Given the stakes and the stage, Michael Penix Jr.'s masterful display in the Huskies' 37-31 College Football Playoff victory over Texas in the Sugar Bowl might rank as the No. 1 individual performance in Husky history.
Washington has a proud lineage of quarterbacks, and what Penix did against Texas — completing 29 of 38 passes for 430 yards and two touchdowns, lifting the Huskies into the national championship game against Michigan — puts him, at the very least, right in line with the best performances from the best quarterbacks the Huskies have had.
Beyond the context of how Penix stacks up in program history, his performance Monday puts him in rare air in recent college football history.
"I don't know if I've ever seen a college kid throw the ball better in a game than what I saw from Penix," ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said on the 'Pat McAfee Show' Tuesday. "It was just perfect throw after perfect throw."
Penix, the Heisman runner-up, was so good against Texas that he had many rethinking their initial impressions of UW's left-handed QB.
That included some NFL talent evaluators, one of whom said he could see Penix emerge as a top-10 prospect entering the NFL draft in April.
"I have him high on my board. Very high," one AFC scout told The Times.
Longtime NFL executive Randy Mueller agreed.
"He is much more polished than people realized," Mueller said in an interview this week. "He's asked to do a lot in that offense — all the shifts and motions and protections. And all that stuff he's going to have to do in the NFL, so it's good stuff for scouts to see."
Many are projecting the Seahawks, with the 33-year-old Geno Smith as their starting quarterback now, to use a high draft pick to find a development QB. Could Penix be a fit?
"I would think so, for sure," Mueller said. "Seattle is going to have to look at some point for someone for the future."
Penix's mobility and pocket presence also stood out Monday. Playing against a Texas defensive line billed as perhaps the best in college football, Penix was barely touched — no sacks and no QB hits. That, to be sure, is a credit to UW's decorated offensive line but also to Penix's awareness and feel for when to move in and out of the pocket.
One NFC scout noted the one significant hesitant all NFL teams will likely have about Penix: his well-documented injury history.
At Indiana, Penix had three season-ending injuries, and Mueller expects that means Penix will go through a rigorous series of medical evaluations in the buildup to the NFL draft — as rigorous as anyone has experienced.
Fair or not, that Penix is left-handed also makes his evaluation at little more difficult. Historically, there just haven't been many left-handed QBs in the NFL — and even fewer productive left-handed QBs in the NFL — and that is a small hurdle Penix must overcome too, Mueller said.
Ultimately, though, Mueller said Penix might be the most NFL-ready QB of anyone in this draft class.
"He's shown he can function in a clean pocket and in a muddy pocket," Mueller said. "His overall body of work is so complete in this system — and that system matters — that it makes it easy (for scouts) to warm up to his uniqueness."
As of Dec. 29, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. did not rank Penix among his top 25 prospects in the 2024 draft class.
Pro Football Focus, as of Dec. 20, ranked Penix as the No. 30 overall prospect.
PFF's top five QBs:
The AFC scout has Penix ranked much closer to Williams, the 2022 Heisman winner who most project to be the No. 1 pick in the draft.
"Caleb Williams might be a little bigger bulk-wise, and he has some better elusiveness with his feet," the scout said. "But Penix has a unique presence about him. His poise under pressure really is an amazing quality."
Penix will have another chance to raise his — and the Huskies' — profile Monday in the title game against a Michigan defense ranked No. 1 in the nation.
"It's a fascinating matchup," Mueller said.
And a fascinating future to consider for the Huskies' QB.
GOING DEEP
Michael Penix Jr.'s performance in the Sugar Bowl ranks as one of the best by a quarterback in UW history. Other notable games:
— Billy Joe Hobert threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, and shared MVP honors with Steve Emtman in a 34-14 victory over Michigan in the 1992 Rose Bowl, clinching for UW a share of the national championship.
— Warren Moon ran for two TD and threw another to lead the Huskies, as heavy underdogs, to an upset of Michigan in the 1978 Rose Bowl.
— Jake Browning made his 'point' at Oregon in 2016, throwing a school-record six TD passes and rushing for two more to snap UW's blasted 12-year losing skid to the Ducks in a 70-21 romp in Eugene.
— Marques Tuiasosopo, playing through a first-quarter hip injury, became the first player in NCAA history to throw for 300 yards and run for 200 yards in the same game, leading UW to a comeback victory over Stanford at Husky Stadium.
— Bob Schloredt, a star at QB and defensive back, became the first player to win two Rose Bowl MVPs and the first UW player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. His performance in the 1961 Rose Bowl victory over No. 1 Minnesota helped the Huskies claim a piece of the national title.
— Sonny Sixkiller broke his own school record with 387 yards passing in a 38-35 victory at home over Purdue. Two weeks later, Sixkiller was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the "Washington Wonder."
— Cody Pickett threw for a school-record 455 yards and scored the winning touchdown on a 3-yard run with 13 seconds left in a 31-28 victory at Arizona in 2001.
