Penix for Heisman? 7 Previous Huskies Made a Bid for the Trophy

The UW quarterback has people talking about him after hot start.

The closest connection for a University of Washington football player to college football's biggest individual prize — the Heisman Trophy — came three decades ago when Husky wide receiver Mario Bailey did his memorable Rose Bowl improvisation for all to see, striking the iconic pose and becoming a human version of the hardware himself.

Otherwise, just seven UW players have figured in the voting since the award was created in 1935, with quarterback Michael Penix Jr. threatening to make it eight. 

Three red-hot performances will get you into the conversation, which is what has happened, but team-minded Penix is reluctant to discuss this development with much enthusiasm.

"All honesty, I really don't pay attention to it too much," the quarterback said on Tuesday. "When I see it, I wish I didn't see it. I just want to make sure I'm focusing on the right things and that's obviously winning with this football team, you know."

Still, all kinds of football and gambling outlets have been mentioning his name nonstop since Penix went on national TV last weekend and threw for 397 yards and 4 touchdowns in the UW's stirring 39-28 victory over a ranked Michigan State team at Husky Stadium.

The New York Post, in its Heisman watch, lists Penix among five contenders, who include Georgia's Stetson Bennett IV, Alabama's Bryce Young, Ohio State's C.J. Stroud and USC's Caleb Williams, all fellow quarterbacks.

Our @on3sports Week 4 Heisman boardhttps://t.co/rpdYVCAxu5 pic.twitter.com/jJzRHmA5MI

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) September 20, 2022

Another reason Penix is not bowled over by any of this sudden Heisman talk is he's been there before. At Indiana, he was singled out as a serious candidate during the 2020 season after leading the Hoosiers to upset victories over Penn State, Michigan State and Michigan before an injury ended his candidacy, and then again to begin last season, an effort that similarly was cut short by a physical mishap.

Two years ago, Sports Illustrated's senior college football writer Pat Forde offered the following assessment of Penix's inclusion among the leading Heisman candidates:

Selling point, beyond the stats: leading man for one of the nation’s surprise teams, with big showings against brand names — a clutch performance to pull out the Penn State game and a great performance in dominating Michigan. Had a signature play in the lunge to beat the Nittany Lions. Penix’s efficiency rating is actually lower than it was last year (an iffy 134.02 to date), but that’s largely driven by the fact that he was not good until he absolutely had to be good at the end against Penn State. He’s been turnover-free the last two games, and has just one on the season.

While the Husky quarterback might shy from this discussion, his coach addressed Penix's newfound college football celebrity as matter of fact. 

“It doesn’t surprise me,” Kalen DeBoer said on Monday. “He was in it before, a couple years ago at this time in the season. [Winning games] is a huge part of anything when it comes to those type of awards. I think if he just keeps his focus on what it’s been on, and that’s winning football games, he’s naturally going to be a big part of us winning. So if we just focus on winning football games, those individual accolades will come.”

Outside of Bailey's pre-planned Heisman moment, which came after he caught a touchdown pass in a 34-14 victory over Michigan to secure a national championship and was meant to mock the Wolverines' Heisman winner Desmond Howard, a Husky player has finished no higher than fourth in the balloting, and that was Bailey's teammate Steve Emtman. 

It's been six years since a UW player has appeared in the voting, when Jake Browning turned up sixth as a sophomore in a field that was topped by fellow quarterback Lamar Jackson of Louisville.

The following is a breakdown for each Husky player who has rated voting consideration for college football's most exclusive player bauble.

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HUSKY HEISMAN CANDIDATES

1. Hugh McElhenny, RB, 1951, 8th place, 103 votes

The explosive Husky running back was a senior for a football team that went bad (3-6-1) when it lost its starting quarterback, Don Heinrich, to a broken collarbone in a preseason practice, but he was so gifted the Heisman voters couldn't ignore him. McElhenny, who finished as the Huskies' all-time leading rusher with 2,499 yards and broke 16 school records, was 1,674 votes shy of winner Dick Kazmaier, a Princeton running back.

2. Don Heinrich, QB, 1952, 9th place, 153 votes

A healthy Heinrich was left to play as a senior without the graduated McElhenny after taking an injury redshirt the year before following his untimely injury. Heinrich became a two-time, first-team AP All-America quarterback and righted the UW to a 7-3 season, but he didn't provide much of a challenge to the eventual Heisman winner, Oklahoma running back Billy Vessels, who had 525 votes in a close competition.

3. Greg Lewis, RB, 1990, 7th place, 41 votes

Lewis finished as the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and the very first Doak Walker Award winner, which is annually given to the nation's top running back. Yet he suffered a knee injury that slowed him some at the end of the season and he finished well behind the Heisman winner, BYU quarterback Ty Detmer, who drew 1,482 votes. 

4. Steve Emtman, DL, 1991, 4th place, 357 votes

An Outland Trophy winner and consensus All-America defensive tackle, Emtman remains the highest-finishing UW player in a Heisman competition, Truth is, he was never going to win this prize no matter what because of built-in obstacles. The trophy still has never been awarded to an interior lineman on either side of the ball and it's been given to only one defensive player, Michigan defensive back Charles Woodson in 1997. Miami quarterback Gino Torretta won the Heisman that year with 1,400 votes.

5. Napoleon Kaufman, RB, 1994, 9th-place tie, 27 votes

Kaufman had an exemplary season, rushing for 1,390 yards and 9 touchdowns, making him the Huskies' all-time leading ground-gainer at the time with 4,106 yards. What hurt him was the UW was in the second and final year of a bowl ban and still answering for penalties meted out for various misdeeds, limiting the team success to a 7-4 season. The late Colorado running back Rashaan Salaam, who committed suicide 22 years later, was the Heisman winner with 1,743 votes.

6. Marques Tuiasosopo, QB, 2000, 8th place, 41 votes

Tuiasosopo was a worthy Heisman candidate after passing for 2,284 yards and 15 touchdowns, and rushing for 469 yards and 7 more scores, while leading the Huskies to a 34-24 Rose Bowl victory over Purdue and quarterback Drew Brees and being named game MVP. Yet Tuiasosopo came in well behind Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke, whose name turned up on 1,628 ballots.

7. Jake Browning, QB, 2016, 6th place, 91 votes

Just a sophomore, and the UW's youngest Heisman candidate, Browning led the Huskies into the College Football Playoff for the first time against Alabama. He was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for 3,430 yards and a school- and league-record 43 touchdown passes and helping the Huskies to a 12-2 record. He is the UW's second-highest finishing Heisman candidate behind Emtman. Louisville's Jackson won the trophy with 2,144 votes.

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