Washington Football: Michael Penix Jr. will lead Huskies to surprise success

After going bowl-less for two years, Washington football will be back in the postseason in 2022 with Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback.

The 2021 season was a disaster for Washington football. Jimmy Lake fell short of expectations and was let go and the offense was a nightmare.

Washington began the season ranked No. 20, but after a 4-5 start, the athletic department decided to move on from Lake and the Huskies finished the year 0-3, totaling a 4-8 campaign.

The offense finished the season averaging just 326 total yards and 21.5 points per game (only good for 108th nationally). It was clear that the quarterback situation just wasn’t ideal with Dylan Morris leading the way. He did pass for 2,458 yards and 14 touchdowns but he threw 12 interceptions and was more of a game manager than a game-changer.

After hiring Kalen DeBoer as the next head coach, he went into the portal and landed a game-changer at quarterback in Indiana’s Michael Penix Jr.

DeBoer was his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Indiana back in 2019 when he received his first extensive playing time. He passed for over 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns with four picks while rushing for 119 yards and two more scores. DeBoer left for Fresno State in 2020 and Penix’s completion rate dipped big-time despite throwing four more touchdowns and about 300 more yards in the same amount of games (6).

Penix clearly saw some regression without DeBoer and that continued in 2021 with the Hoosiers as he passed for 939 yards and four touchdowns with seven picks and a career-low 54 percent completion rate. It was his worst year and he finished it early with an unfortunate injury.

It was tough to see an All-Big Ten talent struggle so much, but reuniting with DeBoer at Washington is going to work wonders for both the veteran quarterback and the program.

Washington hasn’t played in a bowl game since 2019 (in 2020 because of a COVID outbreak and in 2021 because of a 4-8 campaign) and Penix is the guy who’s going to change that. He is going to take the Pac-12 by storm in 2022 with DeBoer coaching him again and we’ll see him have a career year with the Huskies.

Big Ten fans feared Penix in 2019 and even in 2020 so opposing Pac-12 fans should be worried about Penix in Seattle. This is a good match and it’s going to lead to shocking success.