SEATTLE — Michael Penix Jr., the quarterback who helped lead the University of Washington to its second College Football Playoff appearance, was officially announced as a Heisman Trophy finalist Monday.
Penix Jr. will be one of 4 players headed to New York this week ahead of the Heisman Ceremony on Saturday night. The other finalists are University of Oregon quarterback Bo Nix, Louisiana State University quarterback Jayden Daniels and Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
The Huskies went 13-0 in 2023, capping off an undefeated regular season with a resounding win over Oregon in the Pacific-12 Championship Football Game, the final before both schools begin competing in the Big Ten in 2024.
Penix Jr. led the country in passing yards and was tied for third with 33 touchdown passes. Penix Jr. is in the top 10 in Heisman voting for the second year in a row after he finished 8th in 2022.
A betting favorite for a significant portion of the season, Penix Jr.'s odds of winning the Heisman dipped over the back half of the year. The southpaw threw 16 touchdown passes in September alone, then combined to throw that many between October and November.
Both Nix and Daniels ended up with more gaudy individual numbers than Penix Jr., but neither of the two leading candidates will be playing in the College Football Playoff. Since the CFP was created in 2014, only twice has the Heisman Trophy winner also led his team to the four-team tournament (Lamar Jackson and Caleb Williams).