Long Overdue Look at a Husky Football Victory

UW student and skilled photographer Skylar Lin captures the night of UW pageantry.

Dan Raley | Sep 4, 2022

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Washington Huskies

The University of Washington football team's 45-20 victory over Kent State on Saturday night at Husky Stadium was the platform for a coaching debut, a fresh start for the players and a welcome season opener for the fans.

It was also brought the end to a four-game losing streak that did unfathomable damage to the program, beginning with one of the most pivotable games in Husky history — a 2021 home game against Oregon.

On that day against the Ducks, the UW coughed up an early lead, had a head coach go beserk, had an offensive coordinator coach his way into unemployment and the players came out of saddled with a 26-16 defeat to their annoying rivals.

This past Saturday, at least for a pleasant fall evening in Seattle, new coach Kalen DeBoer undid much of the damage wrought by Husky predecessor Jimmy Lake's reckless actions and/or general lack of success while running the program.

Indiana transfer Michael Penix Jr. wowed Husky fans with his pocket presence, which was an unbending patience with opposing players flying all around him. He just stepped up and, using all kinds of arm motions, completed 26 of 39 passes for 345 yards and 4 touchdowns with no interceptions.

A pensive looking Rome Odunze watches things unfold in front of him during the Huskies' 45-20 victory over Kent State. Odunze got off to a good start by catching 7 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown.

The defensive backs come together with hybrid Husky Dominique Hampton showing his leadership. To his left is cornerback Jordan Perryman, who unfortunately for him got hurt in his UW debut, helped off the field with a leg injury.

Behind the goal posts, Ja'Lynn Polk (2) and Jalen McMillan (11) go airborne to celebrate one of McMillan's two touchdown catches. McMillan finished with 5 catches for 84 yards and two scores.

Safety Alex Cook (5) and an official signal a change of position, first down going this way, after fellow safety Asa Turner intercepts the second of his two pass thefts for the Huskies. This one prevented a second-half scoring drive.

Jalen McMillan looks skyward to acknowledge his good fortune against Kent State with a pair of touchdown catches. He scored the Huskies' last two scores on 13- and 10-yard receptions in the second half.

Tight end Devin Culp starts to climb to his feet after drawing a pass-interference call on the Huskies' creative double-reverse, flea-flicker play. He did his part by providing field position for an eventual UW touchdown.

Asa Turner leaves his feet to pilfer the second of two interceptions in the season opener against Kent State. His two interceptions gave him six in his UW career.

Teammates offered praise and hugs nonstop to safety Asa Turner, who intercepted a pair of passes, notably one on the first play of the game against Kent State. He's much more aggressive now after the Kalen DeBoer coaching staff took over.

TAULAPAPA TOUCHDOWN / Skylar Lin Visuals

Our gallery ends with Wayne Taulapapa, the Virginia transfer who got the scoring started with a 28-yard touchdown run against Kent State. The Virginia transfer and sixth-year senior led the Huskies in rushing with 57 yards on 11 carries.

Following consecutive losses to Oregon, Arizona State, Colorado and Washington State to close out last season, UW players were finally photographed being happy and joyful again, moving from one celebratory scene to another.

The Huskies went 303 between victories, a football lifetime.

Skylar Lin, the newly enrolled University of Washington student and a talented photographer for our Inside the Huskies site, which is part of the Sports Illustrated network, was there to roam the sidelines and end zones and capture happy Huskies.

Check out his accompanying gallery.

The first of many.

Thank you, Coach… Game ball goes to you 🏉#NoLimits #PurpleReign pic.twitter.com/F7r4B3JJ2O
— Washington Football (@UW_Football) September 4, 2022

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Published Sep 4, 2022

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.