When the Washington Huskies beat the rival Oregon Ducks in the regular season, it was basically chalked up to luck. Then it happened again in the Pac-12 Championship Game to complete a 13-0 regular season behind Heisman finalist Michael Penix Jr. But surely that magic would run out at some point, right? Perhaps in the CFP semifinal Sugar Bowl against a talent-rich Texas Longhorns team?
Not even then, it turns out.
The ever-present quest for Texas to be all the way back ended on New Year's Day night in New Orleans as Penix and the Huskies continued their truly magical run through the 2023-24 college football season. The quarterback was masterful, dicing up Texas from start to finish in the first leg of the College Football Playoff throwing for 430 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 31 yards, showing off his little-used mobility.
Texas didn't go down without a fight, though. After kicking a field goal and failing to recover an onside kick, they got the ball back with under a minute left and drove all the way into the red zone. Four tries from that spot, however, were unsuccessful, including a game-ending attempt at a fade. The end result was a 37-31 victory for Washington.
Throughout this run, the doubters have never stopped questioning the viability of Washington. But all Kalen DeBoer's team has done is keep on winning, 14 times in a row to be exact. If they can make it 15 consecutive wins on Jan. 8 in Houston against Michigan, though, they'll claim a national championship for the first time in more than 30 years.
Washington ousts Texas from CFP behind Penix masterclass: Best memes and tweets
As Washington handed Texas its second loss of the season and moved to 14-0, one win away from a natty, the college football world took the opportunity to praise Penix, praise Washington, troll Texas, and fire off as many jokes as possible.
Coulda just skipped all this perverted playoff bullshit and had a Michigan-Washington Rose Bowl
— Jason Kirk (buy my novel) (@JasonKirk_fyi) January 2, 2024
if texas is gonna lose it might as well let bevo loose
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) January 2, 2024
https://t.co/TInKwgKv6O pic.twitter.com/jmvEHtPPYM
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) January 2, 2024
PAC12 with a chance to win a Natty right before imploding 💣
— Aaron Murray (@aaronmurray11) January 2, 2024
Kalen DeBoer adding some run game to finish it out pic.twitter.com/pO1h73xFhU
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) January 2, 2024
Congrats to Big Ten Network, which can re-air the national title game 50 times per week no matter who wins
— Matt Brown (@MattBrownCFB) January 2, 2024
huskies pic.twitter.com/rZILREBhjz
— nick (@nick_pants) January 2, 2024
Michigan vs. Washington.
— Justin M (@JustinM_NFL) January 2, 2024
NO SEC team in the Natty for the first time since 2014, the first year under the current format.
Context? Ezekiel Elliott + Marcus Mariota played in the last National Championship game that didn't feature the SEC.#CFBPlayoff | #NationalChampionship
Mario Cristobal agrees that Washington should keep going for it instead of taking knees to end the game.
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) January 2, 2024
Longhorns:pic.twitter.com/SY2yxAPPTf
— theScore (@theScore) January 2, 2024
The doubting won't stop for Washington when it comes to the CFP National Championship Game, though. Michigan has opened as the favorite for the title bout in Houston and, as the No. 1 seed, most prognosticators will likely be on the side of the Wolverines, especially after their own win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl earlier on New Year's Day.
But with the way doubting Washington has gone so far this season, perhaps that's exactly what Penix and his Huskies want.