The Penix mightier than USC's sword

That was one of the most masterful performances ever for a quarterback at a school that has seen some truly extraordinary players at that position.

Michael Penix played one of the most impressive games I’ve ever seen from a Washington quarterback.

I don’t say that lightly because while I’m not old enough to talk about Sonny Sixkiller and Warren Moon, I was at Husky Stadium when Marques Tuiasosopo passed for 300 yards and rushed for 200 while playing with a bad ass.¹ I covered the Huards, both Damon and Brock, and still have a fondness for Cody Pickett, the cowboy who grew up on Chicken Dinner Road, as well as Isaiah Stanback.

And to be clear, Penix has had more prolific games than he did on Saturday when he finished with 256 yards passing, a season-low. Not only that it was against a USC team that had allowed 49 points to Cal the week before.

But in a game that came down to the question of which offense would be most perfect, Penix’s performance in the most highly leveraged moments made the difference. I’m not sure if it was enough to win him the Heisman. I do know that it was absolutely and utterly incredible.

Now, if you want to read about a less-scintillating performance by a local football team, I put a microscope over the Seahawks’ 34-point whupping in Baltimore. Be forewarned, though, that I take the game as a reflection of Seattle’s inadequacies up front as opposed to an indictment of the quarterback. In fact, Geno Smith is taking way too much grief as I don’t think his performance was Seattle’s biggest problem. I don’t think it was the second or even the third-biggest problem.

Assigning blame for a 34-point blowout

Penix, though? He’s the reason the Huskies beat USC at the Coliseum for only the sixth time since 1965. Yes, Dillon Johnson demonstrated that he was an absolute grown-ass man, rushing for 256 yards, but the reason the Huskies won this game is because when Washington was up against it — facing either third or even fourth down — Penix was not just perfect, but absolutely lethal, answering what had been a lingering question for me.