Michael Penix Jr. didn’t hide his pain after failing to lead the Washington Huskies to victory in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
The Huskies fell to the Michigan Wolverines, 34-13, in their title showdown on Monday. Jim Harbaugh’s top-rated defense slowed down the deadly passing attack of Washington and effectively shut down Penix for the most part of the game.
Penix himself had to deal with plenty of hits, as his offensive line struggled to protect him against an overwhelmingly better Michigan defense.
After the loss, Penix showed raw emotions as he reflected on their journey to get to the title game and their performance against the Wolverines. He admitted that they did not live up to their potential, and he was particularly critical of the offense that he led.
“We came here (to Houston) and we wanted to win. That’s been our goal since Day 1. It sucks. We played a good team and they did some good things,” Penix shared, per USA Today.
“But on the offensive side of the ball, we missed a lot of opportunities. We are not going to point fingers, nothing like that, there’s a lot of love in the locker room. Everybody was just showing their appreciation for each and every person that laid their body on the line, not just during the season but offseason and everything we been through.”
Several fans really thought that the Washington Huskies would be able to put up a valiant fight against the Michigan Wolverines. But as Michael Penix Jr. said, they simply missed a ton of opportunities to make it a tight battle. Both the offense and defense have their shortcomings though, and at the end of the day, the better and more prepared team won.
Washington Huskies’ Michael Penix Jr. Opens Up About His Health
Aside from the Washington Huskies’ display at the NRG Stadium, another major talking point was Michael Penix Jr.’s health in the game.
With the Michigan Wolverines constantly pressuring and hitting him for most of the night, Penix was badly beaten. In the third quarter, he was seen limping after going down awkwardly. And then after the match-up, he was spotted slow to walk as he appeared to be in pain.
A battered Michael Penix walks off the field for the final time in his college career…pic.twitter.com/DFXpVVXu4D
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 9, 2024
When asked about his health, Penix admitted he’s not at 100 percent. Nonetheless, the physical pain he’s dealing with is nothing compared to the emotional hit he took with the loss.
“Better than I was three years ago. I was just happy that I was able to finish with the guys. I knew that I didn’t want them to take me out of that game because I’ve been through it too much. I knew, no matter what, I was going to make sure I finish,” Penix said.
“I’m not healthy, but I’ll be there. I’m good. It is nothing major and I’ve talked with doctors and stuff like that, it’s nothing major. If I had to play tomorrow, I’ll play.”
It’s definitely quite the painful end for Penix and the Huskies. But sure enough, he and the rest of the team deserve credit for toughing it out.
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