The Health Question Came Up At Michigan State and Penix Answered It

EAST LANSING, Michigan — Echoing through Spartan Stadium in the lead-up to Saturday's kickoff, a broadcaster for Michigan State's pre-game radio show brought up a sore subject. He questioned whether quarterback Michael Penix Jr., when considering his well-documented Big Ten history, could continue to stay healthy.

After 21 months and 16 games with the University of Washington football team, the answer is, well, a resounding yes.

In his ongoing two-season stint with the Huskies, Penix's medical file reads as follows (Hipaa privacy laws do not apply here): One Arizona State late hit that left him gasping for breath in the desert, which is what everyone does when hiking down there; a fall-camp sore arm, from possibly throwing out too many Mariners first pitches, and maybe a hangnail.

That's it. The 6-foot-3, 213-pound lefty from Tampa, Florida, looks as sturdy, robust and productive as anyone who has played quarterback for the Huskies in their 134-year history. He has so much swagger he warmed up early on at Michigan State wearing a set of gold Beats music headphones, which he represents in an name, image and likeness deal, that matched the color of his football helmet.

Penix is off to a sensational passing start to this season — 84 completions in 113 attempts for 1,332 yards and a dozen touchdowns — that could end up as prolific any top-line college quarterback since Pat Mahomes let loose for 5,052 passing yards at Texas Tech in 2016.

If he stays on course, Penix will match his 20 games played at Indiana over four seasons in just a season and a half at Washington.

Asked about his individual UW success this weekend, after throwing for 473 yards and 4 touchdowns in Spartan Stadium in a 41-7 victory, Penix preferred to sidestep that question like some stray edge rusher diving at his feet, passing on the credit, which is another of his endearing traits.

"Coach is going to be humble but to be honest, it's the play-calling and executing by the guys," Penix said of the Huskies' Kalen DeBoer, who's coached him at two schools now. "Coach DeBoer coming in and bringing his offense at Indiana and us using that in 2020 and this year, I'm blessed to play for him and coach [Ryan] Grubb."

A full contingent of NFL Midwest scouts was on hand for the UW-Michigan State mash-up and what they saw was a guy with a limber pro arm and extra-cool pocket presence that likely will have teams fighting over him in the next draft.

By moving from Indiana to Washington, Penix, in effect, changed casinos and his luck. At the first stop, he continually lost all of his money while betting big, otherwise suffering four season-ending injuries, while in Montlake he's done nothing but pile up the football chips and stay as healthy as can be.

Chances are, Penix has better linemen protecting him at Washington with their football lives than his previous stop, hence his improved "luck." For sure, he couldn't find a better complement of receivers to showcase his and their talents than he has in Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja'Lynn Polk, who should all be pro footballers with him someday soon. And the QB is totally dialed in with the DeBoer and Grubb offense.

Through three games, Penix's name is all over the NCAA national passing leaders.

He ranks No. 1 in passing yards with his 1,332 total, which is 81 more than his nearest pursuer, Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, and he's No. 1 in average passing yards per game with 444, 27 more than Sanders.

In passing touchdowns, Penix is tied with USC's Caleb Williams for No. 2, each with 12, which is one fewer than Notre Dame's Sam Hartman, who's put up his numbers in four games, one more than the others.

Penix is No. 4 in passing efficiency at 206.83, whereas Williams is the national leader at 240.50.

The Husky QB is fifth in completions per game with 28, while Sanders is the country's best with a whopping 35.67.

In completion percentage, Penix stands No. 9 at 74.3 percent, some distance behind Oklahoma's Dillon Gabriel, the leader at 82.5 percent (66 of 80 attempts).

On passing yards per completion, the UW signal-caller is tied for 10th with Baylor's Sawyer Robertson at 15.86 yards per throw, with UCLA's Dante Moore the country's best at 19.22.

Some Husky followers already have wondered out loud if Penix could become the greatest Husky quarterback of all-time in just two seasons of work. Numbers-wise, no one is going to touch him providing a meteor doesn't hit Husky Stadium.

To be the best, Penix would have to surpass Don Heinrich, a two-time, first-team AP All-America selection from the 1950s, and Bob Schloredt, a two-time Rose Bowl most valuable player in the 1960s, building his own reputation with big numbers and big wins.

Heinrich and Schloredt, of course, each had their UW careers interrupted midstream after suffering broken collarbones in practice and in a game, respectively.

If nothing else, Penix has a chance to be the healthiest Husky quarterback flirting with greatness of all-time.

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