Penix Not Only Set UW Records, He Drew High Marks from Grubb

Ryan Grubb sits at the front of an old University of Washington football team meeting room, one that resembles a college lecture hall. He appears ready to take attendance.

However, if Grubb was one of the school's tenured professors, students wouldn't be able to head for the door and drop his class fast enough.

He'd be their worst enemy because of how he operates, someone to avoid at all costs, a reason to find replacement credits even if this meant changing your major.

Grubb is a self-avowed hard grader.

Considering all of this, what UW quarterback Michael Penix Jr. did last Saturday in his record-setting performance during a 49-39 victory over the Arizona Wildcats at Husky Stadium was all the more impressive.

Penix drew high praise from this hard-to-please offensive coordinator, a guy many of these Washington players regard as a football genius.

"I think he looks at me sideways sometimes because I grade really hard, but he played a phenomenal game," Grubb said.

Have a CAREER day, Michael Penix Jr. 🤯😱 pic.twitter.com/DxprOv5YYi
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) October 16, 2022

The Penix numbers were glossy enough, making him the nation's No. 1 passer in terms of yards alone: a UW all-time best 516 yards passing in a game after hitting on 36 of 44 throws for 4 touchdowns, plus running for a fifth score. He also set a school record for total offense in a game with 529 yards.

Grubb, however, requires more than numbers to be overly impressed. He wants high-end consistency, attention to detail, style points.

Going down his quarterback checklist, the Husky OC with great relish marked off the following after reviewing Penix's most recent showing:

— Clutch deep throws;

— Timeliness with the football coming out of his hand;

— Avoided bounce-up defenders to make accurate passes for first downs;

— Eyes in the right spot all night, saw the whole field;

— Solid protection checks;

— Sound run take decisions.

UW coach Kalen DeBoer and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. confer on the sideline during Saturday's game against Arizona at Husky Stadium.

Michael Penix Jr. set a record for UW total offense in a game by throwing for 516 yards and running for another 13 against Arizona, giving him 529, 20 more than Marques Tuiasosopo piled up in 1999.

With four season-ending injuries in his football background, Husky quarterback Michael Penix Jr. knows to slide now at all times when tacklers are bearing down on him.

Michael Penix Jr. scored on an 8-yard touchdown run against Arizona, his second as a Husky. He accounted for five TDs against the Wildcats.

The Huskies' Michael Penix Jr. leads the nation in passing yardage while Rome Odunze is among the country's best in receiving yards.

Together, UW quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (9) and wide receiver Rome Odunze (1) are a perfect ten. They've become unstoppable as a passing combination.

The athletic Michael Penix Jr. can do it all when needed, either with his strong left arm or with his fleet feet. Here he soars through the air for extra yardage while everyone on the sideline watches.

While he drilled a pair of touchdown passes to Rome Odunze, another to Jalen McMillan and yet another scoring lob to Sam Adams II, Penix drew plaudits for a 27-yard pass he delivered to a spot where Giles Jackson caught up to it, combining his impressive arm strength with astute anticipation.

"I think that's the piece where Mike can throw to windows and areas and anticipate how the play, the route, is going to unfold versus certain types of coverage and that's one of the more impressive things about Mike," Grubb said.

Amazing enough, Penix's highly inflated numbers didn't earn him Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. They went to Utah's Cam Rising Jr., and rightly so, because the Utes quarterback helped engineer a 43-42 upset of seventh-ranked USC with his 30-of-44, 415-yard and 2-touchdown passing numbers.

Yet Penix is on his way to what could become an unforgettable quarterback showing for the Huskies and maybe lead to a promising NFL career, all enhanced by him showing off his intimate grasp of all the nuances that Professor Grubb demands.

"That's what's one of the more impressive things about Mike," Grubb said. "It's part of having a veteran guy that's played a lot of football, seen a lot of windows, did a lot of different coverages. That's where I think he's grown so much is the anticipation piece this last 4-5 weeks now. He's really, really grown into his own."

Penix won't be dropping Grubb's class any time soon. He's already graduated from Indiana with a degree in sports marketing. He's in grad school now, working confidently on his football thesis.

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