SEATTLE — After four injury riddled seasons at Indiana, quarterback Michael Penix Jr. took his talents to the west coast, where he blossomed into one of the NCAA's best quarterbacks last season with the Washington Huskies.
And now with one final year of eligibility coming up in 2023, Penix and UW are eyeing a Pac-12 championship and potentially a berth in the CFP, while Penix is in contention to take home the coveted Heisman Trophy Award.
Penix completed 65.3% of his passes last year for a whopping 4,641 yards and a stellar 31-to-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio, while leading the Huskies to an 11-2 record and an Alamo Bowl victory over Texas.
However, Locked on Huskies host Roman Tomashoff thinks Penix can be even better this season, thanks to improvements he has seen from the signal-caller in fall camp.
"He's such a special player," Tomashoff said. "He's throwing from different arm slots on a more consistent basis now. It's just something else that he's added to his bag. The fact that he's added this to his game will be really valuable for the Huskies."
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Penix will have plenty of competition from talented quarterbacks all across the entire college football landscape, and in his own conference as well. USC's Caleb Williams - the defending Heisman Trophy winner - is the odds on favorite for now, while Oregon QB Bo Nix and Utah's Cam Rising are serious contenders in the Pac-12.
North Carolina's Drake Maye, Michigan's JJ McCarthy, and Quinn Ewers from Texas are strong candidates from elsewhere, making this a very exciting race to follow during the 2023 college football campaign.
Washington plays Michigan State on September 16, and if Penix can hit the ground running and put up big numbers against a future Big 10 opponent in the Spartans, he'll get his Heisman candidacy off to a strong start.
Penix and the Huskies will first take on the Broncos of Boise State, which kickoff slated for 12:30 PM on September 2 at Husky Stadium.