This week, it finally clicked with me.
I was reading a discussion online about how to classify the 2023 Michigan team, and saw a comparison of these Wolverines to past Villanova basketball teams that won national titles. Those Wildcat teams were talented, with multiple future pros, but not as a step below overall talent compared to Duke or Kentucky.
Moving forward with the basketball analogy: Alabama and Georgia are Duke and Kentucky, juggernauts that overwhelm 95 percent of the competition on pure talent but are vulnerable to similarly-talented teams that can out-execute them through superior experience; Michigan is Villanova, a highly (but not supremely) talented team that's going to be really good year-in, year-out, but still needs time to rise from good to elite.
And if that's the case, Washington is the proverbial mid-major that surprises everyone but themselves.
In the 247Sports team talent composite rankings, Alabama and Georgia are first and second; CFP semifinalist, and two-time Husky chow, Texas is sixth; Michigan is 14th; and Washington is 26th, one spot above 4-8 Michigan State.
Don't get it twisted: Washington is no mid-major. This team is one game away from officially joining the ultimate college football super-conference in the Big Ten (they'll host Michigan in a conference game in October). And they did not come out of nowhere. The owners of the nation's longest winning streak at 21 games, Washington started the season ranked 10th.
But the mid-major analogy tracks. This team is extremely experienced. They start one (1!) player who entered college after 2020, and that's only due to injury. If not for a season-ending injury to sixth-year senior center Matteo Mele, Washington would not start a single first-, second-, or third-year player.
Starters by recruiting class
2023 -- 0
2022 -- 1
2021 -- 0
2020 -- 7
2019 -- 7
2018 -- 7
Starters by recruiting designation (per 247 composite)
5-stars -- 0
Top-50 recruits -- 1
Top-200 recruits -- 3
Low 4-stars -- 5
3-stars -- 12
Walk-ons -- 2
Like a mid-major, this team also runs a long-ball dependent offense that can bury opponents on the right day. The Huskies have completed 382 passes of 10-plus yards over the past two seasons; the next-closest team has hit 350.
This Washington group is a special team experiencing a special season, and it took special circumstances to get here. Here are a few lessons from examining the Huskies roster:
-- Vacation in the Portal, but don't live there. Washington would not be in the Playoff if not for Indiana transfer Michael Penix, Jr. That goes without saying. They also wouldn't be here without starting running back Dillion Johnson (Mississippi State), wideout Ja'Lynn Polk (Texas Tech), and their best corner Jabbar Muhammad (Oklahoma State).
But those are the Huskies' only transfer starters. The entire offensive line signed with Washington out of high school. Ten of 11 defensive starters did as well.
-- Talent matters, but there's no substitute for experience. Monday night marks Penix's 45th career start, and his 48th career game. He's thrown 1,634 career passes. Nine of Washington's 11 defensive starters are fifth or sixth-year players.
-- Even if you build an experienced team, they have to stay healthy. Washington brings 21 of 22 Day One starters into Monday night's title game. Other than center Mele, slot receiver Jalen McMillan is the only starter who's missed what I'd characterize as significant time. He missed or saw limited action in eight mid-season games, but he's returned to catch 19 balls for 215 yards and a touchdown over Washington's last three games.
-- There are really, really good coaches at the sub-FBS level. It goes without saying Washington is not here if not for the Kalen DeBoer hire, and Kalen DeBoer became Kalen DeBoer by spending the first 17 years of his career in high school ball, the NAIA, or FCS. That obviously includes his 67-3 run over five seasons as the head coach at Sioux Falls.
All that said, here's a look at Washington's starters as a recruits cast against what they've accomplished as college players.
OFFENSE
QB: Michael Penix, Jr.
As a recruit: 3-star out of Tampa (signed with Indiana in 2018) | As a player: Maxwell Trophy winner, Heisman runner-up
RB: Dillon Johnson
As a recruit: 3-star out of Greenville, Miss. (signed with Mississippi State in 2020) | As a player: Second Team All-Pac-12
WR: Rome Odunze
As a recruit: 4-star out of Las Vegas (class of 2020) | As a player: Consensus First Team All-American, Biletnikoff Award finalist
WR: Ja'Lynn Polk
As a recruit: 3-star out of Lufkin, Texas (signed with Texas Tech in 2020) | As a player: In his third year as a collegian, a Third Team Freshman All-American in 2022
WR: Jalen McMillan
As a recruit: Top-50 recruit out of Fresno (class of 2020) | As a player: Honorable mention All-Pac-12 in 2022
TE: Devin Culp
As a recruit: 3-star out of Spokane, Wash. (class of 2018) | As a player: Honorable mention All-Pac-12
LT: Troy Fautanu
As a recruit: 4-star out of Henderson, Nev. (class of 2019) | As a player: AP Third Team All-American, 2-time First Team All-Pac-12
LG: Nate Kalepo
As a recruit: 4-star out of Seattle (class of 2019) | As a player: We've reached the first Husky not to garner any all-conference honors, yet
C: Parker Brailsford
As a recruit: 3-star out of Scottsdale, Ariz. (class of 2022) | As a player: Consensus Freshman All-American, Second Team All-Pac-12
RG: Julius Buelow
As a recruit: 4-star out of Kapolei, Hawai'i (class of 2019) | As a player: No individual on-field awards
RT: Roger Rosengarten
As a recruit: Top-200 recruit out of Littleton, Colo. (class of 2020) | As a player: Honorable mention All-Pac-12
DEFENSE
EDGE: Bralen Trice
As a recruit: 3-star out of Phoenix (class of 2019) | As a player: AP Third Team All-American, First Team All-Pac-12
DL: Ulumoo Ale
As a recruit: 3-star offensive tackle out of Tacoma, Wash. (class of 2018) | As a player: No individual accolades
DL: Tuli Letuligasenoa
As a recruit: Top-125 recruit out of Concord, Calif. (class of 2018) | As a player: Second Team All-Pac-12 in 2022
EDGE: Zion Tupuloa-Fetui
As a recruit: 3-star out of Pearl City, Hawai'i (class of 2018) | As a player: Earned First Team All-Pac-12 and Second Team All-American... as a third-year player in 2020
LB: Edefuan Ulofoshio
As a recruit: Walk-on out of Las Vegas (class of 2018) | As a player: AP Third Team All-American, First Team All-Pac-12
LB: Alphonzo Tuputala
As a recruit: 3-star out of Federal Way, Wash. (class of 2019) | As a player: Honorable mention All-Pac-12 in 2022
NICKEL: Mishael Powell
As a recruit: Walk-on out of Seattle (class of 2019) | As a player: No on-field accolades
CB: Jabbar Muhammad
As a recruit: 3-star out of DeSoto, Texas (signed with Oklahoma State in 2020) | As a player: Second Team All-Pac-12
SS: Dominique Hampton
As a recruit: 3-star out of Peoria, Ariz. (class of 2018) | As a recruit: Honorable Mention All-Pac-12
FS: Asa Turner
As a recruit: 4-star out of Carlsbad, Calif. (class of 2019) | As a player: Honorable mention All-Pac-12 in 2022
CB: Elijah Jackson
As a recruit: 3-star out of Harbor City, Calif. (class of 2020) | As a player: No on-field accolades