Props to UW, Dillon Johnson, Michael Penix et al.
Between the Rose Bowl and the CFP championship, I managed to watch about 8 games of UW full length, (not just highlights) and goddamn that offense was scary. Time after time Penix would hit receivers who were covered and just put it on the correct side of the body and they'd be getting 50 yard td's. Johnson would slash through defenses for killing yards when least expected.
Injuries suck. Johnson obviously wasn't 100 %. Penix got roughed up and it was actually hard watching him walk up the tunnel holding his ribs. Our defense played lights out. And it's all the more amazing because of how awesome that offense has been all year. And their coach is a great football mind. I love the creativity of their offense and I'm really glad he turned down Bama.
Let's just say Bama with Tommy "I fumble passes" Rees as OC was not as scary as with any of the UW offensive minds.
I can't believe we get to redo this game as a conference game in a few months albeit with a lot of departures.
Anyways, mad respect to UW, and even more respect to our D and our D coaches for finding a way to limit them.
January 10th, 2024 at 3:01 AM ^
1. The UW Huskies were competitive - they kept at it. Even at the end when it was hopeless, they were trying.
2. Their defense was not set up right in the 1st quarter. It was as if they hoped they coudl play Michigan without stacking the box, and two quick running scores showed that UW needed to stuff the box.
3. Puzzled by the UW offensive line. They won the Joe Moore award, yet, didn't seem to have much push agains the UM DL and LB. If you told a viewer unaware of the situation, and asked them which team had the award winning OL, probably most would have thought Michigan. The Michigan OL isn't as good as the prior year but it was much better than UW.
4. Penix was disappointed and surprised. He didn't play well, and knew it. This game showed a lot of people his throwing motion, and I don't know if he had some injury that affected him. When he threw to his left (he is left hand dominant) he showed a variety of motions -[ sidearm, three quarter, and full over the shoulder. When he threw to his right, the ball tended to sail long and hang. Many quarterbacks don't function as well under pressure - even the GOAT, Tom Brady was known to be affected by direct pressure up the middle straight down his face. At this game we saw Penix's technique collapse. He wasn't planting and using his legs and lower body with his throws - he was arm and shoulder throwing.