Dan Lanning details challenges of defending Rome Odunze
Oregon and Washington will square off yet again this year, this time in Las Vegas with a Pac-12 Championship on the line.
There are plenty of key x-factor players in this matchup that can play a major role, including both quarterbacks who respectively and rightfully have placed their names in the competition to take home this year’s Heisman Trophy Award. But after Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix, an argument can be made that Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze is the next big impact player on the list.
Odunze established himself as one of the best wideouts in the nation this season and a player that Oregon head coach Dan Lanning knows the Ducks will have to slow down if they want to have success on Friday night.
“If you double him then you’re going to be short in the run game. If you don’t double him he has a one-on-one, he has an opportunity to win,” Lanning said. “He attacks the ball in the air extremely well, he’s got great speed, he kind of runs every route in the route tree, and he has a quarterback that can get it to him. So really presents some great challenges.”
Three finalists were selected for the Biletnikoff Award this season and Odunze was one of them, awarded annually to the best wide receiver across all of college football. This season he’s hauled in 73 receptions for 1,326 yards and 13 touchdowns, ranking top five in the nation in receiving yards and touchdowns this season while also finding the end zone on a rushing score and on a punt return for a touchdown.
He’s been a major key to Washington’s offensive success this season as the Huskies’ leading wide receiver. But Washington’s No. 2 ranked passing attack has been complimented with a solid run game lately that makes Odunze even harder for defenses to defend.
“One thing I think they’ve done a really good job of is building their run game, since we’ve played them I think that’s something that’s really stepped up and improved,” Lanning explained. “And that only makes him even more of a dangerous target.”
The Ducks are more than familiar with what Odunze is capable of with him having eight catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns versus Oregon in their Week 7 meeting in the regular season, including the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter that secured the 36-33 win for Washington.
There aren’t many playmakers in the country that have been harder to stop this season than Odunze, but if the Ducks can find a way to do it, their chances of taking home the Pac-12 title will definitely increase on Friday night.