Inside The Huskies

Washington's Offense Displays Its Explosiveness On Day 5

Behind a few big plays, the Husky offense showed it has potential to be even better than 2022

Roman Tomashoff

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Washington's offense was one of the nation's best in 2022, headlined by quarterback Michael Penix and wide receiver Rome Odunze. On Friday, the pair of All-America candidates combined for the highlight of the spring so far.

In the final team period of the day, Penix took a snap from close to midfield, and while rolling to his right, the left-hander delivered a somewhere between 45- to 50-yard dime to Odunze. With Oklahoma State cornerback Jabbar Muhammad in coverage, running step for step with Odunze, Penix displayed a sliver of what Husky fans should expect from the Heisman candidate in 2023.

Penix was dialed in all day on Friday. In one of the earlier team periods, he hit Ja'Lynn Polk in stride for a 35-yard touchdown. While the quarterback looked as sharp as ever, the running backs were also ripping off chunk plays (and delivering massive stiff arms). 

On Wednesday, the media got their first look at Mississippi State transfer Dillon Johnson. On Friday, safety Dominique Hampton did the same, when he was on the receiving end of a stiff arm from Johnson at the end of a 15-yard run. 

However, he wasn't the only back that contributed during the team periods of practice. Arizona State transfer Daniyel Ngata broke through the defense on an inside handoff for a 35-yard touchdown and later on Sam Adams took a carry around the right side for a 25-yard score.

Notes and observations

With some speculation as to who will be starting at both guard spots for the Huskies, Friday's first-team offensive line featured Nate Kalepo and Julius Buelow at guard.

After practice, the last two players to leave the field were edge rushers Zach Durfee and Maurice Heims, who spent an extra 15-20 minutes working on hand fighting.

With some questions surrounding who might be returning punts, running backs Tybo Rogers and Will Nixon, cornerback Caleb Presley and wide receiver Giles Jackson all took reps catching punts, one of which Jack McCallister booted into the netting hanging from the ceiling.

The interior defensive line showed up in a big way. Faatui Tuitele got up for a pass breakup while working with the second team, and Jayvon Parker recorded a sack of Dylan Morris toward the end of practice.

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Roman Tomashoff
ROMAN TOMASHOFF

I've followed the Huskies for my entire life, and to be in a position where I get to cover them full-time is nothing short of an honor. After graduating from Lasell University in 2019, I moved to Seattle to pursue my dream of working in sports media. While writing for the Husky Haul, I also covered local sports for the Everett Daily Herald before the COVID-19 pandemic. After being hired by Realdawg.com in February of 2021, I also transitioned into doing a lot of entertainment writing, as I work on a variety of magazines as a contributing writer for Centennial Media, and have also contributed to Emmy Magazine, as well as Walt Disney Television Studios. 

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