular, he really was applying a lot of pressure. It seemed like he was always around the ball, especially on pass plays, and around the quarterback."

Zach Durfee showed off intriguing athleticism this spring as a mobile 6-foot-5 football player.

At Sioux Falls, Zach Durfee played for the Cougars for two seasons, redshirting the first one, before becoming a Washington Husky.

As a redshirt freshman, Zach Durfee was sensational for his NCAA Division II football team, ringing up 11 sacks in 11 games in 2022.

NOT SO GREATEST HITS / Skylar Lin Visuals

Zach Durfee survived some big football hits that might have surprised him some, but he appears to have adapted to the Power 5 level.

Edge rusher Zach Durfee played for the same college team that first had Kalen DeBoer as a standout wide receiver and later as a national championship coach.

Zach Durfee has the perfect and persistent high-motor personality, his coaches say, to be an effective edge rusher for the Huskies.

Zach Durfee put on a serious face when he met with reporters who cover the Huskies early in UW spring football practice.

Durfee has been on quite an unconventional football journey to reach this point. A quarterback in the Minnesota high school ranks, he joined NCAA Division II Sioux Falls — DeBoer's alma mater and a prior coaching stop — as a tight end before his coaches in South Dakota wisely turned him into an edge rusher.

Eleven sacks in 11 games made him consider a bigger college football challenge. DeBoer, with his connections, brought Durfee to the UW. The new edge rusher has three seasons to do his thing in Husky Stadium.

"I think he's just got a lot of the tools we were hoping for at that edge position," DeBoer said. "The things we saw on film, I think he's starting to get used to the speed of the game and he's translating that over to this level and raising his game, as well."

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Published May 20, 2023

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.