Inside The Huskies

Michigan Secondary Will Enter Boston Marathon, See If It Can Keep Up

The Husky wide receiver ranks No. 2 in the nation in TD catches.

Dan Raley

Denzel Boston celebrates one of his two touchdown catches during the second half against Rutgers.
Denzel Boston celebrates one of his two touchdown catches during the second half against Rutgers. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

In the College Football Playoff national championship game, Washington wide receiver Denzel Boston played sparingly, didn't catch any passes, was hardly noticeable.

Yet Michigan, which comes to Husky Stadium on Saturday, certainly must know that was then and this is now.

In January, the 6-foot-4, 207-pound junior from South Hill, Washington, was no less talented as a UW pass-catcher, he simply had to defer to the older and immensely gifted Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja'Lynn Polk, all currently NFL rookies.

It's Boston's show now.

Entering this high-profile game -- given added significance because it represents a rematch of the CFP title game -- Boston ranks second in the nation with 7 touchdown catches, one behind San Jose State's Nick Nash.

"It's a great beginning to a new start," Boston said of joining the Big Ten Conference, but he easily could have been describing himself.

BOSTON TOUCHDOWN RECEPTIONS

8-yard scoring catch vs. Weber State

4th quarter, 35-3 lead

13-yard scoring catch vs. Easern Michigan

2nd quarter,14-6 lead

1-yard scoring catch vs. Eastern Michigan

2nd quarter, 21-6 lead

46-yard scoring catch vs. Northwestern

1st quarter, 7-0 lead

13-yard scoring catch vs. Northwestern

2nd quarter, 17-0 lead

52-yard scoring catch vs. Rutgers

3rd quarter, 14-10 deficit

12-yard scoring catch vs. Rutgers

4th quarter, 21-18 deficit

He's on a blistering pace for finding the end zone through the air, with this tall, sure-handed sophomore poised to catch up to all-time Husky record-holder Mario Bailey, who hauled in 18 TD passes for the 1991 national championship team.

The compare Boston to his former teammates. Through the first five UW games last season, Polk had 4 scoring catches, McMillan 3 and Odunze 2. In 2022 through five outings, Polk again had 4 TD receptions, Odunze 3 and McMillan 2.

While the Huskies don't throw the ball as much as they did in those previous two seasons, they still have the same 9 passing touchdowns through the five-game marker. The difference is Boston has all but the one each that has ended up in the hands of teammates Giles Jackson and Jeremiah Hunter.

"Been tryna tell yall," McMillan tweeted after seeing a Big Ten clip of Boston's 41-yard scoring catch against Northwestern.

Boston had a more succinct observation of that particular home-run ball, "It was an open shot, we took it and we hit it."

As the above chart shows, Boston caught 2 TD passes in each of his outings against Eastern Michigan, Northwestern and Rutgers, with his total trips to the end zone ranging from a yard to 52 yards.

With his 30 catches for 412 yards, he's averaging a touchdown nearly every fourth catch, either using his length to take balls away from defenders or his speed to run away from them.

Huskies wide receiver Denzel Boston breaks a tackle by Rutgers] Moses Walker and goes the distance with a 52-yard TD catch.
Huskies wide receiver Denzel Boston breaks a tackle by Rutgers linebacker Moses Walker and goes the distance with a 52-yard touchdown catch. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

While emerging from the shadows of Odunze, McMillan and Polk, Boston, who doubles as the Husky punt returner, has a real opportunity to show off his skills against Michigan's superlative cornerbacks in Will Johnson and Jyaire Hill, using an NBC-TV national broadcast as a big stage.

If he has an overly productive outing against those two, people will catch on that this guy, so young and so productive, is really good -- and the scoreboard verifies it.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

Published
Dan Raley
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.

Home/Football