When Michael Penix Jr. connected with receiver Ty Fryfogle for a 24-yard touchdown late in the first quarter, it gave Indiana a 14-7 lead over Michigan. It was a lead the Hoosiers would not relinquish in a 38-21 win.
The victory, on a gorgeous 70-degree November afternoon in Bloomington, played in front of little more than 1,000 people because of attendance restrictions during Covid-19-wreaked 2020, snapped the Hoosiers’ 24-game losing streak to Michigan, which it had won 39 of the previous 40 meetings.
Playing in his 12th career game for No. 13 Indiana, Penix completed 30-of-50 pass attempts for what was a career-high 342 yards. He threw three touchdown passes, all in the first half, to equal what was a career-best.
“It’s us playing as a team, loving the next man, trusting the person beside you,” Penix said after the game. “Protect our brothers, make game-changing plays when they need to be made. All units playing together.”
National Championship Game
Perhaps Penix will say something similar following Monday evening’s national championship matchup with the Wolverines. The lefty will likely need an effort resembling that of over three years ago, his only previous encounter against Michigan.
Of course, much has changed since then. That includes personnel that will line up on the defensive side of scrimmage for the stingy Wolverines — yielding a nation’s best 10.2 points and 243 yards per game — on Monday evening under coordinator Jesse Minter. The unit barely resembles that from the 2020 matchup under Don Brown. In fact, linebacker Michael Barrett is the only Michigan defender who started the game against IU. He had 11 tackles that day and is the team’s second-leading tackler heading into the title game.
Starting safety Makari Paige was a true freshman in 2020 and made one of his six tackles that year against Indiana. Sixth-year defensive back and special teamer, German Green also played against Penix and the Hoosiers.
Penix would play only eight more games for Indiana. Three weeks following the Michigan win, he tore his right ACL against Maryland, an injury that also prematurely ended his true freshman season of 2018. Among the games he missed the remainder of the 2020 season was the Outback Bowl, resulting in a loss to Ole Miss in his native Tampa.
Five games into the 2021 season, the quarterback sustained yet another season-ending setback when he separated his left shoulder at Penn State. That would be his last appearance with the Hoosiers.
Transfer To Washington
Penix announced in mid-December 2021 that he was transferring to Washington where he would reunite with Kalen DeBoer, who was Fresno State’s head coach for two seasons before taking the job at UW two weeks earlier. DeBoer was Penix’s offensive coordinator, and position coach during the latter part of his redshirt freshman season in 2019.
DeBoer could not simply hand the Huskies’ starting job to Penix, who battled Dylan Morris and Sam Huard in the spring and preseason while proving his shoulder was sound. Still, familiarity was key for both parties.
“I just wanted to be somewhere where I felt like I’d be comfortable and be able to become a better person and become a better player, and I felt like this was definitely a spot,” said Penix, after DeBoer announced he would be the starting QB in 2022. “Being under coach DeBoer once already, I know some of the things that he brought to the table and the way he wants things to run, and I wanted to be a part of that.”
Penix has certainly become a better player. He has led the Huskies to a 25-2 mark the past two seasons while throwing for 9,289 yards and 66 touchdowns. He was the runner-up to LSU’s Jayden Daniels in this season’s Heisman balloting. It has been a run that has led Penix, Deboer, and the rest of the Huskies to being one win away from the program’s second national title and the first that is not shared.