Oh boy… Odunze… Still on his feet… With nothing but green in front of him.
The call of Rome Odunze’s 61-yard reception early in the fourth quarter against Stanford by FS1 play-by-play man Alex Faust was symbolic as it was, fittingly, on target.
On the heels of his third consecutive 100-yard receiving game this past Saturday at Arizona State the sophomore received some national recognition.
Odunze was one of three players added to the 2022 Biletnikoff Award Watch List on Wednesday, along with Ohio State sophomore Marvin Harrison Jr. and East Carolina graduate transfer Isaiah Winstead.
The Biletnikoff Award is recognized as the top honor given each year to the most outstanding pass catcher in college football.
The addition of Washington’s leading receiver – in both yards (524) and receptions (35) – means this Saturday’s Homecoming matchup with Arizona could go a long way in determining who the Taker of the Pac-12 is.
Jacob Cowing, a junior transfer from the University of Texas El Paso, sits just above Odunze as the leading receiver in the conference in both receptions and receiving yards. Both are the only two players in the Pac-12 to average 100-yards or more receiving entering week seven.
Through the first five games in 2022 the UW sophomore has already surpassed his receiving total in yards from last season by 109 yards and tied his touchdown reception total. Fortunately for the Huskies, and Odunze, there’s still half a season to go.
The fact that there is still much to play for this season is one reason why UW wide receivers’ coach JaMarcus Shephard doesn’t put a lot of stock it.
“I mean, honestly, it doesn’t really mean a whole lot at this moment, at this junction in the season,” Shephard said after Wednesday’s practice when asked about Odunze being added to the watch list.
He’s right. It’s not a midseason award.
Shephard is no stranger to coaching elite players who have been considered for the award over the years. He molded David Bell into a finalist for the Biletnikoff in 2021 at Purdue before he moved out west to join Kalen DeBoer in Seattle.
The other reason why Shephard doesn’t lean too far into the significance of the award is because it can’t quantify what is arguably Odunze’s greatest attribute.
“The one thing about the Biletnikoff, it doesn’t really measure the heart of the guys that are out there,” Shephard said.
“There’s some other guys that, if they measured the heart of players, Rome would be right at the top of the list. Period. From the beginning. But they just don’t measure that. Rome’s got a great heart.”
Because his heart is in the right place Shephard has complete faith that Odunze will continue to focus on maintaining a constant state of growth to his game.
If that leads to UW finishing in the top half of the conference this season, and some individual accolades along with it, there is no question the former will matter more.
That said, it would mean something for the program.
UW has never had a Biletnikoff Award winner in its history. Only six players have finished with 1,000 receiving yards in a season and none have reached the four-figure mark since John Ross in 2016.
Odunze needs just 476 yards in the final six games to add his name to that list, a feat which should be attainable given his recent form. In the last three games Odunze has averaged eight receptions and 130 yards with three touchdowns, two of which came on the road against UCLA.
