Where Penix Ranks Among Winningest UW Quarterbacks
Michael Penix Jr. already is a legendary figure in University of Washington football annals simply for quarterbacking the Huskies to 11 victories in 13 games his first time out, an amazing debut and a dramatic improvement of seven wins over the program's 2021 meltdown.
Returning for a second season in Montlake with a veteran crew, the Indiana transfer has a real opportunity to finish as one of the UW's most successful players at his position in terms of winning percentage as the starter. In other words, think of him like a baseball pitcher getting a win or a loss for his work on the mound.
With spring football practice just two weeks away from today, Penix currently ranks third with a .846 success rate, trailing only Billy Joe Hobert, who will forever carry a perfect 1.000 winning percentage as the Husky QB (17-0 in 1991-1992) and the late Bob Schloredt, who compiled an .850 rate (17-3 in 1958, 1959 and 1960).
While Hobert did his part in securing a co-national championship with a 12-0 run for the UW in 1991, all of that winning came at a huge cost for him and the program.
The following season, the extra folksy personality and noted risk-taker from Puyallup, Washington, lasted just five games as the quarterback starter — again, all victories — before he was replaced in favor of Mark Brunell, who had been the 1990 starter and directed the team to a 10-2 season but gave way to Hobert after blowing a knee in spring practice and having surgery.
The Huskies, as the record will show, suspended Hobert when the UW stood 8-0 in 1992 and he was found to have received improper loans from an Idaho businessman, and the team without him proceeded to lose three of its final four games that season.
Rather than contest his banishment and return to Montlake in 1993, Hobert turned to a professional baseball career before ultimately playing in the NFL.
Penix, who hails from Tampa, Florida, also trails Schloredt, who led the UW to consecutive Rose Bowls, earned All-America honors and was in contention for the Heisman Trophy.
Over three seasons, Schloredt went 1-1, 10-1 and 5-1 as the first-team Husky quarterback. As a sophomore from Gresham, Oregon, in 1958, he served as a backup quarterback for seven games and started two games as a signal-caller and even drew one opening assignment as a fullback. A broken collarbone suffered against UCLA and resulting surgery cost him half a season as a senior.
Schloredt's three losses were by 20, 7 and 1 point. Penix currently counts a pair of Husky losses of 7 and 8 points, or 13 fewer than the other guy. Hobert, of course, was not on the losing end of a game in which he started.
One hundred years ago, George Guttormsen quarterbacked the Huskies for three seasons while the team went 26-4-2 in 1924-26. Yet with doubleheaders and mismatched opponents, the Everett, Washington, native didn't start eight games back then, either sitting out or subbing in. Still, his 18-4-2 mark ranks with the best Husky QBs.
WINNINGEST UW QBS
Penix and his teammates have a much tougher path this season, with USC and Utah returning to the schedule and the Huskies playing at Michigan State rather than hosting the Big Ten team.
Yet the UW should have a chance to win every one of its 12 regular-season games and then what follows in the postseason, leaving Penix with a chance to surpass everyone except that forever perfect, and imperfect, Hobert.
HUSKY WINNINGEST QBS
1. Billy Joe Hobert, 1991-92, 17-0, 1.000
2. Bob Schloredt, 1958-60, 17-3, .850
3. Michael Penix Jr., 2022, 11-2, .846
4. George Guttormsen, 1924-26, 18-4-2, .791
5. Steve Pelluer, 1981-83, 23-7, .766
6. Hugh Millen, 1984-85, 13-4, .764
7. Marques Tuiasosopo, 1997-2000, 20-7, .740
8. Mark Brunell, 1990 and 1992, 14-5, .736
9. Jake Browning, 2015-18, 39-14, .735
10. Sonny Sixkiller, 1970-72, 18-8, .692
11. Chris Chandler, 1985-87, 17-8-2, .666
12. Don Heinrich, 1949-50 and 1952, 18-11, .620
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