Michael Penix Jr. wows, Jackson’s final play pushes UW past Texas to national title game
Michael Penix Jr., Elijah Jackson and the Huskies just would not be denied. Again.
And now it’s an old-school, Washington-Michigan showdown for the national championship next week.
Penix showed the rest of the nation that apparently didn’t know why he’s the best — meaning most-clutch leader and performer — in college football.
If not Heisman Trophy-worthy, Penix is now undeniably national title-game worthy.
The sixth-year senior who bulled through four major injuries and a transfer to transform UW completed 29 of 38 passes to shred one of the country’s best defenses for 430 yards, two touchdowns. The passing yards were the second-most in the decade history of the College Football Playoff.
Penix’s gritty, been-here-done-this drive to a field goal late Monday night and defensive heroics in the second half from edge rusher Bralen Trice — then a final-play knockdown of a Longhorns pass in the end zone by Jackson — ended the Huskies’ dramatic, 37-31 victory over Texas in the national semifinal at the 90th Sugar Bowl in the bonkers Superdome.
It was a game for the ages. Forever.
And they have one more.
Was this Penix’s best game?
“Nah,” he said amid purple confetti on the field after the game. “We got another one.
“Husky Nation, stand up, man! We’re going to the ‘Natty,’ man!”
Washington rolled up 532 yards but got two field goals instead of touchdowns that would have put the game away early in the fourth quarter. That allowed Texas the chance to close within 34-28 with 7 minutes left.
That’s when Penix stayed Penix. And Washington (14-0) stayed perfect in its quest to win its first national championship since 1991.
Third and 2. The Superdome mostly burnt orange roaring its loudest of New Year’s Night. Penix throws a no-step strike to tight end Jack Westover caught while diving for a first down.
On the next play, Penix calmly threw around a blitzing defensive back free in on him, to the right flat to Jalen McMillan. UW’s wide receiver ran for the rest of that 14-yard completion.
His next pass was Heisman Trophy-quality.
Like he did to beat Oregon, to win at Oregon State in the rain on third down late, like he did in the Apple Cup and in the Pac-12 title game last month and throughout Washington’s perfect (so far) season, Penix looked for Rome Odunze. Again, Odunze was one on one down the sideline. Like all season, UW’s All-American caught Penix’s dart off the back of Texas defensive back Ryan Watts.
The gutsy — and characteristic — completion for 32 yards put the Huskies at the Texas 10 with 3-1/2 minutes left.
“Mike can put it anywhere on the field,” Odunze said in a locker room that resembled a frat party, without the alcohol.
It was gloriously messy in full-throttled celebration.
“Luckily, he’s looked at me a lot of times in those situations and I’ve been able to come down with them,” Odunze said.
From there, Grady Gross kicked his third field goal. That put UW up 37-28 with 2 minutes to play.
Elijah Jackson saves the...season
The end came with some thrilling yet uncomfortable drama for the Huskies.
Texas drove frantically to a field goal with 69 seconds left, after Faatui Tuitele knocked down a pass on third down in the red zone. That made it 37-31 Huskies.
Washington’s Josh Cuevas recovered Texas’ ensuing onside kick with 1:07 remaining. Dillon Johnson ran out the Longhorns’ remaining time outs. Washington was playing to give Texas the ball back with perhaps 15 seconds and a full field to travel. But on a third and 5 Johnson injured his leg while Texas stopped him short of the line to gain. He needed trainers on either side of him to help him to the sideline.
Johnson left the field after the game on the back of a motorized cart, pumping his fists to roaring Huskies teammates and fans. Coach Kalen DeBoer said his lead running back seemed to re-injure the leg that’s been bothering him since late November. Johnson’s status for the national championship game will be a big topic in the coming week.
Washington punted with 50 seconds left. UW interfered with Texas’ fair catch. That 15-yard penalty gave Texas a drive start at its own 31 instead of 16.
On third and 10, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers threw a jump ball Jordan Whittington caught over UW’s Jabbar Muhammad at the Huskies 28-yard line with half a minute left. Muhammad was injured on the next play, an incomplete pass. He had to be helped off, too.
With 15 seconds left, Ewers completed a pass to the 12. With 10 seconds remaining from the 13, Ewers threw incomplete out of the back of the end zone. Five seconds remained.
Then Washington sent the Dawgs.
The Huskies blitzed multiple defensive backs, including Mishael Powell off the edge. He was unblocked and forced Ewers to throw the ball away. The clock expired, but officials put 1 second back on it to agonize the Huskies.
“The entire time on the sidelines, it was belief,” Penix said.
And why not?
On the final play, Ewers looked at Texas wide receiver Adonai Mitchell on the right sideline of the end zone. The pass was high and behind Mitchell, a tough-to-defend back-shoulder throw. UW’s Jackson timed his jump like an outfielder tracking a fly ball at the wall. Jackson batted away from Mitchell’s mitts.
Incomplete.
“That’s what winners do,” Washington linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio said.
“Even the last play, you’ve got to believe.”
The Huskies stormed the field like school was never going to be back in. It resumes again this week, by the way.
The Dawgs are going to Houston to play Michigan for the national title next Monday night.
“Obviously, I’m proud,” DeBoer said.
“The one thing that became fully apparent in our locker room, right after the Oregon win (36-33 at Husky Stadium Oct. 14), the focus after games has gone into: The job’s not done.
“I even felt that in there tonight.”
Michigan’s undefeated season continued earlier Monday with an overtime win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl, this year’s other College Football Playoff semifinal.
