Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. stood atop the victor’s podium, a slight smile on his face and a Sugar Bowl champions hat atop his head, after a 430-yard, two-touchdown performance in a 37-31 win over Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinals. As confetti decorated the Superdome and Huskies fans stayed in their seats, Penix faced a question.
Was that his best performance at Washington?
“Nah, we got one more to go,” Penix said into an ESPN microphone as a roar of cheers from passionate Washington supporters echoed through the stadium.
And now the game the 23-year-old referenced has arrived. No. 2 Washington faces No. 1 Michigan in the College Football Playoff National Championship at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on Monday night. Two 14-0 teams are battling it out for the title starting at 7:30 p.m. ET, with the Huskies putting a 21-game winning streak on the line in pursuit of the program’s first national championship since the 1991 season.
And for Penix, this game is a long time coming. The sixth-year senior has battled a seemingly endless string of injuries across his six collegiate years and two schools. But it has all led up to a potential Hollywood ending in Houston.
Ahead of kickoff, here are five things to know about Washington’s QB.
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images/Getty Images
Penix’s 2023 Season Stats
Penix’s final college season has been one to remember.
The left-hander leads all Power Five players in passing yards (4,648) for the second season in a row, and also boasts 35 passing touchdowns, 9.2 yards per attempt and a 163.5 passer rating, all while completing 66.7 percent of his passes and having only thrown nine interceptions heading into the championship game.
NFL Draft Projections for Penix
The next stop on Penix’s football career after Monday night’s game? The NFL.
The 6-foot-3, 213-pounder from Tampa, Florida, is widely considered a first-round pick in this year’s draft as his time at Washington comes to a close. Recent mock drafts by Bleacher Report (12th, Denver Broncos), CBS Sports (eighth, Atlanta Falcons) and The Sporting News (11th, Minnesota Vikings) all project Penix to go in the top 12 picks of the first round. Pro Football Focus also lists Penix as the No. 19 draft-eligible prospect on its 2024 big board.
When Was the Last Time Penix Played Michigan?
The only previous meeting between Penix and Michigan ended in the then-Indiana quarterback’s favor. During the COVID-19-impacted 2020 season, the Hoosiers beat the Wolverines, 38-21, in Bloomington behind 342 passing yards and three touchdowns from their star signal-caller. Indiana finished that season 6-2, while Michigan went 2-4.
Expect a bit of a tougher test this time for Penix.
This year’s Michigan defense leads the nation in points (10.2) and yards (243.1) allowed per game. Meanwhile, the Huskies are in the top 10 nationally in points (37.6) and yards per game (473.6), as well as yards per play (7.25).
“That’s a good team over there,” Penix said of Michigan’s defense at a press conference ahead of the game. “They’re coached up very well. But we’re going to be ready for the challenge. They mix up the picture quite a bit. They try to get the quarterback off his mark. But we’ll be ready for it. We know that.”
Has ‘It Factor,’ Per Jim Harbaugh
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh pointed to the “it factor” several times when discussing what impressed him about Penix during a national championship press conference over the weekend.
What does that mean exactly? Allow Harbaugh to explain.
“The ‘it factor’ that he has,” Harbaugh said in Houston on Saturday. “He’s just got it … He’s got no conscience when he’s throwing one of those balls into the tightest window and the confidence that he can put it in there and his receivers are going to make a play. I mean, that’s scary good. As good as he is in the pocket, he’s deadly when he gets out of the pocket, too, in either direction. It’s formidable. It’s elite.”
Penix Was McCarthy’s Heisman Pick
This year’s Heisman Trophy ceremony concluded with LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels forever attaching his name to college football’s greatest honor. Penix—who placed eighth in 2022—was the runner-up.
But if voting were up to Penix’s opposing quarterback on Monday night, things would have gone differently.
“He had my Heisman vote, I’m not gonna lie,” Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy said of Penix at CFP media day, via On3. “Like Michael Penix, everything that he’s been through, all the adversities battled through, his injuries … That’s something that [Harbaugh] always talks about. A future favors those who press on. And he’s a perfect epitome of that and just the player he is, the touch he puts on his ball, the accuracy, the ball placement and everything about him, he’s just a tremendous quarterback and I just have so much respect for him.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.