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Difference makers: Rome Odunze leads Washington with two TDs in Apple Cup win over Washington State

By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

Rome Odunze

The junior receiver came in with four touchdowns in his past two games and added a pair in the Apple Cup, giving him 13 on the season. Washington State cornerback Cam Lampkin slipped at the line of scrimmage midway through the second quarter, allowing Odunze to break free for a 40-yard touchdown reception. The Las Vegas native won a 50/50 battle with Lampkin on the final play of the third quarter, hauling in a 21-yard pass from Michael Penix Jr., who found his receiver in the front-right corner of the end zone. Penix targeted Odunze 14 times and the receiver finished with seven catches for 120 yards – his third consecutive game with more than 100 yards and eighth game this season.

Josh Kelly

Kelly was on the receiving end of WSU’s first touchdown, breaking away from UW cornerback Jabbar Muhammad on a slant to haul in a 21-yard pass from Cameron Ward. After posting 130 receiving yards against California and Colorado, Kelly hit the century mark for the third time in as many weeks, finishing with eight receptions for 106 yards. The Fresno State transfer, who was targeted 12 times by Ward, concluded his first season at WSU with four 100-plus yard receiving games, 923 total yards and eight touchdown receptions.

Key moment

The Huskies converted on a key fourth-and-1 play from their 29-yard line with 1 minute, 7 seconds left in the game to set up Grady Gross’s winning 42-yard field goal. After initially sending its punt team out, UW called a timeout and put its offense back on the field. With WSU’s loaded up to prevent the run, Penix motioned as if handing off to running back Dillon Johnson before pitching to Odunze, who caught the ball on a jet sweep, got the first-down yardage and finished a 23-yard play at the Cougars’ 48-yard line. After a roughing-the-passer penalty on Ron Stone Jr., the Huskies got positive yardage on a run from Johnson and pass to Jack Westover before sending Gross onto the field for the winning kick.