Inside The Huskies

UW's Penix Finishes Eighth in Heisman Trophy Balloting

The Husky quarterback will pursue college football's top bauble again in 2023.

Dan Raley

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The Heisman Trophy is fun to argue about, debate and lambaste, but, face it, it's practically impossible to win — especially if you're a budding star from Seattle such as Michael Penix Jr.

This week, the New York-based award committee revealed how the balloting went for candidates six through 10 and the University of Washington quarterback finished eighth, which seemed commendable enough.

Unless, of course, you use Ryan Grubb's formula for determining college football individual excellence, then you question everything about the Heisman all over again.

"Any time, you look at big-time players, you want to look at what they're doing at the end of the year and how they progress, and that they're able to win big games," the Husky offensive coordinator said. "And, for Mike, not only has he done that, he's done it on the road."

Consider that the 6-foot-3, 213-pound Penix from Tampa, Florida, finished behind Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker, who was fifth; Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, the reigning Heisman winner, who was sixth this time; and Michigan running back Blake Corum, who ended up seventh in the voting.

No fault of their own, but Hooker and Corum couldn't finish out their respective schedules, each going down with season-ending knee injuries.

And of the finalists in USC quarterback Caleb Williams, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, TCU quarterback Max Duggan and Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett, all but Bennett lost in showdown games over the past two weeks— and Williams and Stroud rather badly.

So much for the progression aspect in measuring player excellence.

Penix closed out the regular season by beating three bowl-bound teams in Oregon State, Oregon and Washington State, winning at Eugene and Pullman. 

"It wasn't always perfect in those three games, in particular, but Mike's response was elite," Grubb pointed out. "He drove this team to a win in all three football games and I think that shows he's one of the best in the country."

Penix becomes the seventh Husky to finish in the top 10 in Heisman voting, joining defensive tackle Steve Emtman, fourth in 1991; quarterback Jake Browning, sixth in 2016; running back Greg Lewis, seventh in 1990; quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo, eighth in 2000; running back Hugh McElhenny, eighth in 1951; and quarterback Don Heinrich, ninth in 1952.

Emtman won the Outland, Lombardi, Morris and Willis awards, earned consensus first-team All-American recognition, was twice named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and wound up as the No. 1 player taken in the NFL draft back then, all while playing for a 12-0, co-national championship Husky team that dominated just about everyone it played.

Yet in 1991, Emtman still couldn't win the Heisman, which went to wide receiver Desmond Howard, who suited up for a twice-beaten Michigan team — one routed 34-14 by the UW in the Rose Bowl — and who went three draft slots lower than the Husky defensive tackle. 

Penix, who's returning to the Huskies for 2023, not only needs to surpass his performance to make another concentrated run at the Heisman next year, the school needs to hire a leading advertising firm to promote him. Right now.

(Full disclosure, I served as a Heisman Trophy voter for 20 years overall and, no, I didn't vote for Desmond Howard).


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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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