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How the 2023 Washington Huskies were built for through recruiting and the portal

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Huskies are making their second appearance in the College Football Playoff. As the No. 2 seed, they'll face the No. 3 Texas Longhorns in the Allstate Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1, 8:45 p.m. ET on ESPN).

With Heisman finalist Michael Penix Jr. at QB, Rome Odunze at receiver and Dillon Johnson in the backfield, Washington had one of the best offenses in college football this season. Penix led the nation in passing yards. Odunze was second in receiving yards, and the team scored 37.7 points per game this season.

While Odunze was an ESPN 300 player, much of the Huskies weren't household names as recruits, and Penix is a notable success story of the transfer portal.

This team is simply not built like other playoff teams. We look at the Huskies' recruiting and usage of the transfer portal and how that construction translates to what they do on the field.

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Recruiting | Transfer portal | By the numbers