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Top 10 Most Compelling Husky Plays of the Season: No. 5

Originally posted on FanNation Husky Maven | By Dan Raley | Last updated 12/22/23

In six years of University of Washington glory and agony, from terrorizing opposing quarterbacks to tearing an Achilles tendon, Zion Tupuola-Fetui must have thought he had seen all sides to college football.

Yet in late October, the game turned personal for him.

Boarding a chartered jet in the Bay Area after beating Stanford, the player affectionately known as ZTF was pulled aside and informed his father Molia, 58, had passed away in Hawaii after a continuing illness.

For the next week, Tupuola-Fetui rode a roller coaster of raw emotion as he grieved his father's passing and wrestled with whether he could get himself mentally ready to play in a nationally televised game against USC in Los Angeles.

ZTF decided his father would want nothing less from him than pulling on his Huskies uniform and going to battle against the Trojans and their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams.

In a season full of heroic, heart-felt and sometimes weird moments, we count down in reverse order the 10 most memorable plays for Kalen DeBoer's 13-0 UW team.

At No. 5 is ZTF's ferocious strip sack of Williams, a play that was not only pivotal in changing the game's momentum and bringing about a 52-42 UW victory, but it also served the Husky edge rusher well in honoring his late father.

"The week was really hard, but I knew my dad would want me to play," he said. "He loves this game, he loves the U-Dub and I know I'd just be doing him wrong if I didn't play."

With 1:14 left in the first half, the game tied at 28 and the Trojans beginning a new series at their 25, Williams took the snap and immediately began backpedaling as ZTF, defensive tackle Jayvon Parker and edge rusher Bralen Trice brought a furious pass rush.

Williams held the ball aloft, as if desperately trying to get in position to throw one, but Tupuola-Fetui swatted it out of his hand like a grizzly bear and Trice dove on it at the USC 12. This was just what the grieving process ordered.

This would be the most memorable of his 16 career sacks for the Huskies now entering the College Football Playoff, 7 of which would come in a magical stretch for him during an otherwise COVID-interrupted 2020 season.

"All my dad [had] been asking for all season was a sack fumble," ZTF said. "That was him."

After continually falling behind throughout the opening half and battling to tie the score at 7, 14, 21 and 28, the Huskies now had the upper hand. They scored in three plays to take their first lead at 35-28 and never trailed again.

Once the game ended, Tupuola-Fetui did an emotional radio interview while standing in the middle of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, then broke down and sobbed when he was met and consoled by UW coach Kalen DeBoer.

It was a moment that touched football followers all across the country. It was a way to properly eulogize his football-minded father.

"I'm thankful that I was able to play good in his memory — that was him playing through me," Tupuola-Fetui said.

UW TOP 10 PLAYS OF THE SEASON

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2. TBD

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4. TBD

5. Zion Tupuola-Fetui's USC sack

6. Rome Odunze's 83-yard TD punt return

7. Grady Gross' Apple Cup 42-yard walk-off field goal

8. Edefuan Ulofoshio's 45-yard interception TD return

9. Ja'Lynn Polk's 92-yard touchdown catch