September 9, 2023 Week 2 · Regular Season Belt defended

Washington defends the belt, 43–10, at home over Tulsa.

Home · Defending Holder

WashingtonAP No. 8 43

Away · Challenger

Tulsa 10

AP poll, week 2: Tulsa unranked at Washington No. 8 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Washington came in 301 days into reign #321, which began with a win over Oregon, with 4 defenses already behind it; this was its 5th defense. Washington went on to defend it 12 more times before Michigan took it on January 8, 2024, 422 days after the reign began.

For Tulsa this was its 3rd shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before.

This is the only time Tulsa and Washington have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Washington dominated from the opening drive, with Michael Penix Jr. orchestrating an efficient offense that struck quickly and often. After an early 50-yard penalty-aided drive resulted in a Rome Odunze touchdown, the Huskies extended their lead with a Ja'Lynn Polk rushing touchdown in the first quarter, and continued their assault with a Jalen McMillan touchdown reception and two-point conversion in the second quarter. Tulsa managed only a Chase Meyer field goal in the first half and never seriously threatened, as Washington's defense kept the visitors bottled up with just 318 total yards while Penix completed pass after pass to receivers like Odunze and Bernard. The Huskies sealed the dominant performance with scores in the third quarter before substitutes mopped up late, with an early interception and a McMillan fumble the only blemishes on an otherwise flawless belt-defending effort.

Penix to Odunze for 2-yard TD and 50-yard penalty-aided opening drive set the tone for Washington's offensive dominance
Polk's 27-yard rushing touchdown in Q1 extended the lead and established Washington's balanced attack
McMillan's 9-yard TD reception with two-point conversion in Q2 pushed the lead to insurmountable levels before halftime
Germie Bernard's 7-yard TD reception in Q3 and Odunze's rushing TD late in Q3 put the game completely out of reach

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

WashingtonTulsa

Total yards563318

Rushing yards109168

Passing yards454150

First downs3022

3rd down conv.5/77/17

Turnovers21

Penalties–yards7–937–65

Time of possession29:5630:04

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 15:00	Washington	+50 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Jalen McMillan for 35 yds to the TLSA 30 for a 1ST down Tulsa Penalty, Roughing The Passer (Owen Ostroski) to the TLSA 15 for a 1ST down
Q1 12:19	Washington	+2 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 2 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q1 12:19	Tulsa	+32 yd	Cardell Williams pass complete to Braylin Presley for 32 yds to the WASH 40 for a 1ST down
Q1 8:48	Tulsa	+44 yd	Chase Meyer 44 yd FG GOOD
Q1 8:38	Tulsa	+38 yd	Chase Meyer kickoff for 51 yds , Germie Bernard return for 38 yds to the WASH 27 Washington Penalty, Illegal Block (13 Yards) to the WASH 13
Q1 8:38	Washington	+33 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Ja'Lynn Polk for 33 yds to the WASH 49 for a 1ST down
Q1 2:46	Washington	+27 yd	Ja'Lynn Polk run for 27 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q2 13:50	Washington	+0 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass intercepted, touchback.
Q2 13:50	Washington	+0 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass intercepted, touchback.
Q2 8:37	Tulsa	+0 yd	Cardell Williams pass intercepted, touchback.
Q2 8:27	Washington	+26 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 26 yds to the WASH 46 for a 1ST down
Q2 3:55	Washington	+9 yd	Jalen McMillan 9 Yd pass from Michael Penix Jr. (Jaden Green Pass to Dylan Morris for Two-Point Conversion)
Q2 1:35	Tulsa	+27 yd	Angus Davies punt for 27 yds, punt out-of-bounds at the WASH 29 Washington Penalty, Offensive holding ( Yards) to the WASH 29
Q2 1:35	Tulsa	+37 yd	Angus Davies punt for 27 yds, punt out-of-bounds at the WASH 29 Washington Penalty, Offensive Holding (10 Yards) to the WASH 19
Q2 0:03	Washington	+18 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Jalen McMillan for 18 yds Jalen McMillan fumbled, recovered by TLSA Reggie Ellis
Q3 11:39	Washington	+30 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Devin Culp for 30 yds to the WASH 48 for a 1ST down
Q3 8:00	Washington	+7 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Germie Bernard for 7 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q3 0:40	Washington	+14 yd	Rome Odunze run for 14 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q4 11:12	Tulsa	+15 yd	Luke McGary 15 Yd pass from Roman Fuller (Chase Meyer Kick)
Q4 11:05	Washington	+36 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Germie Bernard for 36 yds to the TLSA 19 for a 1ST down
Q4 8:17	Washington	+33 yd	Grady Gross 33 yd FG MISSED
Q4 3:00	Washington	+1 yd	Daniyel Ngata run for 1 yd for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q4 6:51	Washington	+34 yd	Dylan Morris pass complete to Rome Odunze for 34 yds to the TLSA 13 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Washington

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Michael Penix Jr.	28/38	409	10.8	3	1	90.4
Dylan Morris	2/2	45	22.5	0	0	99.9

