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Michael Penix Jr., Washington on the rise; Notre Dame sinks USC: Biggest winners and losers from College Football Week 7

By Chris Peterson

Oct 14, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington Huskies wide receiver Ja'Lynn Polk (2) celebrates scoring a touchdown against the Oregon Ducks during the first half at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 14, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington Huskies wide receiver Ja'Lynn Polk (2) celebrates scoring a touchdown against the Oregon Ducks during the first half at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports /
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Notre Dame football went from a loser to a winner in one week; Washington is a playoff contender and more winners and losers from College Football Week 7. 

College Football Week 7 proved to be consequential as Notre Dame football delivered what could be a fatal blow to USC’s playoff hopes.

That sounds drastic, but USC looked awful. To be fair, Clemson had a similar performance and still had a shot at the College Football Playoff last season.

We’ll have more on that in a minute. However, the biggest story was probably Washington football winning its top-10 showdown against Oregon.

Michael Penix Jr. threw a go-ahead touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter, then Oregon missed a game-tying field goal as time expired to give Washington football a massive win.

Here are the biggest winners and losers from Colege Football Week 7

Winner: Washington Football and Michael Penix Jr.

As I wrote earlier, Penix Jr. is essentially the Heisman favorite. I wrote that before the disastrous showing by Caleb Williams, but you could kind of see it coming.

USC is soft. People thought Washington was soft too. The Huskies aren’t and they proved it on Saturday with a 36-33 win.

Penix threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns. It looked like Oregon might win after a goal-line stand but Dan Lanning went for it on fourth down near midfield and failed to get it.

Penix drove Washington football down the field for the winning score. The Huskies are now in the driver’s seat for the Pac-12 title game. They also have a good chance of making the College Football Playoff with a big win similar to a team like Oklahoma if both were undefeated.

At any rate, few probably expected the Huskies to be the Pac-12’s top playoff contender after Week 7 but they earned that status on Saturday.

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