Washington announces Michael Penix Jr as starting quarterback

The Washington quarterback competition is over. Michael Penix Jr. is the Huskies’ QB1.

Washington made the news official Tuesday, announcing Penix beat out Dylan Morris and Sam Huard for the starting job. He transferred to UW over the offseason after spending the last four years at Indiana, including an impressive 2020 season when the Hoosiers went 6-2 in the COVID-19-impacted campaign. That year, Penix threw for 1,645 yards and 14 touchdowns in six appearances for Indiana.

He entered the transfer portal following a 2021 campaign that saw Indiana come back to earth following the big 2020 season. His season was marred by injuries, notably a shoulder injury. He ended up committing to Washington to reunite with Kalen DeBoer, who was Indiana’s offensive coordinator in 2019 when Penix threw for 1,394 yards and 10 touchdowns.

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Morris was Washington’s starter last season and had a good year, throwing for 2,458 yards and 14 touchdowns, but also had 12 interceptions to his name. But it’s now Penix’s show as the DeBoer era gets underway. He’ll take the first snaps when Washington gets its season underway Sept. 3 against Kent State.

Earlier this month, DeBoer addressed the quarterback competition, assessing what both Penix and Morris bring to the table in the offense.

“Michael Penix comes to us from Indiana where I coached with him for one year,” DeBoer said. “Systematically, he understands what we do. That was an easy transition for him during spring ball. You see him being able to coach guys up and being a little more confident in that. In those workouts that we had, those 15 practices.”

“As far as the other two that obviously were already on the roster — Dylan, again, I have only got the 15 practices to go off of and the film. But he’s taken a lot of snaps in a Husky uniform. It’s cool hearing the guys that are on the team and hearing them talk about how much they see Dylan’s improvement from last year already to where we’re at now. That’s only going to continue to happen and develop.”