Tulsa

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Roman Fuller	12/18	85	4.7	1	0	69.9
Cardell Williams	6/14	65	4.6	0	1	25.8

Rushing

Washington

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Will Nixon	6	30	5.0	0	12
Ja'Lynn Polk	1	27	27.0	1	27
Daniyel Ngata	6	18	3.0	1	9
Rome Odunze	1	14	14.0	1	14
Michael Penix Jr.	2	11	5.5	0	6
Germie Bernard	2	8	4.0	0	8
Sam Adams II	4	1	0.3	0	2

Tulsa

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Jordan Ford	15	67	4.5	19
Bill Jackson	10	55	5.5	15
Anthony Watkins	11	51	4.6	9
Cardell Williams	2	0	0.0	5
Braylin Presley	1	-1	-1.0	0
Roman Fuller	1	-4	-4.0	0

Receiving

Washington

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jalen McMillan	8	120	15.0	1	35
Rome Odunze	7	107	15.3	1	34
Ja'Lynn Polk	5	81	16.2	0	33
Germie Bernard	2	43	21.5	1	36
Devin Culp	1	30	30.0	0	30
Will Nixon	2	25	12.5	0	18
Denzel Boston	2	23	11.5	0	12
Jack Westover	1	11	11.0	0	11
Quentin Moore	1	8	8.0	0	8
Sam Adams II	1	6	6.0	0	6

Tulsa

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Braylin Presley	3	54	18.0	0	32
Marquis Shoulders	3	23	7.7	0	10
Devan Williams	2	16	8.0	0	9
Luke Mcgary	1	15	15.0	1	15
Anthony Watkins	2	15	7.5	0	9
Jordan Ford	2	9	4.5	0	10
Carl Chester	1	7	7.0	0	7
Kamdyn Benjamin	2	7	3.5	0	5
Ethan Hall	1	3	3.0	0	3
Bill Jackson	1	1	1.0	0	1

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Washington

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Edefuan Ulofoshio	8	6	0	0	1
Dominique Hampton	6	6	0	0	0
Alphonzo Tuputala	5	3	0	0	0
Jabbar Muhammad	4	4	1	1	1
Bralen Trice	4	3	0	1	0
Makell Esteen	3	3	0	0	0
Griffin Miller	3	2	0	0	0
Elijah Jackson	3	1	0	0	0
Tristan Dunn	3	1	0	0	0
Ralen Goforth	2	2	0	0	0
Carson Bruener	2	2	0	0	0
Mishael Powell	2	2	0	0	1
Davon Banks	2	2	0	0	0
Tristan Warner	2	2	0	0	0
Voi Tunuufi	2	1	1	1	0
Tuli Letuligasenoa	2	0	0	0	0
Michael Penix Jr.	1	1	0	0	0
M.J. Ale	1	1	0	0	0
Asa Turner	1	1	0	0	0
Sekai Asoau-Afoa	1	1	0	1	0
Antonio Hill	1	1	0	0	0
Jayvon Parker	1	1	0	0	0
Jaivion Green	1	1	0	0	0
Thaddeus Dixon	1	1	0	0	1
Kamren Fabiculanan	1	0	0	0	1
Lance Holtzclaw	1	0	0	0	0
Milton Hopkins Jr.	1	0	0	0	0

Tulsa

Player	TOT	SOLO	TFL	PD
Kanion Williams	7	3	0.5	1
Kendarin Ray	7	2	0	0
Keuan Parker	5	4	0	0
Jaise Oliver	5	3	0	0
Demarco Jones	3	2	0	0
Julien Simon	3	2	0	0
Coleton Smith	3	2	0	0
Zaid Hamdan	3	1	1	0
Everitt Rogers	3	1	0.5	0
Owen Ostroski	3	1	0.5	0
Mitchell Kulkin	2	1	0	1
Nunu Campbell	2	1	0	0
Tyree Carlisle	2	0	0	0
Donte Burton	1	1	0	0
Jayden Simon	1	1	0	0
Dorian Hopkins	1	1	0	0
Zach Neilsen	1	1	0	0
Xavier Lanier	1	0	0	0
Reggie Ellis	1	0	0	0
Vontroy Malone	1	0	0.5	0

Fumbles

Washington

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Jalen McMillan	1	1	0

Tulsa

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Reggie Ellis	0	0	1

Interceptions

Washington

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Kamren Fabiculanan	1	0	0

Tulsa

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Jaise Oliver	1	0	0

Kick Returns

Washington

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Germie Bernard	2	25	12.5	13	0

Tulsa

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jordan Ford	1	13	13.0	13	0

Kicking

Washington

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Grady Gross	0/1	0.0	0	5/5	5

Tulsa

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Chase Meyer	1/1	100.0	44	1/1	4

Punt Returns

Washington

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jalen McMillan	1	6	6.0	6	0

Tulsa

No recorded stats in this category.

Punting

Washington

No recorded stats in this category.

Tulsa

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Angus Davies	3	113	37.7	0	1	54

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401524004) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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