When B.J. Green Met Michael Penix Jr. in 2022, It Was Scary
The last time the Washington Huskies lost a football game — 20 outings and 14 months ago — B.J. Green turned up in the headlights.
He was the guy who hit Michael Penix Jr. low while Arizona State teammate Travez Moore smacked him high, sandwiching the UW quarterback and leaving him crumpled on the ground at Sun Devil Stadium.
With a hush coming over the Husky sideline, Penix stayed down for multiple minutes, surrounded by coaches and trainers, making people wonder if his history of incredible bad luck at Indiana — four season-ending injuries — had now followed him to Washington.
"If was scary, but I'm good," Penix said later, explaining how he was hit in the throat and had trouble breathing. "If I'd been hospitalized, it would have been bad."
Meantime, the officials gathered after the play and determined that the overly aggressive Green was guilty of targeting and the 6-foot-1, 270-pound defensive tackle from Atlanta was ejected with 1:22 remaining in a game the Huskies would lose 45-38.
The last-ditch drive for the Huskies to change the outcome had begun at the UW 13 with just under three minutes left to play.
Green also made his presence felt on first down, charging through with the aforementioned Moore to share in a sack of Penix at the 3.
They hit him again three plays later, on fourth-and-11, right after he let go of a 19-yard pass to Rome Odunze to keep the driving going.
While Penix labored some in catching his breath, he was able to get to his feet and jog off the field, holding his helmet, while back-up quarterback Dylan Morris came in to replace him for one play.
Flash forward 14 months and Green has announced how he will join the Huskies for the 2024 season, long after Penix is gone, and well after the current College Football Playoff run is done that takes the UW to the Sugar Bowl and a Jan. 1 semifinal pairing with Texas.
B.J. Green takes down Oregon running back Bucky Irving with a big hit.
Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY sports
Green will give the Huskies a determined playmaker up front once Tuli Letuligasenoa and Ulumoo Ale use up their eligibility. He leaves Tempe with 60 career tackles and 13.5 sacks.
"He's got the mindset that no matter who's blocking him, he's going to win," Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham said this past season.
Green will come to Montlake with a story similar to Husky linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio to tell. He initially joined Arizona State as a preferred walk-on and was given a scholarship after he came up with 5 sacks as a freshman during the 2021 season.
He played against the UW that year as a reserve, but didn't register any stats in the Sun Devils' 35-30 victory at Husky Stadium.
This past season, he missed the ASU-UW game in Seattle, which was won by the Huskies 15-7, presumably with an injury.
While they won't be teammates, Green and Penix no doubt will get a chance to meet each other in the UW football facilities under much less violent terms.
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