Penix raises Washington to wild win over Oregon

Oct 14, 2023, 08:09 PM ET

SEATTLE– Before Rome Odunze left the room, he wanted to share a message about his Washington colleague who was sitting behind the microphones.

“You’re taking a look at the Heisman Trophy winner right there,” Odunze yelled in the direction of his quarterback, Michael Penix Jr.While ballot is still months away, Penix’s Heisman minute might have come Saturday on the biggest phase for a pair of long time Pacific Northwest rivals.Penix struck Odunze on an 18-yard touchdown pass with 1:38 remaining after another debatable fourth-down decision by Oregon, and Camden Lewis missed out on a 43-yard basket attempt on the last play as No. 7 Washington held back No. 8 Oregon 36-33 in another wild chapter in their heated rivalry.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated The 115th match in between the rivals was the first that featured

both teams ranked in the leading 10, in addition to a couple of quarterbacks in Penix and Bo Nix who need to contend for honors as the best player in college football.And the matchup measured up to the hype as possibly the biggest ever in between the foes. There stank fireworks, wild momentum swings,

big plays from the two QBs and choices that will be questioned by one fan base.It was a best recipe for an afternoon that ended with Washington fans swarming the field and Prince’s” Purple Rain “blasting through the stadium speakers.”That was a remarkable football game. If there’s one that I have actually been a part of that was bigger and better, I can’t think about it right now,”Washington coach Kalen DeBoer said.The final

regular-season conference before both programs move to the Huge Ten next year could be the opening act to choose the last season of the Pac-12 as we understand it.A rematch in the conference title game in Las Vegas is possible. Part I was 60 minutes of intensity, excitement and intrigue.Penix required simply 2 plays to go 53 lawns in 33 seconds after Oregon was stopped on fourth-and-3 at the Washington 47

with 2:11 staying. Penix threw a 35-yard strike to Ja’Lynn Polk between two defenders, then struck Odunze on a back-shoulder throw at the goal line to provide Washington (6-0, 3-0 Pac-12)the lead. “He sort of provided me the head nod to do what I required to do. He tossed it up, gave me a shot, believed in me, “Odunze said.It was Penix’s fourth goal pass of the game and his second time getting in touch with Odunze, who had eight

catches for 128 lawns. Penix completed 22-of-37 for 302 backyards. He tossed 26-yard goals to Polk and Giles Jackson during a wild very first half in which the groups integrated for five straight touchdown drives.Nix did his part and sometimes was the better quarterback. He stimulated Oregon’s rally from an 11-point deficit early in the 2nd half and took a 33-29 lead on Jordan James’10-yard TD run with 12:58 remaining.Nix had one last opportunity to get the Ducks (5-1, 2-1)into field goal range and reached the Washington 25 with 17 seconds

left. Nix missed out on with his next 2 passes, and on the last play, Lewis pressed the kick to the right, setting off a wild celebration of purple-clad fans pouring onto the field.”We were a play away from this conversation being incredibly various,” Nix said.Oregon appeared in position midway through the fourth quarter to pull off a narrow success in the exact same method the Huskies did in 2015 in Eugene. Washington was stopped on three run plays inside the Oregon 2, with Tybo Rogers packed on fourth-and-goal from the Ducks’

1 with 6:33 left, fulfilled by Taki Taimani and others short of the objective line.But the Ducks were stopped on fourth-and-3 just inside midfield when Nix’s pass for Tez Johnson fell incomplete with 2:11 staying. It was the 3rd time in the game the Ducks failed on fourth down, the previous two coming inside the Washington 10-yard line. “I understood that we would get the ball back and I knew we were going to go down there and make a play,”Penix said.Nix ended up 33-of-44 passing for 337 backyards and

threw touchdowns of 11 lawns to Patrick Herbert in the first half and a 30-yarder to Troy Franklin in the third quarter. Bucky Irving added 127 yards rushing and a rating.