NEW ORLEANS — The University of Washington is one game away from a national championship.
The 10th-ranked Huskies offense overpowered the Texas Longhorns in a 37-31 win on Monday night in the Sugar Bowl.
Washington will face No. 1 ranked Michigan in the National Championship game on Jan. 8. Here are three takeaways from the Huskies' big win.
Michael Penix Jr. is him
As the kids would say.
Facing one of the highest-ranked defenses in the country (allowing 17.5 points per game), Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. went to work anyway.
Penix Jr. made several big-time throws to carve up the Longhorns secondary, including a 77-yard dime to wide receiver Ja'Lynn Polk early in the first quarter to set the tone for the rest of the game.
While the Huskies could not break down the Longhorns' defense with the running game, Penix Jr. had the 77-yard touchdown to Polk, a 52-yard gain to Rome Odunze and a 29-yard chunk play to Germie Bernard.
Penix Jr's back-breaking performance (if you are a Longhorns fan) helped him join an exclusive company with Patrick Mahomes (heard of him?) as the last FBS quarterback with over 4,500 pass yards in consecutive seasons.
The Huskies signal caller had 430 passing yards and two passing touchdowns in the win. Penix Jr's steady hand was a big reason why Washington dominated with 12 minutes of possession in the third quarter, an important stretch where the Huskies stifled the Longhorns.
Winning the explosive play battle
At halftime, Penix Jr. had 255 passing yards on just 14 pass attempts. The Huskies were averaging over 18 yards every time Penix Jr. attempted a pass in the first half, which feels like a fake video game stat but is actually true and happened in real life.
This was all due to Washington's explosiveness, which mitigated the possession disadvantage the team had in the first half. With Texas getting the first and last possession of the first half, and another opportunity when Washington muffed a punt, the Huskies had five possessions compared to seven for the Longhorns.
Yet the game was still tied at 21 at halftime because the Huskies scored touchdowns on three of five possessions. Texas had its three touchdowns on seven possessions, comparatively.
This was in large part because the Huskies had five explosive plays of over 20 yards in the half, while the Longhorns totaled just two explosive plays.
Texas closed the gap in this department in the second half, but Washington still held an important edge in generating big gains down the field.
A different sport
If you watched both College Football Playoff semifinals back-to-back on Monday, then you might be wondering if it was the same sport.
Michigan vs. Alabama was a defensive slugfest, with both sides making inopportune errors with the football. The teams combined for 47 points - with an overtime period to help.
The second semifinal matchup had Penix Jr dicing the Longhorns' defense up, explosive plays everywhere, touchdowns by both offenses and nearly as many points scored in the first half (42 points) as the first semifinal game had in five quarters of play. The Huskies and Longhorns ended up scoring 68 points in their game, by the way.
Your mileage may vary with the stylistic difference between the two matchups, but the Huskies and Longhorns semifinal matchup had plenty of joy for Huskie fans and neutral football observers.