Inside The Huskies

Odunze Catches First NFL TD Pass, Joins Fellow Husky WRs

The former UW receiver had a 6-reception, 112-yard outing for the Chicago Bears.

Dan Raley

Former Husky Rome Odunze catches his first NFL touchdown pass in front of Indianapolis cornerback Kenny Moore II.
Former Husky Rome Odunze catches his first NFL touchdown pass in front of Indianapolis cornerback Kenny Moore II. / Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The NFL finally got to see the Rome Odunze that was on display previously at Husky Stadium.

Plus, Odunze got to match his fellow University of Washington wide receivers spread out across pro football with his first scoring catch at the next level for the Chicago Bears.

On Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, Odunze caught 6 passes for 112 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown covering a single yard. He hauled in a long reception of 47 yards from fellow rookie Caleb Williams.

He did everything except win, with the Bears suffering a 21-16 loss on the road to fall to 1-2.

Three weeks into the NFL season, each of the Huskies' top three receivers from last season's national runner-up team has found the end zone.

In week one, Jalen McMillan pulled in a 32-yard touchdown pass for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fourth quarter of a 37-20 victory over the Washington Commanders.

Last weekend, Ja'Lynn Polk scored on a 5-yard TD catch in the first quarter of a 23-20 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

A year ago, Odunze, McMillan and Polk combined to catch 206 passes for 3,358 yard and 27 touchdowns for the 14-1 Huskies who advanced all the way to the CFP national championship game against Michigan.

Three games into their NFL rookie seasons,, Odunze has 9 catches for 156 yards, Polk has 5 catches for 31 yards and McMillan has 3 receptions for 59 yards, again each with a touchdown grab.

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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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