Pettis Continues To Play His Way Toward G.O.A.T. Status
November 06, 2016 | Football, General
By Mason Kelley
GoHuskies.com
There's good and then there's Dante Pettis.
Just ask John Ross. The Washington teammates have little trouble being effusive with their praise for one another.
Last week, after a big day against Utah, Ross placed Pettis on an NBA Mount Rushmore of sorts, placing him among the likes of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
This week, after Pettis caught three touchdown passes and threw another, Ross anointed him with G.O.A.T. status after No. 4 Washigton's 66-27 win at Cal on Saturday.
"Remember the way people talked about that 100-point game by Wilt Chamberlain," Ross said. "It's that kind of feeling."
Then he added, "Every week he just gets better."
Not only does Pettis continue to pile up points, he seems to show something different each week. Against Cal, it was his arm, throwing a 39-yard touchdown pass to Darrell Daniels.
"I'm trying to throw a few more, to be honest," Pettis said with a laugh. "I've got to get my passer rating up. I was joking with coach (Bush) Hamdan before the game, because that play has been in forever. I said, 'Yo, we're never going to run that play.' And then, sure enough, we ran it today."
With Pettis' touchdown toss, and the six quarterback Jake Browning threw, the Huskies set a school record for touchdown passes in a game, breaking the mark Browning tied at Oregon earlier this season.
"I did not know that," Pettis said after being told about the record. "It's pretty cool."
Pettis (11) and Ross (14) have now both tallied double-digit receiving touchdowns to become Washington's first pair of receivers to do that in the same season.
When asked about the mark, Ross heaped more praise on his teammate.
"I'm more proud to see his growth than mine, because he had one (receiving) touchdown last year and now he has 10 more than he had last season," Ross said. "That's amazing to me."
What is even more impressive, and a scary thought for the rest of the defenses the Huskies will face this year, Ross believes Pettis is still getting better.
"I still don't think he's reached his peak," Ross said. "He's still getting better each and every week. In practice, it's phenomenal to see how good he actually is."
Phenomenal would also be a good word to describe Ross' performance. The junior caught six passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns, while Pettis caught eight balls for 104 yards and the three scores.
"I think I'm doing pretty good, but I'll still give the credit to our offensive line," Ross said. "Jake (Browning) is doing a great job and we're calling great plays. It's not like I'm doing anything spectacular. Everything is clicking for us, because we've put in the work."
Before heading toward the locker room, Pettis was asked one more question, this one going back to his interesting array of touchdown celebrations. The one he was asked about is move when he appears to be grooming himself like a cat.
When he heard the question, he started to laugh.
"I'm a big cat fan," he said. "Me and Connor Griffin have a little handshake where we do the cat thing and then high-five at the end. He said, 'Do that when you score,' so it's just a little shout out to all the cats out there."
Whether it's a cat celebration or two teammates dunking on each other after a score, one thing is certain – this team is piling up points and enjoying every second of it. However, regardless of how well they play, they always believe there is still more to prove.
"He's still underrated, both of us are," Ross said.
