UW Punches Ticket To CFP National Championship With 37-31 Sugar Bowl Victory - University of Washington Athletics (2024)

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Game Recap: Football | January 01, 2024

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Michael Penix Jr. passed for 430 yards and two touchdowns, and Washington held off Texas 37-31 in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Monday night to advance to the College Football Playoff championship game.

The second-ranked Huskies (14-0) will face No. 1 Michigan next Monday night in Houston, looking for their first national championship since 1991 and the Pac-12's first since Southern California in 2004.

The final season of the four-team playoff before expansion to 12 in 2024 comes down to a Pac-12-Big Ten matchup, just like the first when Ohio State beat Oregon.

"Husky Nation stand up," Penix told the UW crowd in the postgame trophy ceremony. "We goin' to the natty!"

No. 3 Texas (12-2) had four shots at the end zone after getting to the UW 12 with 15 seconds left, but Quinn Ewers missed on the last three. The final throw was a fade to Adonai Mitchell that was well-covered by Elijah Jackson.

"Those guys are the most resilient guys I have ever been around," Washington coach Kalen DeBoer said.

Penix spent his first four college seasons at Indiana, suffering three season-ending injuries. When his former offensive coordinator at Indiana, DeBoer, took over at Washington, Penix didn't think twice before moving to Seattle.

The left-hander stayed healthy and blossomed into a star, the Heisman Trophy runner-up this year, and now has a chance to win a national championship after another brilliant performance.

"It was the tough times. I feel like everything I've been through prepared me for this," Penix said.

Penix went 29 for 38 with no turnovers. He completed 12 straight at one point, the longest on-target streak in the CFP's 10-year history.

And he did it attacking down field as usual. He completed six passes of at least 20 yards, connecting with Rome Odunze six times for 125 yards and Ja'Lynn Polk five times for 122.

It was in some ways a perfect CFP semifinal for the last season before massive changes in college football: two teams switching conferences next season, led by star quarterbacks who transferred in.

A wild first half included a 77-yard connection with Polk on Penix's second pass of the game, defensive tackle Byron Murphy II plunging into the end zone for a one-yard TD run for Texas, a Penix-to-Polk TD pass where the receiver tipped the ball to himself and the Longhorns capping the second quarter with a long touchdown drive to tie it at 21-all at the intermission.

Takers fr ?? pic.twitter.com/ZdJiGlyiMZ

— Washington Football (@UW_Football) January 2, 2024

There was a fourth-and-one stop by Texas of Washington deep in Longhorns territory, which didn't deter DeBoer from going for a fourth-and-one at his own UW 33, and converting.

Penix had 255 yards and five completions of over 20 yards in the first half alone, and then kept it rolling on the first drive of the second half, throwing a dart down the middle to Jalen McMillen for a 19-yard score.

Big O came to play ?? pic.twitter.com/P64AxpmHpX

— Washington Football (@UW_Football) January 2, 2024

Washington added two field goals by Grady Gross to take a 34-21 lead early in the fourth quarter. Holding the Huskies to field goals kept Texas in the gameand the Longhorns made it a one-possession game with 7:23 left.

Penix calmly went back to work, hitting Odunze over the shoulder for 32 yards down the sideline to set up a first-and-goal that led to the third field goal of the day for Gross, a former walk-on who was put on scholarship after hitting a walk-off winner in the Apple Cup.

That put Washington up 37-28 with 2:40 left, and had its purple clad fans doing its best to drown out the Longhorns with a "Let's go Huskies!" chant.

Texas kicked a field goal with 1:09 left cut the lead to six. Washington recovered an onside kick and, as it has done all season, came through in the clutch. The Huskies' last nine victories have all been decided by 10 points of fewer.

Keep up with the Dawgs leading up to the CFP National Championship by following @UW_Football on Instagram and X/Twitter. The title game willkick off at 4:30 p.m. PT.