DeBoer Says Penix Injury History Briefly Passed Through His Mind
Michael Penix Jr. lay in pain near the goal line at Sun Devil Stadium, the worst sight imaginable for the nation's then-leading passer.
University of Washington coach Kalen DeBoer hustled out on to the field in Tempe to check on the immobilized junior quarterback, not sure what he would find.
Penix was the one who followed DeBoer to the UW after suffering an inhumane four consecutive season-ending injuries at Indiana, looking for much better luck.
They had been together at the Big Ten school in 2019, enjoying a magical season, when Penix suffered the second of his crippling setbacks, tearing a shoulder against Northwestern. He missed the final seven games, including a trip to the Gator in his home state of Florida.
In those four seasons with the Hoosiers, Penix was never able to get past game six in a season. Here he was in trouble again at a ASU — in game six.
This time, two Sun Devils players had hit him high and low, with linebacker B.J. Green penalized for targeting Penix and ejected from the game. Green caught the quarterback in the throat with his helmet.
DeBoer arrived on the scene like an accident investigator, surveying the scene, with the quarterback in a great deal of of discomfort, when the Penix injury history briefly entered his mind.
"At first, I wasn't sure," DeBoer said. "Maybe a little of that thought was going through my mind."
Penix, however, recovered fairly quickly, finally catching his breath and being able to speak. Everyone's mood changed fairly quickly.
"I was just trying to sort out where he was going through with the injury," DeBoer said. "The pain was so strong early on. It was a a lot of different things in that area. He kind of really dialed in on what it was as it diminished."
People who know these things can tell you a typical collision on a college football field for everyone is not much different than being in a car accident.
In this case, Penix regained all of his bearings and got rid of much of the discomfort, but had to leave the field for a play and was replaced by Dylan Morris.
"He turned the corner really fast," DeBoer said. "It was, 'Oh, I think I'm going to be OK.' "
Penix later would recount how the late-game episode had shocked and scared him.
"If I had been hospitalized, it would have been bad," he said, knowing that situation oh too well. "But if I knew I could play, I would play."
DeBoer had tried to keep a positive frame of mind as he scurried around the field and everything worked out except the end result on the scoreboard: a 45-38 Husky loss to Arizona State.
"I didn't think in my heart it would be something that was a season-ending injury; it didn't feel that way," the coach said. "I knew we would have our challenges in trying to win the game."
Entering a new week, DeBoer said Penix has returned to practice without any lingering issues and would be ready to play again against Arizona at home on Saturday.
For the often misfortunate Penix, it's on to game seven — for the first time in his college career. That is a victory in itself.
"I think he's all good," DeBoer said.
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