With spring ball done, Huskies thinking big: ‘We’re not afraid to strive for the top’

SEATTLE – On a previously blank wall between Husky Stadium’s home locker room and the northwest tunnel, a purple-and-gold mural was completed this spring. It’s a symbol of Husky history, of the players and coaches who have walked this path:

Don James. Chris Petersen. Warren Moon. Marques Tuiasosopo. Myles Gaskin. Lincoln Kennedy. The list goes on; their faces are enshrined with a purple sheen.

The mural is both a reminder … and a résumé. Beside the collage of triumphant faces, achievements are etched in gold.

2 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

17 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

15 ROSE BOWL APPEARANCES

41 BOWL GAME APPEARANCES

52 1ST-TEAM ALL-AMERICANS

While the faces and words are plastered to the wall, the numbers are purposefully replaceable.

These Huskies appreciate their past – while simultaneously planning for more.

As they bid goodbye to an 11-2 record in 2022, their expectations are obvious. After downing Texas 27-20 in the Alamo Bowl, wide receiver Jalen McMillan said: “I think we’re going to win a Natty. I’m going to call for a Natty.”

Likewise, when asked about a possible Heisman Trophy in 2023, quarterback Michael Penix Jr. countered: “I’m looking for a national championship. With a national championship comes those big awards. If we get that national championship, whatever comes with it, it is what it is. If I win, if I don’t win … as long as we win, I’m good.”

Judging by UW’s more than three-decade drought, national championships demand more than dreams. Which is why, according to second-year coach Kalen DeBoer, the Huskies are working to match their words.

“When you’re asked that question, if that’s what your goals are, you’re not going to shy away from what you’re working for – conference championships and beyond. National championships,” he said. “But I think really from within, when we’re just putting in the work, it’s all about the process.

“That doesn’t get talked about that much, if at all. Maybe in small circles. But as a program, what we’re focusing on is the steps it takes to win championships and be a championship program.”

Saturday’s Spring Preview – a 34-33 offense win over the defense, with an invented scoring system and a modest crowd inside Husky Stadium – was a public (but not so predictive) step. The roughly 80-play scrimmage featured a pair of touchdowns apiece for wide receiver Denzel Boston and running back Cameron Davis, and interceptions for cornerbacks Elijah Jackson and Jaivion Green.

Boston – a 6-foot-4, 185-pound redshirt freshman – took a direct snap around the right edge for a 6-yard score, before hauling in a wide-open 41-yard touchdown (thanks to busted coverage) from second-string quarterback Dylan Morris.

“(Boston) is a guy that can definitely change the game coming off the sideline, behind (standout wide receiver Rome Odunze),” said Penix, who failed to find the end zone and surrendered an interception to Jackson along the sideline. “I feel like Rome does a great job helping to bring him along and coach him up and get him better, and he shows it each and every day. Not everybody gets to see it, but a lot of people saw it today. That’s somebody that might be the sleeper that’s going to perform well this year.”

Will Boston have room to flourish in UW’s crowded rotation at wide receiver? Contributors Odunze, Jalen McMillan, Ja’Lynn Polk, Giles Jackson and Taj Davis all return, and sophomore Michigan State transfer (and former UW signee) Germie Bernard hauled in a 37-yard reception Saturday as well.

“I think receiver is a little bit easier than most positions (to play more guys), because we can personnel group our guys and get the reps,” DeBoer said Saturday. “(Offensive coordinator Ryan) Grubb and the offensive guys always do a good job. There’s (unique) roles.

“I love seeing those guys (Boston and Bernard) make plays, because they continue to push even our top guys. The growth and all of that is a tip of the hat to them and how hard they’re working, and it’s paying off.”

For UW to add new numbers to the mural, more cornerbacks must emerge. And after that position struggled with injury and execution in 2022, Oklahoma State transfer Jabbar Muhammad, sophomore Elijah Jackson and junior college transfer Thaddeus Dixon consistently vied for starting spots this spring.

With freshmen Curley Reed and Leroy Bryant also arriving this summer, DeBoer is encouraged by UW’s improving cornerback depth.

“It’s coming together,” he said. “A guy like Davon Banks is still getting healthy and didn’t do anything this spring. Jaivion Green got thrown in the fire last year and continues to get better. He’s a bigger presence out there. The two new guys, Jabbar (Muhammad) and Thaddeus (Dixon), are aggressive, confident. They’re still learning our scheme but have really adapted well.

“So it’s coming together. There’s more and more guys that we’re feeling comfortable being out there. They have the guts. They have the ability. It’s just a matter of continuing to build that trust.”

UW must also build trust – and pass-rush prowess – on the edge, where starters Bralen Trice and Zion Tupuola-Fetui return, but Sav’ell Smalls officially entered the transfer portal this week. And though senior Sekai Asoau-Afoa, sophomore Maurice Heims and redshirt freshman Lance Holtzclaw are all intriguing options, sophomore transfer Zach Durfee may be the next man up.

“This week I saw him on another level,” DeBoer said of the 6-foot-5, 252-pound Durfee, who had a sack on Saturday. “Practice on Monday in particular, he really was applying a lot of pressure. Seemed like he was always around the ball, especially on pass plays, and around the quarterback.

“I think he’s really got a lot of the tools we were hoping for at that edge position. He’s starting to get used to the speed of the game and translating it over to this level and raising his game as well. It’s slowing down for him. There were some big hits that caught him by surprise, I think, midway through spring ball. Now he’s ready for them and actually delivering those hits.”

With an opener against Boise State, a road match up at Michigan State, and consecutive November conference games against USC, Utah and Oregon State all on the schedule, there are no shortage of hits – and hurdles – in the Huskies’ future.

But a national title remains the ultimate goal. They’re out to amend the mural.

“I think we’re comfortable with (talking about national championships), just because we’re not going to sell ourselves short,” Odunze said. “In college football, the end all, be all is the national championship. If we’re going to strive for greatness, that’s the top of the mountain.

“We know this talent. We know with this coaching staff, with this hunger, we can get there. That’s not to say we’re not going to hit some adversity through that journey, but we’re not afraid to strive for the top.”