Inside The Huskies

People Finally Catch On: Odunze Belongs Among Nation's Best

Biletnikoff Award puts the Husky receiver on its watch list.

Dan Raley

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College football finally has come to its senses regarding Rome Odunze. After acting in the preseason as if the talented University of Washington wide receiver didn't exist, those who create the national lists and various honors now concede he has to be part of the conversation.

On Tuesday, the Biletnikoff Award, annually given to the nation's top receiver at any position, added three new players to its watch list in Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr., East Carolina's Isaiah Winstead and Odunze, upping the total candidates to 56.

In particular, the Huskies' 6-foot-3, 201-pound sophomore from Las Vegas has made it difficult for anyone to ignore him following three consecutive 100-yard receiving games, all against Pac-12 opponents.

In order, Odunze caught 8 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown against Stanford, 8 more for 116 yards and 2 scores at UCLA and 9 passes for 115 yards without reaching the end zone at Arizona State.

"I've been trying to take advantage of all the opportunities I've been given," he said. "I know I've been leaving some stuff out there. For me, I'm trying to strive to have that perfect game."

If there's been a drawback to his good fortune, the Huskies have dropped two of the three games in which Odunze personally made a lot of stuff happen, beating Stanford 40-22 while losing to UCLA 40-32 and Arizona State 45-38.

"The coaches believe in me to make a play and I've made some, but I think it's more important to get the 'W,' " he said.

Odunze's recent flurry of activity has elevated him to second in the Pac-12 Conference in yardage per game with 104.8, second only to Arizona's Jacob Cowing, who's at 107.1 an outing.

Their full stat lines are as follows: Odunze has 35 catches for 524 yards and 4 scores, and Cowing comes in with 46-643-7 numbers, with the UW player sitting out one game with an injury along the way or he might have the highest numbers in each category.

These two receivers will be on opposing sides on Saturday afternoon at Husky Stadium, giving people a chance to compare their pass-catching abilities.

Odunze comes into this one having built a reputation as a clutch player. Both of his touchdown catches at UCLA came on fourth down, delivered to him by Husky quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who's currently the nation's second-leading passer.

"When the going gets tough, I like for them to call my name," Odunze said, "and be reliable for Mike and be reliable for the offense."

People are noticing him now, every catch of the way.

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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.

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