“Bring it on,” Trice said.
“Let’s go!”
Bralen Trice, defense’s MVP
The Huskies did what’s become expected with the ball to begin the second half: Penix’s surgical precision on passes led them down the field for breezy touchdown drive. His 19-yard score over the middle to Jalen McMillan was a dart off a fake screen to a running back outside.
Washington led 28-21 — but needed its defense to turn back Texas.
Better than that, it turned the Longhorns over.
On the first scrimmage play after McMillan’s touchdown, Huskies edge rusher Trice ran upfield and chased down Texas’ C.J. Baxter on his inside run. Trice forced a fumble that UW safety Asa Turner recovered at the Texas 33 for Washington’s first takeaway of the game.
DeBoer and play caller Ryan Grubb went conservative from there, knowing they had a short field goal and two-score lead in the bag. Three consecutive runs, the third with Johnson stopped for a loss of 2 on third and 3, led to Gross’ 26-yard field goal. Washington led 31-21.
Trice came up large again on Texas’ next possession. After a Longhorns first down, Trice charged free in on quarterback Ewers and forced him to throw a ball away to avoid a sack. Texas had to punt. Washington had the momentum, and a 10-point lead.
Washington added another field goal instead of a touchdown after a first down at the Texas 23 early in the fourth quarter. That kept Texas in the game, down 34-21. The Longhorns were driving inside the UW 30.
Then, at the end of a 22-yard catch and run by Texas’ Jaydon Blue to the Huskies 22-yard line, Trice sprinted more than 25 yards from near the line to force a fumble. UW linebacker Ralen Goforth recovered with 14 minutes left to keep the Huskies ahead 34-21.
On Texas’ next possession Trice sacked Ewers. But Ewers responded on third and 5 with a long completion down the left sideline for 38 yards to Xavier Worthy past cornerback Jackson, to the Washington 16. That led to Texas pulling within 34-28 midway through the final quarter on a brilliant, 5-yard touchdown catch by Adonai Mitchell, twisting to his back shoulder in coverage by Jackson.
The Huskies’ made the game’s first mistake, and it got Texas back even in the second quarter.
Washington’s Germie Bernard muffed a punt after a Texas three-and-out possession; he tried to run before he caught the ball. The Lornhorns recovered at the UW 22, and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.
After the turnover, amid the roars of the mostly burnt-orange crowd, DeBoer calmly talked to Bernard as he came to the Huskies’ deflated sideline. After Texas’ ensuing touchdown tied the game at 14, DeBoer strolled 40 yards during a long media timeout. He walked to where Bernard was seated on the bench with UW’s receivers. He tapped Bernard on the thigh pad. He tapped his sophomore transfer from Michigan State on the shoulder pad.
Then the coach tapped his player again. DeBoer waved his hand dismissively, in a don’t-worry-about-it way.
UW’s missed opp to end 1st half
A roaring, pulsating first half ended with the Huskies’ defense blowing a chance to seize control of the game.
Late in the second quarter, the crowd was roaring and Texas players were doing leaping chest bumps and woofin’ over not jumping as UW tried to draw them offside with a hard count on a 4th and 1. DeBoer called time out--and went for it anyway, deep in his own end.
Dillon Johnson ran over guard for the first down easily.
Forget “conventional wisdom.” These Huskies just GO.
DeBoer’s calm guts sparking Penix and the Huskies down the field. The drive ended with Penix throwing a daring dart over the middle in tight coverage. UW’s Ja’Lynn Polk tapped the ball into the air over the defensive back to himself for a smooth, 29-yard touchdown catch. The Huskies led 21-14 with just under 2 minutes left in the half.
“We attack,” Odunze said, “regardless of the situation.”
At that point, Penix was 11 for 14 passing for 255 yards, the touchdown and a wowing passing efficiency rating of 255.1. The Huskies had 306 yards of offense in less than two full quarters.
Washington had Texas backed up on its own 28-yard line with 1:27 left in the half. Yet the Huskies allowed quarterback Quinn Ewers to complete four of six passes, then scramble for 5 yards into a third and 1 at the UW 28. Ewers tried to pass. Washington’s secondary blanketed receivers downfield, but the Huskies’ front lost control of Ewers moving out of the pocket. He ran into open field up the middle for 21 yards, sliding down at the 7. At the end of his slide, UW safety Asa Turner slammed into Ewers’ chest. That penalty for unnecessary roughness moved the ball to the 3.
Texas’ C.J. Baxter run in from their for the touchdown with 17 seconds left in the half.
Instead of going into halftime and the third quarter with a seven-point lead and receiving the second-half kickoff, Washington was tied again, at 21. UW’s coaches left the press-box area at half angrily muttering about how it ended.
Ja’Lynn Polk’s fire
At the end of pregame warm-ups, wide receiver Polk gathered all Huskies around him in the Superdome’s north end zone. The sophomore transfer from Lufkin, Texas, and Texas Tech stomped and yelled at his Dawgs in a fiery speech.
Then on UW’s first offensive possession, Polk backed up his bark.
He beat the Longhorns’ Terrance Brooks across the field and got behind the cornerback. Penix, like he has for two UW seasons, calmly waited for his receiver to break deep then lofted a perfect rainbow onto Polk’s hands. His 77-yard catch and run from the Washington 21-yard line to the Texas 2 set up Dillon Johnson’s touchdown run on the next play.
The Huskies led 4 minutes into the game.
This story was originally published January 2, 2024 at 1:06 AM.
