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Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer
SEATTLE — Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze‘s connection with quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is almost supernatural.
“We kind of have that Spidey sense for one another,” Odunze said.
A subtle gesture can be deciphered to receive game-changing information, and never was it more valuable than with just under two minutes left in Washington’s 36-33 win against Oregon on Saturday. Trailing 33-29 at the Ducks’ 20-yard line, the Huskies approached the line of scrimmage with a playcall in hand.
Penix quickly scoured the defense and liked what he saw. He took a brief look in Odunze’s direction, split out wide left in single coverage.
“He kind of gave me the head nod to do what I needed to do,” Odunze said.
The nod roughly translated to: Forget the route we had dialed up. I love this one-on-one matchup for you. It’s time for you to make a game-winning play.
“He threw it up, gave me a shot, believed in me,” Odunze said.
That faith was rewarded. Odunze came down with back-shoulder pass for the go-ahead score, sending Husky Stadium into a frenzy. When the Ducks’ field goal attempt missed wide right moments later, fans poured on the field to celebrate one of the biggest wins in school history.
“I think [the victory] embodies everything that we’ve done over the last year and a half, two years,” UW coach Kalen DeBoer said. “We keep saying it: If it’s close, we’re going to find a way to win. We’re built for this, and we’re made for this.”
This was not the Huskies’ most complete performance of the season. Far from it. They had won comfortably — and mostly in dominant fashion — in their first five games. But it was their toughest opponent, and it does have the widest-reaching ramifications.
At the halfway point of the season, Washington has established itself as the clear favorite in arguably the deepest conference in the country. The Pac-12 went into the weekend with seven ranked teams; and while one of them — Washington State — lost on Saturday and fell from the AP Top 25, that doesn’t change the fact that this is the best the conference has been in several years.
Given the league’s strength, it’s highly likely even a one-loss Pac-12 champion will be in position to earn a berth to the College Football Playoff. With potentially a slight margin for error, the Huskies are in an enviable position as the only remaining undefeated team among their conference brethren.
Then there is the matter of a certain stiff-arm trophy.
Penix was already the betting favorite to win the Heisman before his perfectly placed toss to Odunze delivered one of the most memorable moments of the college football season. That it came in a game in which he outdueled one of the other favorites — Oregon quarterback Bo Nix — and on a day when the returning winner, USC‘s Caleb Williams, had one of his worst career games only solidified Penix’s standing.
What might not have been clear watching on television — it certainly wasn’t obvious high up in the press box — was that Penix battled major cramping through most of the second half.
“He’s just hunched over just trying to get a snap, and even some of the playcalls might have even been affected as far as the tempo and rhythm just to let him catch his wind,” DeBoer said.
When the Huskies had consecutive three-and-outs in the third quarter after taking an 11-point lead, maybe it should have indicated something was wrong.
“I mean, he’s just been through it for so many years,” DeBoer said. “There’s no way you’re pulling him off the field in that moment.”
Penix’s demeanor never changed.
“I’d like to say I’m cool, calm and collected,” Penix explained after the game. “I don’t really get too high or too low in any pressure moments.”
As the soft-spoken Penix fielded questions, Odunze came bounding down the stairs of the auditorium where the news conference was held.
“You’re looking at the Heisman Trophy winner right there,” Odunze wailed.
He might be right. If the award was voted on today, Penix would deserve to be a near-unanimous winner. If not him, then who?
Penix leads the nation in yards passing per game (383.5) and passing touchdowns per game (3.33), and he is second in QBR (91.2) and yards per attempt (10.7). All four of those stats are better than Williams’ from last season, when he ran away with the award.
Of course, it’s still early. History is littered with players and teams who looked the part halfway through the season only to fade into obscurity; and the second half of the season will be far more challenging than the first.
In theory, neither of the next two contests — against visiting Arizona State and at Stanford — should pose much of a threat to Washington’s undefeated record. After that, things heat up, with a Heisman showcase of a game at No. 18 USC; at home against No. 14 and two-time defending Pac-12 champion Utah; at No. 12 Oregon State; and in Seattle for what has the potential to be a very bitter final Apple Cup before Washington and Washington State go their separate ways.
The possibility of a truly special season is there, and it’s something DeBoer seems intent on appreciating along the way.
“There is nothing more special as a football coach than to see these guys just enjoying that moment we just had out there,” he said. “They’re going to remember this forever. These games are huge. These are the ones they’re going to talk about at reunions and whatever happens the rest of the season that’ll add to it.”
