On the field, Washington Husky field goal kicker Grady Gross kicked the game winning field goal as time expired setting off a wild celebration.  Tied at 21 with 5 seconds remaining in regulation the Huskies drove 65 yards to the Washington State 25 yard line.

But nothing was easy in the season-ending rivalry game as Penix drove UW to the Cougars’ 16 yard line.  He took a sack putting the ball at the 25, making it a 42 yard field goal rather than a 33-yarder.

He knocked it through giving UW a 24-21 victory.

After the game he was put onto scholarship by head coach Kalen DeBoer.

“It feels good.  It took a long time and a lot of hard work,” the sophomore from Scottsdale, Arizona said after the game about being put onto scholarship.  “My parents, they’ve helped me every step of the way, I’m glad that I can help them out a bit.”

He’d missed a 30-yard field goal earlier in the game and was thankful for another chance.

“I was chomping at the bit to get a shot at redemption,” he said.

But the Cougars made him sweat it out a bit as they called a timeout just before the snap of his first game-winning attempt.

“I didn’t see the ball after it went 5 yards,” he recalled of his second attempt.

The ball went through the uprights as time expired and the Huskies finished a perfect 12-0 season.

He was mobbed in a wild celebration after the kick and then hoisted on his teammate’s shoulders in front of the Dawg Pack.  In the locker room the celebration continued in the locker room as UW head coach Kalen DeBoer announced to the team that the Gross family would no longer have to pay for their son’s education.

“‘I appreciate Grady because he’s on scholarship now’ Coach DeBoer said,” he smiled recalling the announcement.  “They just went crazy they got in a circle and mobbed me.  I don’t really remember a whole lot.”

It happened so fast that he went from the field to the locker room to press interviews that he hadn’t even been able to let his parents know.  Maybe they’ll find out when no tuition bill comes in due in January.