NEW ORLEANS — With a little more than 24 hours until the Sugar Bowl, sixth-year Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. held a player-only meeting as their moment neared.
He walked to the front of the room with Charger Edefuan Ulofoshio on two surgically repaired knees and delivered a message. There are still five hours until New Year. Bourbon Street is just steps away. Families flocked to towns. Much to Washington’s chagrin, Texas fans also filled the Huskies’ team hotel.
This is their time to lock in and focus. They needed to block out distractions, even though midnight fireworks downtown made it difficult to get to bed early. He reminded them that they had worked their entire lives for an opportunity like the one they had earned.
They have won their past nine games by 10 points or less and have needed second-half comebacks to win three of those games.
It all leads them to this moment. He told them to be prepared.
No one was more prepared than Penix himself, who connected with Ja’Lynn Polk 77 yards on his second pass attempt to finish with 430 yards and two touchdowns. Washington defeated Texas 37-31 in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
“We just followed him,” Ulofosio said.
Darts from MICHAEL PENIX JR. 😮💨
The Huskies came out firing in the second half🔥 #CFBPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Ay61e1vHXL
— ESPN (@espn) January 2, 2024
Washington has some veteran players who have played for three coaches and had a losing season. Penix endured more hardships, starring in Indiana before injuries derailed his career and sent him into the transfer portal, where he worked with Washington coach Karen De Bol (former Indiana offensive coordinator) reunion.
His first four seasons were all ended prematurely by injuries. As a freshman in 2018, he tore his ACL. A year later, he dislocated the ACL in his right non-throwing shoulder. In 2020, after leading the Hoosiers to a top-10 ranking in the polls, he tore his ACL again. In 2021, he dislocated his shoulder joint and was absent again.
This caused doubts and struggles with his mental health and almost drove him away from football.
“It brought me here. Going to Indiana helped me meet Coach DeBoer, and the relationship we’ve built over the years has been amazing,” Penix said. “And I don’t want to play for anyone else.”
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Penix looked back at the days following the best moment of his career, recalling that part of his story while also acknowledging that his father couldn’t see his vision and didn’t want him to start his career at Indiana , how difficult it is.
“He’s at the bottom. He’s at the top. He’s at the bottom again, and here he is at the top, shining again in the biggest moments,” said receiver Rome Odunze, who Led the team with 6 catches for 125 yards.
“He deserves it,” Ulofosio said.
Time and time again, Penix painted rainbows and scraped the Superdome’s ceiling, bringing Washington to the doorstep of its first national championship since 1991 and the program’s first College Football Playoff victory. By the way, which team was it beating and sharing the national championship in 1991? It will play Michigan again for the championship next week in Houston before joining the Wolverines in the Big Ten next season.
Along with arguably the best receiving corps in the country in Odunze, Polk and Jalen McMillan, Penix overcame Texas’ secondary and found the third level time and time again. group of people. He evaded the Texans pass rush, extended the game and finished the night without a sack or fumble. He ran three times for 31 yards when called, a rarity in DeBoer and coordinator Ryan Grubb’s offense, setting up for the season’s biggest stage and best. Opponents save some wrinkles.
The spirals he launched downfield floated into receivers’ arms, frustrating Texas’ defensive backs who gave up more passing yards to Penix than any quarterback they’ve faced this season. All 52 yards more.
With the score tied at 21, Penix trotted back to the halftime locker room and completed his first 11 passes of the third quarter to give the Huskies a 31-21 lead and put them in control of the second half. .
“He’s like this 24/7,” Polk said. “This is nothing new to us.”
Michael Penix Jr. was named Sugar Bowl Offensive MVP. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Penix finished second in Heisman Trophy voting a month ago but would also have hoisted the trophy if the voting had continued past Monday’s semifinals.
“I don’t think he won the Heisman because they always looked at us as losers,” Polk said. “You go to the movies and turn it on and there’s no lies. He can do everything. He can run, he can shoot, he can pass. Whatever you need, he’s going to make it happen on film. If he doesn’t understand That, man, it’s going to hurt us as a team. But we know who really won the championship, and that’s him.”
DeBoer called Penix “the best player in college football.”
As Penix waited for ESPN cameras to cut to him for a postgame interview, a staffer helped him put on a championship T-shirt over the pads, the sleeves barely covering the cursive “M” on his left tricep The tattoo, along with a matching “P” tattoo, is on his right tricep. A purple durag covered his head.
He closed his eyes, looked to the sky, and pointed for a moment of thanks.
“It was a tough time. I’ve been through some tough things in my career,” Penix said. “But I always say, ‘Man, I feel like everything I’ve been through has been leading up to this moment. It’s made me the person I am today as a person and as a player.’ So I wouldn’t change anything.” “
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A few feet away, tight end Jack Westover crouched down and stared at the moment with glassy eyes as he caught six passes for 59 yards. Running back Dillon Johnson was injured in the final minute of the game, beating his chest and pumping his fists as a cart carried him into the locker room.
The Huskies entered the season with 40-1 odds to win the national championship, ranking 14th among all contenders. Penix, 1-1, got them there.
As Prince’s “Purple Rain” echoed through the suddenly burnt orange-less stadium, Penix took to the stage to present the trophy. He hugged DeBoer, who patted his shoulder pads. Their voices have become hoarse.
Penix climbed onto the stage and his teammates looked up at him.
“We have one more game to play,” he told ESPN’s microphone as Washington fans cheered in the stadium. “We’re going somewhere clean, man. Let’s go.”
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(Top photo: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
