SEATTLE — Even when Kalen DeBoer is wrong, he’s right.
With 1:30 left in the first quarter Saturday and the Huskies holding an early 7-0 lead, Washington went for it on fourth-and-goal from Michigan State’s 1-yard line. Junior quarterback Michael Penix Jr. took the snap and darted left, on what appeared to be an option play.
He was swallowed by Spartan defensive end Khris Bogle for a 1-yard loss.
In a different season, with a different coach, and a different quarterback, that may have been the difference. A team that hadn’t beaten a ranked nonconference opponent inside Husky Stadium since No. 11 Michigan in 2001 — albeit with precious few opportunities — may have played like it. The Huskies could have cratered on ABC, faltering for all the world to see.
Instead, they dominated — delivering a 39-28 victory for their biggest nonconference win in ages.
Michigan State running back Jarek Broussard — a Colorado transfer — was stopped for a safety on the very next play.
Then Penix went back to work.
The 6-foot-3, 213-pound quarterback — who filleted the Spartans for 72.5% completions and 606 passing yards in two games at Indiana — didn’t disappoint Saturday. In his third start in Seattle, Penix completed 24 of 40 passes (60%) for 397 yards and four touchdowns. He piled up a collection of head-turning completions — a 47-yard floater to wide receiver Jalen McMillan on the opening drive, a 19-yard back-shoulder sizzler to running back Wayne Taulapapa for a 19-yard score, and a 17-yard touchdown rolling to his left to Ja’Lynn Polk to close the half with a 29-8 lead.
His coaches said this week that Penix would not be overwhelmed.
Instead, he was overwhelming.
The same could be said of a Husky offense that outgained the Spartans 322-90 in a ruthlessly efficient first half. Polk nabbed six receptions for 153 yards and became the first Washington player to catch three touchdowns in a game since Dante Pettis against Oregon State in 2017. McMillan added seven catches for 94 yards, lunging for an acrobatic 7-yarder in the first quarter on fourth-and-five. Running backs Taulapapa and Cameron Davis both scored as well.
UW’s offensive explosions against Kent State and Portland State — two inarguably inferior nonconference opponents — could have conceivably been explained as Montlake mirages.
Not against Michigan State.
That’s a Michigan State defense, by the way, that led the nation with 12 sacks in convincing wins over Akron and Western Michigan. The Spartans did not record a sack Saturday, against a Husky offensive line still missing injured All-Pac-12 left tackle Jaxson Kirkland.
It’s also a Michigan State defense that ranked dead last nationally in pass defense in 2021, surrendering 324.8 yards per game.
Despite a late push that gave Husky fans a brief scare, the Spartans’ problems have not been solved.
The same can’t be said of a Husky offense that has been reignited under DeBoer, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and Penix — offseason additions that have paid immediate dividends.
Early in the fourth quarter, DeBoer again opted to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1. And again, Penix was stoned for a turnover on downs.
Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne nearly stepped out of the back of the end zone for a safety, then threw an interception to cornerback Julius Irvin on the very next play.
DeBoer did just about everything right Saturday.
And even when he didn’t, he did.
