Notebook: UW standout wide receiver Jalen McMillan sits out Pac-12 opener against Cal

Perhaps the only way to defend Jalen McMillan is not to play him at all.

UW’s 6-foot-1, 192-pound junior wide receiver didn’t play in Saturday’s Pac-12 opener against Cal, a week after leaving in the second quarter of a 41-7 home win at Michigan State.

It’s just the third game McMillan — who registered 20 catches, 311 receiving yards and four total touchdowns in non-conference play — missed in his Husky career.

McMillan wasn’t UW’s only offensive absence. After going down in the second half against Michigan State, left guard Julius Buelow was also unavailable Saturday — sporting a walking boot on his right foot. Instead, fourth-year sophomore Geirean Hatchett made his first career start at right guard, with junior Nate Kalepo starting at left guard.

UW sixth-year senior safety Asa Turner also sat out a second consecutive game. But junior Kamren Fabiculanan returned to start in his place beside senior Dominique Hampton.

Protecting Penix

UW quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had yet to finish a game this season entering Saturday, a reflection of the Huskies’ convincing wins.

While it’s certainly the coaching staff’s intention to protect Penix — who had four season-ending injuries at Indiana, prior to his UW transfer — it’s also inevitable he’ll take some hits.

“You play the percentages, right?” DeBoer said Monday. “I don’t care what position you’re at; when you’re being hit or hitting people more, your chances of injury go up, right? Like you said, there’s some protection that is happening up front and there were some times where they were even in his lap this last Saturday [in the 41-7 win at Michigan State]. But we’re doing a pretty good job and he’s doing a really good job of understanding the importance of having everyone on the same page, to have the protection and know what’s coming scott-free and getting a hit on him.

“It’s going to happen, because it is football; but he’s built up his body. He’s five to six years into it now and really understands the importance of an offseason, and he’s had that too. He didn’t have those offseasons in his younger years [because of injuries and rehabs], and now he’s had that. I think that’s really helped him build his body up from head to toe. You see the strength in his throws; you see all those little things becoming better because of the work he’s put in.”

That work paid off in nonconference play, as Penix led the nation with 1,332 passing yards and added 12 touchdowns and one interception … despite sitting out the majority of fourth quarters. A week ago, he left late in the third with a 41-0 lead.

When asked if Penix should have been pulled at halftime, UW offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said: “35-0 is probably not quite enough [of a lead], but added “You certainly don’t want anything to happen with the game in hand, for sure.”

Sirmon returns

Former UW linebacker Jackson Sirmon returned to Husky Stadium for the first time Saturday, after transferring to Cal (to play for his dad, defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach Peter Sirmon) prior to the 2022 season.

Sirmon — a 6-foot-2, 240-pound senior — was named a first-team All-Pac-12 performer in 2022, when he led the Golden Bears with 104 tackles, six tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, an interception, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a touchdown.

“You can tell he runs the show,” DeBoer said of Sirmon. “He’s got some good players around him too for sure, but he really is always at the right spot. You can tell he’s heady, plays really hard, can do it all — stopping the run, can get back in coverage.

“It would be great to have him here, but we don’t have him. He’s obviously doing great things there with his family and playing some good ball and leading a really good defense that we’re going to face this weekend.”

So-called nonconference tests

DeBoer said Monday that when he first arrived at Washington, he looked at the 2023 nonconference schedule and thought it “was going to be a grinder.”

It didn’t turn out that way.

In fact, the eighth-ranked Huskies topped Boise State, Tulsa and Michigan State by a combined score of 140-36.

“Again, credit to our guys. They haven’t looked past anyone,” DeBoer said. “Week one, week two, week three … they were their own individual weeks. We prepared very well; we continued to get better. Hopefully three weeks from now we don’t even look like the same team we are now.”