Indiana transfer quarterback Michael Penix Jr. commits to UW
After spending the past four seasons in the Big Ten, former Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is headed to the Pac-12.
Penix, who entered the transfer portal earlier this month, announced Tuesday morning on his Instagram account he has committed to the Washington Huskies.
During his four seasons with the Hoosiers, Penix completed 59.4% of his passes for 4,197 yards and 29 touchdowns to 15 interceptions, while also rushing for six touchdowns across 20 career games.
The Hoosiers were 12-5 in games the left-handed passer started, though injuries ended each of his four seasons early.
Most recently, Penix started five games for Indiana this fall, completing 87-of-162 passes for 939 yards and four touchdowns to seven interceptions before a shoulder injury against Penn State in October ultimately ended his season.
At UW, Penix would reconnect with new Huskies coach Kalen DeBoer, who was Indiana’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during his redshirt freshman season in 2019. Penix started six games for the Hoosiers that year, completing 110-of-160 passes for 1,394 yards and 10 touchdowns to four interceptions. His 68.8 completion percentage that season was both a career-high and a program record.
Prior to signing with the Hoosiers, Penix was considered a three-star recruit at Tampa Bay Technical High School (Fla.), and the No. 36 passer in the 2018 class, per 247Sports.com rankings. He also held offers from six more Power Five programs — including Pac-12 schools Arizona and Oregon.
Entering his fifth college season, Penix has two seasons of eligibility remaining. What would his addition mean for UW’s quarterbacks room?
More competition and more depth.
The Huskies currently have two scholarship quarterbacks on their roster in former Graham-Kapowsin standout Dylan Morris, who is entering his fourth season with the program, and Sam Huard, who is entering his second season following a record-setting high school career at Kennedy Catholic.
Morris has started 15 games for the Huskies the past two seasons after redshirting in 2019 — including every game prior to this season’s Apple Cup — and has completed 60.7% of his passes for 3,355 yards and 18 touchdowns to 15 interceptions.
In his 11 starts this season, he completed 60.6% of his passes for 2,458 yards and 14 scores while his 12 interceptions led the Pac-12.
Huard appeared in four games as a true freshman, preserving his redshirt season, and made his first career start against Washington State, finishing 17-of-31 passing for 190 yards, his first career touchdown and four interceptions.
He played five series across his three appearances earlier on in the season against Arkansas State, Arizona and Arizona State.
Huard finished his first season with the program completing 52.4% of his passes for 241 yards, the one touchdown and four interceptions.
Graduate transfer Patrick O’Brien, in his final season, was the only other quarterback who completed a pass for the Huskies this fall, leaving Morris and Huard as the only two in the room with significant experience.
Morris and Huard are also the only remaining quarterbacks from the past several high school recruiting cycles.
Former Huskies quarterback Jake Haener departed ahead of the 2019 season, and spent the past two seasons as the starter for DeBoer at Fresno State.
Haener — who has also thrived in DeBoer’s system, and has completed 66.5% of his passes for 5,831 yards and 46 touchdowns to two interceptions the past two seasons starting for the Bulldogs — entered the transfer portal briefly following DeBoer’s move to UW, and seemed headed toward a return to the Huskies, but has since announced he will return to Fesno State.
Three more former Huskies passers, including Bothell product Jacob Sirmon (who is now at Central Michigan), Ethan Garbers (UCLA) and Colson Yankoff (now listed as a wide receiver at UCLA) have also departed in the past three seasons.
The Huskies currently do not have a quarterback committed to their 2022 recruiting class following the announcement from La Jolla (Calif.) three-star passer Jackson Stratton last week that he was reopening his recruitment.
Though, the Huskies have added in recent seasons, with the arrivals of Morris and Huard and through the transfer portal.
Former Lake Stevens standout Jacob Eason returned to the Pacific Northwest for one year in 2019 before heading to the NFL.
O’Brien and Kevin Thomson, who arrived prior to the 2020 season from Sacramento State, also both spent one season with UW as graduate transfers.
Now, the Huskies are set to add another quarterback in Penix.
This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Indiana transfer quarterback Michael Penix Jr. commits to UW."
