The case for UW’s Michael Penix Jr. to win the Heisman Trophy goes way beyond numbers
Michael Penix Jr.’s Heisman moment?
It wasn’t his go-for-it touchdown pass to star wide receiver Rome Odunze one on one with 78 seconds left that beat Oregon at Husky Stadium in October. That kept Washington undefeated and sent the Ducks to their first loss.
It wasn’t Penix’s bold third-down pass to Odunze in the rain in Corvallis last month that pushed UW over No.-11 Oregon State last month.
It wasn’t his two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter Friday night in Las Vegas, after his Huskies blew all of their 20-3 lead on Oregon and fell behind to the Ducks for the first time in the Pac-12 championship game.
Michael Penix’s Heisman Trophy-worthy moment came immediately before that comeback, the rally that got UW into the Sugar Bowl and the College Football Playoff against Texas New Year’s Day.
It wasn’t broadcast on television.
In the long media timeout between the third and fourth quarters Friday night in Las Vegas, Penix demanded all 105 Huskies players, plus head coach Kalen DeBoer and his entire UW coaching staff, plus trainers, assistants — darn near 200 people, total — encircle him. Penix then delivered a fiery talk. He yelled. He impassionately pointed his finger.
He willed his Huskies to win. Again. For the 20th consecutive time.
What did he say, The News Tribune asked Penix following UW’s 34-31 victory over Oregon Friday night that makes Washington 13-0 for the first time in the storied program’s history?
“Just keep believing!” Penix said. “Just keep fighting! We’ve been in this position before, when it gets tight at the end.
“Look at the guy next to you. Just trust that he’s going to do his job, and win this game!”
The Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Trophy Trust says their hallowed award, first given in 1935 to University of Chicago running back Jay Berwanger, is to honor the “outstanding college football player in the United States whose performance epitomizes great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work.”
Monday, the Heisman Trophy Trust recognized Penix for all that by naming him one of four finalists for the award.
The others are LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, Oregon quarterback Bo Nix and Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. The winner will be announced on national television (ESPN) Saturday night at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City.
The top four vote-getters determined by more than 870 voters, which include members of the media and former Heisman winners, become finalists.
Diligence? Perseverance? Hard work? Penix is in his sixth college season. The native of Tampa, Florida, had not one, not two but four season-ending injuries in four years at Indiana. He’s come back from two tears of the anterior cruciate ligament. He’s returned from two more major injuries, dislocated joints in his shoulder.
DeBoer was Penix’s play caller at Indiana before he took the head-coaching jobs at Fresno State then at Washington, hired by the Huskies in November 2021.
DeBoer understands the Heisman Trophy is largely a beauty pageant. The player with the prettiest numbers and glossiest resume usually win.
Oh, yes, the coach appreciates Penix leading the nation in passing yards this season and last. His 4,218 yards passing this season, following his 4,641 in 2022, make Penix the first Huskies quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in consecutive seasons.
But what DeBoer — what all Huskies present and past — appreciate most about Penix: His 20 consecutive wins.
And what he did between the third and fourth quarters Friday night in Las Vegas.
“When you are exhausted, and giving everything you have, you get the team around you and just put your heart and soul into it and challenging these guys that, ‘Hey, this is the moment we’ve been been waiting for,’” DeBoer said Sunday.
“And it means so much more when it comes from...your quarterback who you have all the trust in the world in?
“Man, it just doesn’t get any better than that.”
Penix beat Nix, twice. UW is the only team that beat top-six-ranked Oregon this season, twice.
Some Heisman voters believe the trophy should go to the “most valuable” player in major college football.
Most valuable? Penix is the only one of the four Heisman finalists who will play in the College Football Playoff.
“We have the frickin’ Heisman quarterback!” Huskies linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio said following UW’s win over Oregon Friday night.
Yes, Daniels’ numbers are video-game crazy: 40 touchdowns, four interceptions, the nation’s only passing efficiency rating over 187 (his is 208), a nation’s best 302 points responsible for.
But his LSU team lost three games. He’s playing in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Penix and UW are two wins from Washington’s first national championship since 1991.
“First of all he’s, just, 13 and oh. Won every game,” DeBoer said.
“I think what you do is you look at the greatest moments, that’s when the greatest players have to arise, right? And step up. He did it again (Friday) night. Behind, then we found a way to get ahead. It was 24-20 (Oregon), right? Driving our football team down the field.
“(Then) he does it again, takes us the length of the field, you know. Gives us the lead.
“And then, let’s go back to the Oregon game the first time (in October at Husky Stadium). Wins the football game with a throw.
“Finding ways to lead us against Washington State in the Apple Cup.
“There are those big moments where you do that and win those games and go 13 and oh, because you have the trigger man,” DeBoer said. You have the guy that doesn’t just put up all these crazy stats, but a guy that leads you football team.”
DeBoer said that includes halftime in Las Vegas Friday night, after he as the head coach got done talking to the team in the locker room before the second half.
DeBoer said then Penix got up in front of the entire team in there, “and just takes it to another level.”
Michael Penix Jr.: This is a team recognition
For Penix, going to the Downtown Athletic Club Saturday night for the Heisman Trophy presentation is a team award. It’s validation that not just his but, more importantly to him, the Huskies’ season has been historically special.
“Yeah, it definitely goes hand in hand. It’s all about team success,” Penix said before the Pac-12 title game.
In two sentences he already about quadrupled his normal answer word count about his accolades.
“You know, for those awards you don’t usually see them go to people that’s not winning. As a team you get those awards,” he said.
“It’s all about the team. I couldn’t be in that position without my guys, without my offensive line being great, receivers being great. Running backs doing a great job, tight ends, just everybody working together to come out with wins.
“You know, once you come out with wins, those individual accolades, they just start showing up.”
Penix has remained among the elite quarterbacks in college football his two seasons at Washington. He finished the regular season first in the nation in yards passing, third in in touchdown passes (33). He was sixth in total offense per game (323.1 yards) and sixth in points responsible for (218).
He’s a finalist for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, the Maxwell Award given to college football’s most outstanding player and the Walter Camp Player of the Year award.
Penix helped make Odunze one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award as college football’s best receiver. The Tallahassee (Florida) Quarterback Club foundation announced that last week
Penix also is a finalist for the national Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
“The statistics are one thing. The wins are another. The leadership. He’s just a class act through and through,” DeBoer said. “It’s first and foremost all about this team.
“The Heisman would just be a piece of it, where it’d be an awesome thing that many year down the road would be an awesome honor for him to continue to look back on.
“But right now, I can tell you, first and foremost what he’s about is our team winning this next football game, and in hopes of getting onto a national championship.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2023 at 9:14 AM.
