Inside The Huskies

Perseverance Runs in Penix Family as Parents Drive 16 Hours to See Alamo Bowl

The standout Husky quarterback, the game's offensive player of the game, shared his big bowl win with his family.

Dan Raley

In this story:

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Michael Penix Jr. came back from four season-ending injuries at his previous college football stop to show everyone he could be the quarterback everyone envisioned.

On Thursday night, Penix pushed aside a slow start for him, one that included a rare interception early in the game, to help carry his University of Washington football team to a satisfying 27-20 victory over Texas in the Alamo Bowl.

The 6-foot-3, 213-pound junior from Tampa, Florida, was rewarded by being named the offensive player of the game and becoming the Husky record-holder for passing yards in a season with 4,641.

Perseverance runs through the family. As he basked in the glow of the big win at the Alamodome, he was surrounded by his parents, Michael and Takisha, who traveled to the game by car after their flight from the sunshine state was canceled. 

They drove 16 hours. They crossed through Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. They stopped only to take the occasional break. 

"I'm just blessed they were safe," Penix said in a postgame interview. "I pray they make it back safe.

On this night, his parents were the only ones outside of teammates who got close to him as the Husky offensive linemen once more protected their quarterback like Secret Service agents, permitting no sacks once again.

Penix capped his first of two seasons in Montlake by completing 32 of 54 passes for 267 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Longhorns, all of which helped his team finish 11-2, becoming just one of five in school history to reach that total.

"We wanted to make sure we got this 11th win," Penix said. "We knew it was going to be hard, but at the same time we knew we would come out and fight, and that's what we did. It was a great win."

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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