It wasn’t pretty but the path to 10-0 won’t always be. The Huskies came away with an 35-28 win over a ranked opponent in Utah. The Utes played physical and forced the Huskies to be uncomfortable.

Both the offense and defense stepped up at different times, and despite some mistakes on both sides the Huskies advance to 10-0 for just the second time in school history. The last time? 1991.

Here are our takeaways from Washington’s back and forth Washington’s victory over Utah:

Play Makers

What can you say: Ja’Lynn Polk and Rome Odunze are different (we’ll get to Jack Westover later). Polk was making big plays getting in the air and taking the ball off of defenders heads. Odunze was making some of the prettiest catches.

When those two are firing on all cylinders, and Penix is hitting them, there’s not a defense in the nation that can lock them up. Polk was relatively quiet today, with just 4 catches and 55 yards. That just means that everyone steps up. Jack Westover took the work load as he caught 7 passes.

Rome Odunze showed up big time, with a few clutch grabs to pile up 111 yards and 2 scores on just 3 catches. Germie Bernard was a welcome sight for Husky fans, being big and strong both after the catch and in the blocking game for the Huskies.

One Hit Wonder?

Dillon Johnson had his career day at USC. And with a much stronger Utah run defense it was fair to assume he could struggle today. While the Utes did their best to slow the Huskies running back Johnson put together another big day.

DJ had 104 rushing yards and added 28 more in the air. Johnson had one touchdown on a carry from the wildcat. Utah brought the physicality, enough so that Johnson was willing to allow comparisons to the SEC teams he faced earlier in his career.

Following up his monster performance against USC with another big game, but this one against a top run defense says that Dillon Johnson is here to stay. The bell cow back will be a big part of the Huskies playoff push.

Loud and Proud

Husky faithful did their part.  At times it seemed like the crowd was louder than against Oregon. On a cold November afternoon Husky Stadium was getting loud on every Utah snap. A sell out crowd provided every advantage the Huskies could need.

Decibel levels were almost to numbers that saw back in the 90s. Not only did the Husky crowd play a factor. But the “Dawg Weather” changed the game coming out of half time. Who that provided the bigger advantage to is questionable, but the Huskies capitalized on it.

Finding A Way To Win

The Huskies looked dead in the first half. They limped there way into the tunnel after Utah’s offense seemed to tale whatever they wanted from them, and the offense seemed to be stalling out.

A different team came out of the locker room. Maybe it was coach DeBoer and the coordinators making adjustments, maybe it was Edefuan Ulofoshio’s half-time speech, but Washington was a different team. Utah gained just 57 yards, scored zero points, and Bryson Barnes had an NFL passer rating below 1.

While it was far from pretty plays where made when needed. Carson Bruener getting a huge safety, Voi Tuunufi and Bralen Trice forcing Barnes to run for his life and on the last play Dominique Hampton coming up with the big interception.

Mr. Reliable

Mr. Jack Westover. With Jalen McMillan still missing snaps with an injury there have been a variety of players asked to step up. Jack Westover has been one of them and has done so flawlessly.

Westover was called on a lot today. His six catches led the team and had his back biggest reaching up on fourth down to hall the pass in and keep the Huskies drive going.

Westover and the tight ends have been finding their way to shine in this ever intricate Husky offense making it just that much more dangerous.

Special Teams Creating An Advantage

Washington’s Special “Forces” Unit has been one of the most unsung portions of the 10-0 start.  Within that unit, one of the most consistent parts has been sophomore kicker Grady Gross.

While the final kick of the game getting blocked muddles his performance Gross has been incredibly accurate as he moved into third place for single season accuracy today. Gross went 3/3 on PATs and hit field goals from 41 and 28 yards to finish with 9 points for UW today.

It was not a kicker’s day with the wind swirling in different parts of the stadium.  How he kicked the 41-yarder we’ll never know.  However, on the final kick the laces were 180-degrees the wrong way, and Seahawk fans know that danger all too well.

The Huskies appear to have found something in Arizona State-transfer Daniyel Ngata.  On 3 kickoff returns he averaged 32 yards.  Because of Ngata he Huskies’ average starting position was their own 35 while Utah’s was its own 20.

They have always had Carson Bruener on kickoffs, and his knack for finding the ball carrier and deliver a jarring hits has also been an important part of UW’s incredible start.  He had two more against the Utes where he dropped the returner at the 20 yard line.  It seems fitting that he was able to score two points on the safety.

And then there’s punter Jack McCallister.  On 4 punts he averaged 40.5 yards and dropped one inside the 20.  He nearly had one stopped near the goalline but the ball took an awkward hop and scooted away from the punt coverage team and into the end zone.