The Washington Huskies improved their season record to 3-0 and climbe back into the National rankings with an impressive 39-28 vicotry over the 81th ranked Michigan State Spartans. Husky quarterback Michael Penix Jr led the offense with his spectacular play.
Penix completed 24 of 40 passes and just missed posting the eighth 400-yard passing game in Washington history. He was at his best in the first half, making 18 of 24 attempts for 278 yards and leading Washington to touchdowns on four of its five possessions.
Husky wideout Ja’Lynn Polk led the Husky receivers with a career setting performance with six catches for 153 yards adn three touchdowns.
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POST GAME NOTES
Post-Game Notes
Michigan State at Washington Husky Stadium, Sept. 17, 2022
Michael Penix, Jr., passed for 397 yards, the eighth-highest, single-game total in UW history. He also had his second four-touchdown game in his three games as a Husky. Four TD passes in a game are tied for seventh-most in UW history.
Washington has scored on its first offensive possession in each game so far this season. In fact, the Huskies have scored on 14 of 16 first-half possessions over three games, with 12 of those 14 being touchdowns.
Michigan State’s goal-line stand in the first quarter marked just the second time this season that a UW first-half possession did not result in a score and the first time that a first-quarter possession didn’t result in a touchdown.
On the Spartans’ first play following that goal-line stand, the runner slipped and fell in the endzone for a safety. Washington’s previous safety was late last season, when an Oregon rusher was tackled in the backfield, on Nov. 6, 2021.
Ja’Lynn Polk is the first Husky to catch three touchdown passes in a game since Dante Pettis had three at Oregon State on Sept. 30, 2017. Only once in UW history has any player caught more than three TDs in a game (Jermaine Kearse vs. Oregon State in 2010), meaning that Polk’s total tied for second-most in UW history.
True freshman Lance Holtzclaw was the latest UW newcomer to see his first college action, first appearing on the punt return team in the second quarter.
Today’s attendance of 68,161 is the largest official total at Husky Stadium since the 2019 Apple Cup vs. Washington State (70,931). Last year’s Apple Cup attendance was 68,077, slightly less than today’s.
