Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. returning for 2023 season

Associated PressDec 5, 2022, 2:07 AM EST

James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

SEATTLE – Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. said Sunday he will return to the school for his sixth and final season of eligibility in 2023.

Penix announced his decision on social media and it was a surprising one at that. Penix was the national leader in passing this season, throwing for 4,354 yards and led Washington’s turnaround. The No. 12-ranked Huskies went 10-2 in the regular season, finished tied for second in the Pac-12 and will face No. 21 Texas in the Alamo Bowl.

Penix will have a chance at setting Washington’s single-season record for yards passing in the bowl game. He also threw 29 touchdowns this season. Because of his performance this season, Penix saw his NFL draft stock rise to where he was being expected to be a second-day pick at the latest.

In his announcement, Penix wrote, “As I look back on this special season we had, I realized there were so many great moments and things to celebrate, but I KNOW there is so much for out there for this team and the job is still not finished. I can’t wait to be playing in Husky Stadium for the 2023 season!”

Penix started his career at Indiana and showed flashes of stardom while also battling injuries. He transferred to Washington after the 2021 season, a move that reunited him with new Huskies’ coach Kalen DeBoer, who was Penix’s offensive coordinator for one season at Indiana.

USC QB Caleb Williams has ‘significant’ hamstring injury

Associated PressDec 5, 2022, 1:57 AM EST

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

ARLINGTON, Texas – The status of Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams for the Cotton Bowl is uncertain because of what his coach described Sunday as a “significant” hamstring injury for the likely Heisman Trophy finalist.

Williams got hurt on a run in the first half of USC’s loss to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game Friday night. He played the rest of the game, even when it was clear that he was in pain.

After the Trojans were selected to face Tulane in the Cotton Bowl, coach Lincoln Riley said Williams would need a lot of rehab to have a chance to play in the Jan. 2 game.

“He’s got a significant hamstring injury. It’s good we’re not playing probably in the next two to three weeks,” Riley said. “We’ll try to rehab that. Those things, you know, hamstrings are different for everybody, but the nature of his is pretty severe. I mean, if we played in the next couple of weeks, he most likely would not be available. We will have to see how it progresses.”

Williams, who went with Riley from Oklahoma to Southern California after last season, has thrown for 4,075 yards and 37 touchdowns with four interceptions this year, and has run for 372 yards and 10 more scores. He got hurt on a 59-yard run in the Pac-12 title game, but still finished with 363 yards passing and three touchdowns.

“He’s a warrior. He fought through it the other night when a lot of guys wouldn’t,” Riley said. “But he’s pretty sore, as you would expect. And we’ll rehab him hard and hope to have him available.”

No. 4 USC falls to Utah in Pac-12 Championship, damaging playoff hopes

Associated PressDec 3, 2022, 12:11 AM EST

USA Today

LAS VEGAS — No. 12 Utah pounded a limping, bloodied Caleb Williams and roared past No. 4 Southern California 47-24 on Friday night to win the Pac-12 Championship and put USC’s College Football Playoff hopes in doubt.

The loss by the Trojans (11-2) could open the way for Ohio State (11-1) to take their spot in the playoffs. USC is fourth in the CFP rankings, the Buckeyes are one step behind.

Ohio State had to be Utah’s biggest fan. The Buckeyes move up in playoff consideration, with 12-0 Michigan at No. 2 with the Big Ten championship game on Saturday, that would give the Big Ten conference two playoff teams for the first time. It also would extend the Pac-12′s playoff drought — Washington in 2017 is the last team from that conference to make the playoffs.

Utah (10-3) is heading to the Rose Bowl, but the Utes already were going there regardless of the outcome of the title game. They are responsible for USC’s only losses, having edged the Trojans 43-42 on Oct. 15 in Salt Lake City.

The Utes rolled up 533 yards of offense in the rematch, and Cam Rising passed for 310 yards and three touchdowns.

Williams threw for 363 yards and three TDs. He entered the game as the leading Heisman Trophy candidate, but wasn’t the same after getting injured in the first quarter.

The Trojans looked as if they were going to run away with the game, taking a 17-3 lead early in the second quarter behind some stellar play by Williams.

He appeared to hurt his left knee or leg in the first quarter on a 59-yard run in which he took a big hit at the end, and he suffered a bad cut on the pinky finger of his throwing hand. He spent most of the game limping, and wasn’t the same after a sterling first quarter in which the Trojans outgained Utah in total yards 194-70, and Williams had both touchdown passes.

After USC failed to pick up a fourth-and-8 from Utah’s 37-yard line, the Utes scored two touchdowns in the final 3:55 of the first half, and suddenly the game was tied at 17. Instead of a rout, the game was beginning to look like the shootout the Utes won in October.

The game took on that tone at times in the second half, but USC had no answer for how to slow down Utah, which outscored the Trojans 44-7 in overcoming that two-touchdown deficit.

ATTENDANCE RECORD

A announced sellout crowd of 61,195 made this the largest for a neutral-site Pac-12 Championship. It beat the previous record of 58,476 fans. who watched Southern California-Stanford in Santa Clara, California, in 2015.