RealDawg.com continues its 2022 season recap series of “Expectation versus Reality”. We’ve already looked at how Washington’s ground game bested all expectations. Then we looked at Tight Ends, noting their down marker-moving abilities. After that, we looked at one of the nation’s top passing offenses. Staying on the offensive side of the ball, we dug deep into Washington’s resurgence with the help of its offensive line. Now we’re going to break down the expectations and reality of the QB position.
What can be said about quarterback Michael Penix that hasn’t already been said? Let’s give it a shot.
The Washington Huskies capped off their 2022 season with an eleventh win in the Alamo Bowl against the Texas Longhorns. 13 months before a wayward Washington Husky offense stumbled its way to were fresh off of a 4-8 season which saw them go 0-3 against the Northwest schools including a WSU flag-planting on the “W” in Husky Stadium after a 40-13 season-ending loss in the Apple Cup. The 13 points wasn’t even the Huskies’ lowest output that season. In fact, six times in 2021 the Huskies were held under 20 points.
Headed into 2023 the quarterback position is in good hands with Michael Penix poised to be a top Heisman candidate. Back in August, things looked much different.
Expectation: The clear frontrunner for the starting quarterback position was the transfer from Indiana. Michael Penix had a stellar year under OC Kalen DeBoer but had not finished a full season due to injury. Dylan Morris and Sam Huard split the starting reps in a three-way competition. As camp continued it was evident that Penix was the clear starter. People began to wonder what was wrong with Morris and Huard.
When Penix was named the starter, expectations were that as long as he stayed healthy he would be efficient. Projections were that kept upright, Penix could be the 4th to 6th best quarterback in the conference behind Williams, Rising, and Nix; at the top of the second tier.
Given that Penix hadn’t been able to remain healthy at Indiana the expectation was that getting 10 games out of him would be a win. If he could improve the scoring by one touchdown over Washington’s 2021 output the Huskies could win 7-8 games.
Reality: Michael Penix broke the single-season yards record previously held by Cody Pickett and 3rd in touchdowns in a season. He led the Huskies to the top passing offense in the nation and two 1,000-yard receivers. Michael Penix ended up as arguably the best quarterback in the conference even with the Heisman winner from Southern California. He played every quarterback he was a matchup with including throwing 408 yards against Oregon in Autzen, the most by a Husky in the history of the rivalry.
The one thing that became surprising is that Penix, when necessary was able to become a game manager as happened in the Alamo Bowl against Texas; in Berkley, California, and at home against Oregon State. In those three games, he faced some of the best defensive minds, the Longhorns’ Pete Kwiatkowski, the Golden Bears’ Justin Wilcox, and the Beavers’ 16th-ranked scoring defense nationally under Trent Bray.
In all three of those games, the Huskies were held to 28 points or fewer and still managed to win. Cal got to Penix twice, but he didn’t throw an interception. He was picked off once by Texas and Oregon State.
In Washington’s two losses to UCLA and ASU, he threw 3 interceptions and was sacked 3 times. However, the Huskies scored 32 against the Bruins and 38 against the Sun Devils and completed 66 of his 101 (right on his season average of 65-percent completion rate. He also passes for 656 total yards in the two losses, slightly below his season average of 357 yards per game.
He finished 13th in the nation in passing TDs with 31.
A sign of his decision-making skill, as well as the play-calling and his outstanding offensive line, is that he was relatively untouched most of the season, being sacked only 5 times. That helped the Huskies lead the nation in tackles for loss given up with just 31. He was spectacular on third down conversions at 57-percent–tops in the nation.
Penix threw 8 interceptions which is good enough for 18th in the country among Power 5 QBs. The caveat to that number is that for many of the QBs ahead of him on the list a hundred or fewer passes.
Eight is the magic number for Number 9 as he finished 8th in Heisman balloting.
Expectation VS Reality Grade: A+
Overall Position Grade: A+
There is no doubt that Michael Penix exceeded even the most optimistic of expectations for the 2022 season and will be going into 2023 on every serious person’s Heisman watch list.
