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Five observations from Washington’s 45-20 win over Kent State

It only took one quarter for Kalen DeBoer to showcase how prolific his offense is Saturday night. 

Washington jumped out to an early 21-7 lead in the first quarter and never looked back against Kent State in the season debut. The Huskies (1-0, 0-0) leaned on a mix of run and pass to control the game on offense. It wasn’t a clean game, however, with a pair of first half fumbles by Giles Jackson and Wayne Taulapapa, one of which was lost that resulted in a 39-yard field goal for the Golden Flashes with 4:37 to go in the second quarter. 

UW entered halftime with a 31-13 lead, scoring more points in the first 15 minutes than the team did combined in its first two games last season against Montana and Michigan. It never got closer in the second half as the Huskies iced the game away to earn the first win of the DeBoer era. 

1 – Penix Jr. looked poised and precise in his first game leading the Husky offense. The junior transfer completed 26 of 39 attempts for 345 yards and four touchdown passes, one to Taj Davis, the second to Rome Odunze and a pair to Jalen McMillan. Saturday night marked the first time in his career that Penix Jr. threw four touchdowns in a game without an interception. 

From the opening series, which saw four consecutive run calls, throughout the remainder of the game Penix Jr. had a clean pocket to find the open receiver, and he did just that. Though he didn’t have a 300-yard game, his efficiency helped carry the Huskies to victory. Penix Jr. also added 27 rushing yards on four attempts. 

“The o-line, they played their tails off. I didn’t get touched all day,” Penix said after the game. “I just have to thank them so much. I just gotta make sure I continue to praise them. They’re the reason that I was able to find open receivers and have the game that we had today.”

While Saturday’s opponent won’t be the same caliber in two weeks when UW hosts top 10 ranked Michigan State and Mel Tucker to Husky Stadium, finding early success is vital to accelerate the growth the offense will need to have when conference play starts. Last season Penix Jr. only threw four touchdown passes all season. 

Starting off the 2022 campaign with four alone is a positive sign for what could be in store this season. 

“I just felt real good,” Penix said. “Just felt real comfortable executing the game plan that we had coming into this week. Like I said, we trust coach (Ryan) Grubb play-calling. He always gets us in good situations so we just had to go out and execute which we did today.”

2 – Special attention will be paid to the special teams unit as the team prepares for week two against Portland State. One of the weaker units on the field for the Huskies against the Golden Flashes was the kick coverage team. Freshman running back Gavin Garcia, who wasn’t listed on the two-deep prior to kickoff, had a 52-yard return in the first quarter which helped set up a one-play, 47-yard scoring drive for Kent State on the ensuing series. 

Peyton Henry converted his lone field goal attempt from 38 yards and redshirt freshman walk-on punter Jack McCallister flashed a strong 48-yard punt in the second half, but the rest of the special teams unit left much to be improved moving forward this season. 

3 – The Takers get their share. Rome Odunze hauled in seven receptions for 84 yards, a new single-game career best mark, with one touchdown reception. His previous high of 82 yards came last season in defeat against Arizona State, a game that saw Odunze have twice as many receptions as Cade Otton, who had four. 

10 different UW players made at least one catch in Saturday night’s season opener, including a pair of touchdowns from sophomore Jalen McMillan, who finished the game with five catches for 87 yards to go along with his two scores. All three starting receivers made a touchdown reception, a sign of what type of offense is to be expected under the guidance of DeBoer and Grubb. 

Last season, Odunze was out for the opener against Montana due to injury — along with the Michigan game and the final non-conference matchup against Arkansas State — and had to take in the defeat from the coaches office. He’s been healthy all fall camp, as has the entire position group, which has allowed the connect with The Takers and Penix Jr. to flourish. 

Odunze revealed late in fall camp that Penix can sing, and he had the UW offense humming all night against the Golden Flashes. 

“Oh that’s the same guy, man. It’s the same guy. He’s a playmaker,” Odunze said after the game of the Husky starting QB. “He was using his legs. What a night. I mean, you know in fall camp QB’s aren’t live like that so it was good to see him run. I always knew he had some speed on him, but he was doing a good job with his legs tonight as well. He’s a playmaker. He’s a baller. Same Mike.”

4 – Julius Irvin transitioning to cornerback wasn’t known late in fall camp, but apparently the Husky coaches have been working the junior outside instead of his traditional safety position. UW senior Jordan Perryman went down on the Kent State sideline in the third quarter with what appeared to be a leg injury and did not return to the game. 

Coming into this season the coaches went out an brought in Perryman, a 6-foot, 202-pound transfer from UC Davis in the offseason to stabilize the position while adding a veteran to help bring along the relatively young room. DeBoer did not have an update on his injury postgame other than to say some guys got “dinged up”. 

“I think just numbers wise we’re thinner at the secondary at both (cornerback) spots,” DeBoer added. “He’s a guy, like you said, I think cross-train is a good word to use where he can play multiple spots. Got a few guys that are that way. We just always want to make sure we can get the best players on the football field. And Juice is a guy that can run. Guys that can run can step out there and be on the football field for us. I just love the confidence that I saw in him last week when I asked him.”

Whether it remains a permanent move is yet to fully be determined. However, Irvin has been in the program for going on his fifth season and has a wealth of experience as a defensive back to go along with ideal size at 6-foot-1. Redshirt freshman cornerback Elijah Jackson, who missed a handful of practices in fall camp and half of spring ball due to injury, was suited pregame but did not appear to play Saturday night. 

Fellow redshirt freshman Markell Esteen recorded his first career interception in just his second game as a Husky late in the fourth quarter Saturday night. Esteen received high praise from UW co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell as one of the young risers late in camp at safety, and it paid off with his playing time in the season opener. 

5 – Sophomore edge Bralen Trice was the only Husky to record a sack against Kent State. Despite holding the Golden Flashes to just one touchdown, a one-play, 47-yard pass from Collin Schlee to Devontez Walker in the first quarter, the defensive front didn’t have much statistical success. Of the five tackles for loss by UW, two came from defensive backs — one by cornerback Mishael Powell and the other by safety Alex Cook — and one from inside linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala. 

Fellow sophomore Sav’ell Smalls finished with six total tackles, three solo, while playing in reserve. 

“We got there a lot,” DeBoer said, when asked about the pass rush. “We were there so many times. We know Schlee was going to be hard to bring down. We saw just enough snaps of him last fall to where we were pretty nervous about what he was going to do with his feet. We knew the run game was already what they predicated their offense on. And then him being a threat on those keepers. There was a couple times we had guys assigned to him, and he just flat out beat us.”

Kent State finished the game with 147 yards on the ground and one touchdown, which puts UW T-No. 81 in the country in run defense to open the season. 

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