NEW ORLEANS — If there was ever a win that embodied this season's Huskies, it took place in the Sugar Bowl on Monday night. As the Superdome's decibel levels soared into the 100s, the attendees' heartbeat-per-minute rate might have doubled that.
Less than three minutes after falling behind by nine, and less than a minute after cutting the deficit to six, Texas marched down to Washington's 12-yard-line before taking four unsuccessful shots at the end zone in the final 15 seconds of the game. The near-tragic loss turned into a full-magic win that preserved one of the greatest individual performances in Huskies history.
That's right, the story Monday night — despite all the late drama — was Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. One of the more impressive collective efforts in UW's program history was overshadowed by an individual masterpiece.
Penix's career is replete with 60-minute gems. He has led the country in passing yards in each of the past two seasons and finished second in this season's Heisman Trophy race.
But he had never been as dominant, dynamic or precise as he was in Monday night's 37-31 victory in the College Football Playoff semifinal. In the biggest game of his career, Penix let the whole country know who he was.
Sure, most casual fans knew Michael's name before he and his Dawgs beat the Longhorns in the Big Easy. But unless those fans lived on the West Coast, it was unlikely they regularly saw him devastate defenses four quarters at a time.
On Monday, however, there was no looking away from the country's most clutch quarterback. Playing just 80 miles from Baton Rouge — where LSU's Jayden Daniels put together his Heisman-winning season — Penix showed that maybe, just maybe, voters picked the wrong signal caller.
And he made his case almost instantly.
On the Huskies' fourth play of the game, Penix dropped back from Washington's 21-yard line and found Ja'Lynn Polk in stride on what became a 77-yard completion. Washington scored a touchdown two plays later to go up 7-0.
Two drives later, Penix connected with Germie Bernard for a 29-yard completion, then he hooked up with Rome Odunze for a 24-yard completion, then watched his running backs pound their way to the end zone to go up 14-7.
The greatest half of Penix's career continued on UW's ensuing possession, when the QB tossed an impeccable ball that looked like it had a 0.01% chance to find a receiver's hands. It ended up falling into Odunze's fingers for a 52-yard gain. And though the Huskies did not score on that drive, they did on the next, when Penix zipped a 29-yard pass that bounced off the hands of Polk, who reeled it in on the second effort for a go-ahead touchdown.
When the end of the second quarter came around, Penix was 11 for 14 with 255 yards.
By no means did the Huskies, who were tied 21-21 with Texas at that point, appear to have the upper hand. But it was clear who the best player on the field, if not the country, was at that point.
He wore No. 9. And he just never stopped.
Washington's first drive of the second half featured six Penix completions — the last of which was a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jalen McMillan — along with a 12-yard Penix run. He led the Huskies to field goals on their next two possessions after prompting the following X post from former Heisman winner Matt Leinart Jr.
"Michael Penix Jr. Making a case to be the top pick in the draft?" Leinart said. "As pure a thrower I've ever seen."
But it isn't the purity of his passes that has defined Penix's season — picturesque as they are. It's his poise in the biggest moments. How else has Washington (14-0) managed to pull off 10 wins this season by 10 points or fewer?
Leading 34-28 with 7:23 left in the game, Washington took possession on its 25. And after completing a four-yard pass to Jack Westover on third-and-2 to keep the drive alive, Penix found Odunze on a 32-yard pass three plays later to set Washington up for the field goal.
Of course, all those highlights nearly disappeared when Texas got within 12 yards of pulling off one of the most iconic comebacks in college football history. Didn't happen, though.
Instead, Penix — who finished 29 of 38 for 430 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions (that's a typo-free stat line) was immortalized in the Huskies' biggest win in over 30 years.
He might have shocked a good portion of the country — but nobody wearing purple and gold.
"The guy was on a mission. He was on a mission," Huskies coach Kalen DeBoer said. "Maybe even being No. 2 in the whole voting thing, and some of that put a chip on his shoulder."
After the game, Penix was asked how his team keeps coming through in the biggest moments.
"Our bond," Penix said. "The love we have for one another, man. Everything we've been through."
Maybe that's part of it. More than anything, though, it's the southpaw from Florida who overcame four season-ending injuries before arriving at Washington.
He showed he is the best player in the country. And in one week, the Huskies will get this chance to show they're the best team.
