Zach Durfee had big dreams coming out of small-town Dawson, Minn. Never could he have imagined, though, his first game playing major college football would be in front of nearly 69,000 fans at the Superdome in New Orleans.

The 6-5, 256-pound defensive end finished high school with no scholarship offers in any sport.

But last year's College Football Playoff — featuring Washington against Texas with a national championship appearance at stake in the Sugar Bowl — was Durfee's debut with the Huskies.

After deciding not to play Division III basketball in 2020, Durfee started his college journey as a student before becoming a Division II football walk-on.

About three years later, he was rushing the passer amid five plays vs. the Longhorns on arguably the biggest stage in college sports.

"That Texas game was pretty surreal," Durfee said. "When you got out there, the nerves kicked in a little bit. I knew how important it was. That was a really fun and cool experience."

The Sugar Bowl is the only game experience for Durfee at the FBS level. He had 11 sacks in 11 games at D-II Sioux Falls in 2022, but he's played just one full season since his junior year at Dawson-Boyd High School.

After sitting out the regular season due to NCAA transfer rules last year, Durfee is a projected starting edge rusher for new Big Ten member Washington. He's among the top college football players from Minnesota to watch in the 2024 season.

"I'm super excited," he said about Washington's Saturday opener against Weber State. "I'm ready to take it to the next level. I just can't wait to play again with my teammates."

Small-town beginnings

In a town of about 1,500 in southwest Minnesota, Durfee seemed destined for a future on the hardcourt even after his senior year at Dawson-Boyd started with an injury in a different sport.

A fibula fracture sidelined him for most of the football season. Still, Durfee got his explosiveness back and used a near-40-inch vertical to average 21 points and nine rebounds.

"Basketball was always my main focus in high school," Durfee said. "That's what I gravitated towards."

Durfee committed to play college hoops at Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter, but uncertainty early in the COVID-19 pandemic ended that dream.

During the lockdown, Durfee took classes at North Dakota State, but that only lasted the fall semester. Returning home, he got into weightlifting and thought about playing football again. The problem was, there were mostly only basketball clips to send. He emailed several programs anyway about playing tight end or receiver.

Sioux Falls was intrigued by Durfee's size and athleticism after watching his dunking highlights. The former high school quarterback went from walk-on to scholarship sack leader after redshirting in 2021.

"They thought I could be good off the edge," Durfee said. "I thank them now a lot because there couldn't have been a better spot for me on the football field."

A four-sack performance in his college debut vs. Minnesota State Moorhead put Durfee on a path to go from physical marvel to potential pro-level pass rusher with more development. But he entered the transfer portal after Sioux Falls coach Jon Anderson was fired after the 2022 season.

Big chance out west

Former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer, now at Alabama, seemed to have a steal when his connections from coaching at Sioux Falls put Durfee on his radar last year.

Blown away during the recruiting process, Durfee's family fell in love with the campus and Washington's rising program a year before the Huskies finished as national runner-up to Michigan last season.

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck recruited the former D-II standout to return home, but Durfee committed before the Minnesota visit. Washington doesn't play the Gophers this year, but his family will make the Huskies' Oct. 12 game at Iowa.

"It's awesome out here," said Durfee, who hopes to have two seasons left to play in college. "I think Washington is a special place. The football program has a lot of tradition. They have everything I need."

Overcoming adversity became a theme early for Durfee when the NCAA denied his immediate eligibility last year because he was a two-time transfer. Then came DeBoer's departure to the SEC. Elbow surgery sidelined Durfee during the first spring practice under new Huskies coach Jedd Fisch, but the new staff raved about him before fall camp.

"He's been great," first-year Huskies defensive coordinator Steve Belichick said. "He has a lot of good traits to work with. Looking forward to getting him on the field."

Now, he's fully healthy entering his senior season in Washington, and there's talk again of a small-town Minnesota talent with freakish athletic ability doing big things off the edge. The pride of Dawson is set on proving this long journey to football stardom was worth the wait.

"I truly believe it was part of God's plan," Durfee said. "I'm here and still get to play in the Big Ten."