Rome Odunze Should Take Dead Aim at Rewriting Reggie

Williams' UW receiving records are lofty but not necessarily out of reach.

Dan Raley | Feb 8, 2023

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Washington Huskies

As University of Washington football player after player announced his 2023 return, each cited unfinished business as a reason.

They alluded to improving on an 11-2 record and making a run at a Pac-12 championship and maybe even a College Football Playoff berth.

Yet Rome Odunze had further incentive for getting back on board for another trip through the amateur ranks — rewriting Reggie.

If the Huskies are to win more football games this coming season, they'll no doubt need to fire up their passing-minded offense even more, which means getting added production out of their anointed No. 1 wide receiver, all of which leads to breaking Reggie Williams' pair of school receiving records, once thought to be insurmountable.

The UW's all-time leading pass-catcher, who spent five years with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars before substance-abuse issues prematurely ended his football career, owns the following school standards: 94 receptions for 1,454 yards over 13 games in 2002.

If Yankees slugger Reggie Jackson was Mr. October, the Huskies' pass-grabbing Reggie was Mr. September, October and December.

Appearing in a dozen games last fall after missing one because of an injury, Odunze stacked up 75 catches for 1,145 yards, ranking him fifth and third, respectively, in school history in those stat categories.

MAKING HIS POINT :: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

Rome Odunze, ignored in preseason listings, earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors as a sophomore after a 75-catch, 1,145-yard season.

ALAMO ACROBATICS :: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Hanging onto the football, Rome Odunze is about to come face to face with the Astrodome surface after taking a Texas hit.

Rome Odunze gets behind the Texas secondary to make this difficult catch during a 27-20 Husky victory in the Alamo Bowl.

Jalen McMillan and Rome Odunze celebrate an early season touchdown play at Husky Stadium in 2022.

LOOSE IN THE PALOUSE :: James Snook/USA TODAY Sports

Rome Odunze beat the WSU secondary for a second-quarter 47-yard touchdown catch in the Apple Cup in Pullman.

Showing off his concentration and dexterity, Rome Odunze catches a 48-yard TD pass against Arizona in a juggling manner.

Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and Rome Odunze congratulate each other after connecting for a touchdown pass.

THAT TOUCHDOWN FEELING :: Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports

Rome Odunze opened the scoring in the UCLA-UW football game at the Rose Bowl with a 33-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter.

CLOSE QUARTERS :: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

Rome Odunze can catch the ball under heavy guard as well on a deep route, as shown here against Stanford.

Rome Odunze has the most distinctive and recognizable hair color of any of his Husky teammates.

Before last season began, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb didn't hesitate at all to name Odunze as the Huskies' foremost deep threat before all of the receiving numbers began turning over like a winning slot machine.

"Yes, Rome," Grubb said when asked to pick out his most dangerous receiver. "I think Jalen McMillan can do the same thing at any one point, but I think Rome is that guy."

Some might argue the current UW receiving corps is far too deep and talented for the 6-foot-3, 201-pound Odunze to significantly increase his 2022 totals after sharing the load last season with McMillan (79 catches for 1,098 yards) and Ja'Lynn Polk (41 catches for 694 yards).

Yet the 6-foot-4, 212-pound Williams also had to share the ball back in 2002, with productive teammates in Patrick Reddick (54 catches for 583 yards) and Charles Frederick (48 for 651 yards) chipping in hefty contributions.

In contrasting the two Husky receiving corps and their numbers, Odunze's group had 195 catches and 2,937 yards collectively in 2022 to Reggie and Company coming in with 193 grabs and 2,688 yards 20 years earlier.

Now when addressing receiving touchdowns, that's a whole different conversation. It doesn't involve Williams and likely not Odunze.

The top four UW pass-catching scorers in school history are Mario Bailey (18 touchdowns, 1991), John Ross (17, 2016), Dante Pettis (15, 2016) and Jerome Kearse (12, 2010).

Williams' best season was 11 TD catches in 2002, with Odunze collecting 7 scores last fall, an effort surpassed by McMillan's 9.

Still, it's something for Odunze, if not McMillan, to shoot for.

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Published Feb 8, 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.