Everything worked for UW early and often against top-ranked Michigan State on Saturday, as the Huskies earned their first marquee win under head coach Kalen DeBoer.
Penix on Point
In the first series Michael Penix Jr. completed 3 of 3 pass attempts for 60 yards, capped off by an eight-yard touchdown strike to sophomore Ja’Lynn Polk. It set the tone for what was to come.
Penix finished the first half with 278 yards on 18 of 24 attempts and three touchdowns, two of which went to Polk. The Lone Star State product recorded his first 100-yard game to lead all UW receivers at halftime, but he wasn’t done.
Earlier in the week UW worked on a specific play for a deep shot against the Spartans defense.
On 3rd and 5 from their own 32, Penix uncorked a deep ball to Polk who hauled it in at the MSU 15 and took it the rest of the way for his third touchdown of the game. It pushed the Huskies lead to 36-14 with 11:02 to go in the third quarter and effectively sealed the victory.
“It wasn’t today,” Penix said, when asked after the game what he saw from the sophomore receiver that led him to find him for the final touchdown.
“I would say it happened Monday. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. All the way up until today. He’s always a guy that’s always putting in the extra work. We miss a ball in practices he’s – ‘hey, let’s get it. Let’s get the extra ball. C’mon. We gotta make sure we get it because it’s going to make a difference in the game.”
Polk was right.
That 53-yarder the Huskies worked on in practice leading up to Saturday and it wasn’t resulting in six. So, they kept at it.
“I’m not going to lie, one of his big catches was one that we missed in practice,” Penix said. “We were like, no, after practice we gotta get this. Two times. Three times. We got it three times on the money man. He made the play today.
“Just those things definitely mean a lot. Just knowing I got somebody around me, a weapon around me that definitely wants to be great. Definitely going to go to take the ball out of the air when it’s his way. It’s great to have.”
Another Clean Game
Coming into Saturday one of the main focus points was the battle at the line of scrimmage.
Michigan State edge rusher Jacoby Windmon led the country in tackles for loss and had six sacks combined in the first two games. Against both left tackle Troy Fautanu and right tackle Roger Rosengarten the senior managed zero sacks and zero pressures.
“How about that?” UW head coach Kalen DeBoer said of the offensive line play after the game.
“That’s a huge piece of it. We know what it was coming in about how many sacks and how many forced fumbles and all that that their defense had caused. For us to not give up any sacks. Just to not have any turnovers – right? We had no turnovers. That’s a huge part of what it took to win tonight. I credit the offensive line.”
In total the Spartans as a collective managed just five pressures against Penix the entire game with no quarterback hits or batted balls.
Small Details
Despite leading 29-8 at halftime the Huskies could have – and arguably should have – led by more.
The second drive UW started at its own 28-yard line. Just under seven minutes later the offense was knocking on the door of another touchdown after Jalen McMillan took a catch down to the MSU 1-yard line.
Senior running back Wayne Taulapapa took the next two plays and couldn’t punch it in. On the second carry he fumbled the ball but recovered it – averting a near disaster. Cameron Davis took the next handoff and didn’t get in.
Penix was stopped short after rolling to his left, and actually lost a yard in the process on fourth down to give the Spartans back the ball with 1:30 in the first quarter.
Fortunately for the offense Jarek Broussard stumbled on the ensuing play for MSU and touched his elbow down inside end zone for a safety. Even though the offense couldn’t find six, it helped the defense and the collective team get at least two.
DeBoer and Taulapapa know they should’ve had six.
“You’re so close and there’s so many different plays that we can go to,” DeBoer said. “We hadn’t been stopped on a quarterback sneak in so many – at times over the years just the way we do things. They did a good job of stuffing it at the end there. I was pretty confident we would get it.”
Adding Juice to the Fire
After making the switch from safety to cornerback junior Julius Irvin recorded his first interception of the season. It came almost one year to the date from his last pick against Arkansas State on Sept. 18, 2021.
With 10:24 remaining in the game Michigan State found itself in familiar territory starting a drive backed up at its own 1-yard line.
On first down Payton Thorne toe-tapped the back of the end zone to avoid a safety and slug a pass intended for freshman Germie Bernard – a one-time signee to UW – to give UW the ball back.
It wasn’t the cleanest game for the secondary, especially in the fourth quarter. But for a group playing without junior safety Julius Irvin and senior cornerback Jordan Perryman, both of whom didn’t play against Michigan State, the interception was a much-needed boost.
A Sight to Behold
Beating Michigan State was a necessary win for Washington. Not that a defeat would’ve changed much if anything, but the result was deserved for not just the players.
As the clocked hit triple-zero at Husky Stadium the student sections rushed the field to celebrate with the 39-28 victory with the players. It’s the first time in over two decades that the program has beaten a top 15 non-conference opponent at home.
It’s also a fan base that only got four games two years ago and a woeful 4-8 team last season under Jimmy Lake.
Kalen DeBoer has brought life back to the program, and he’s made Washington Husky football fun again.
