Michael Penix Jr. is one win away from becoming a national champion, but his path to glory has been far from conventional.
The Washington Huskies quarterback is putting the finishing touches on his sixth season of college football. Before transferring to the Pacific Northwest, Penix played at Indiana, where he suffered four different season-ending injuries and exited the Hoosiers program embarrassed and discouraged.
The trials Penix faced during his first four seasons were overwhelming. At one point, he even contemplated retiring from the sport altogether.
He was in desperate need of strength, purpose and support. He found it through his faith.
“There were times when I’d wake up the day of the game, and I’d wait until my roommate leaves, and I’d just lie on the floor and I’d just cry to God, just praying that he’d protect me that day,” Penix told Pac-12 Network in August. “Everything that I’ve accomplished to this day, it came with a lot of heartbreak, a lot of tears. Nothing was going to be easy to be great. I’m more than just a football player, and deep down inside as a person, I’m a guy that’s never going to quit.”
Penix’s resilience has paid off handsomely over the past few months, as he’s racked up a national-best 4,648 passing yards and 35 touchdowns as the Heisman Trophy runner-up and star of the undefeated Huskies.
It would be easy for the talented left-hander to lose sight of his priorities amid all the success, but the Christian QB has maintained steady humility through it all, taking every opportunity to praise God when in the spotlight.
“I’ve just got to give credit to the man upstairs and thank God for everything he put me through and allowing me to get to the spot I am today,” Penix told ESPN’s Holly Rowe after defeating Oregon on Oct. 14, perhaps the signature moment of his decorated career thus far. “I’m just so proud of this team and I just thank God for everything that he allowed me to have.”
In the Sugar Bowl CFP semifinal against Texas, Penix put on a passing performance for the ages, recording a near-perfect 97.7 QBR and making a number of impressive throws to capture nationwide attention.
His 430 yards and two touchdowns helped carry Washington past the favored Longhorns, but Penix once again refused to claim any sort of credit.
“I don’t want to say that I was gonna quit, but it did get hard for me at times, you know, and I had to lean on the ones that I love the most,” Penix said in an on-field interview after the win on Jan. 1. “But it means a lot to be here. I’m super blessed, and I gotta thank the Man Above. I gotta thank God for everything that he’s put me through to get to this point. It’s been a blessing and I’ve been enjoying the journey.”
Penix’s journey continues as Washington faces Michigan in the CFP National Championship game Monday at 5:30 p.m. MST in Houston.