The Washington Huskies (14-0) and Michigan Wolverines (14-0) are set to lock horns on Monday night in Houston. Winning the CFP national championship game would be the first national title since 1991 for the Huskies or 1997 for the Wolverines.
While most believe the Wolverines will finish the job and win it all, the Huskies and their super senior signal-caller Michael Penix Jr. are saying not so fast.
All season the so-called subject matter experts kept waiting for the Huskies to fold, and all they kept doing is winning. Led by Penix Jr., they’re now 60 minutes from winning the national championship in the final season of the 108-year-old Pac-12 conference. If there was ever a contrast in styles in a title matchup this one is it, and Penix gives the Huskies a great chance to knock off the favorite Wolverines.
Penix And Huskies Will Test Wolverines Stout Defense
All season the Wolverines have been stout defensively. In their 27-20 semifinal win over Alabama, the Wolverines held the Crimson Tide to 288 total yards and bottled up quarterback Jalen Milroe to the tune of 116 yards passing. Dealing with a passer as accomplished as Penix Jr. won’t be easy, especially with him coming off the third-most passing yards 430 in CFP history in the Huskies’ 37-31 semifinal win over the Texas Longhorns.
It was arguably the best performance we’ve seen in the CFP era from a quarterback, and that includes former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow’s 2019 unbelievable run. Penix Jr. embodies the leadership, toughness and savvy that second-year head coach Kalen DeBoer knew he needed when he got the job in 2022. The two were together in Indiana in 2019, and the minute DeBoer landed in Seattle he had to have Penix Jr.
The move has paid off with the Huskies 25-2 in two seasons under the DeBoer and Penix Jr. regime. Ahead of Monday’s game DeBoer talked about his star quarterback and what he’s meant to the success of the Huskies program.
“I just knew that he’s a guy you could build a team around,” DeBoer said. “That, production-wise, would go out and give you everything you needed throwing a football, running an offense, leading a football team.
“As a person he’s a guy you’re never going to question having out front and center in moments like this, or out in the community. He’s going to know what to say and how it always brings our team closer,” DeBoer added.
With DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb running one of the most innovative offenses in all of college football, Penix Jr. has thrived, passing for nearly 9,300 yards, 66 touchdowns and just 17 interceptions in two seasons, including a nation-leading 4,698 this season. It’s an offense that accentuates Penix Jr.’s elite arm strength and the best receiver room in college football, led by future first-round pick Rome Odunze.
That offense is something the Wolverines haven’t seen all season, and especially with a quarterback as talented as Penix Jr. leading the way.
Injuries Are Why Penix Is In Sixth Season
When he entered the transfer portal in December 2021, there was no shortage of teams that attempted to add the gunslinging lefty. But only DeBoer was willing to give Penix Jr. the assurance that the offense would utilize his entire skill set.
Coming off four injury-riddled seasons (2018 and 2022 ACL injuries) and (2019 and 2021 shoulder and clavicle injuries), those injuries didn’t scare DeBoer, and that leap of faith has paid off in a huge way.
Now, all of Seattle and the surrounding areas of Washington state are hoping the two have just a little more magic left in the tank. If they do the Huskies will be hoisting an improbable CFP trophy sometime Monday night.
