The Huskies improved to 2-0 on the season with a 52-6 win over Portland State on Saturday. Here are three noteworthy things to take away from UW’s victory.
The Michael Penix Jr. show
Huskies quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. further cemented his place as UW’s QB1 with another strong game in his second outing on Montlake. A week after throwing for 345 yards and four touchdowns in his UW debut against Kent State, Penix added 337 more yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings on 20-of-27 passing, for a 74% completion rate.
Penix’s first score of the day came at the 2:41 mark in the first quarter, as Penix and Ja’Lynn Polk connected for a 12-yard touchdown pass. At 9:51 in the second, Penix hit sophomore Jalen McMillan for 84 yards, tied for the seventh-longest touchdown pass in UW history.
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Huskies 52, Portland State 6
Penix hit McMillan again later in the quarter with an across-the-body throw for 37 yards as well, and threw passes of 23, 20 and 20 yards on UW’s scoring drive to open the third quarter. That drive ended on a Penix pitch to Will Nixon, who took it four yards into the end zone.
The Indiana transfer did miss on a couple deep throws, threw his first interception as a Husky, and was knocked down by the Portland State defense after coming out unscathed last week, but still has not been sacked through two full games.
Next week’s opponent, No. 13 Michigan State, had seven sacks in Week One against Western Michigan.
Rushing game rebounds
The Huskies’ rushing attack had a solid outing after a disappointing performance in the Kent State game.
Graduate transfer Wayne Taulapapa finished with just 57 rushing yards last week as eight UW backs combined for 134 on the ground.
Against the Vikings, UW rushed for over 200 yards, as Taulapapa again led the way with 94 yards and a touchdown, while Cam Davis scored twice and rushed for 70 yards on 10 carries.
Taulapapa’s longest run went for 24 yards, and he averaged nearly eight yards per carry.
Cornerback concerns
With Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon both heading to the NFL this past offseason, the UW cornerback position has some uncertainty surrounding it, to say the least. On Saturday, the future of that position only got cloudier as several UW defenders struggled against the Vikings.
A pair of top UW cornerbacks, in Jordan Perryman and Elijah Jackson, sat out Saturday’s contest with injuries. Jackson has now missed two games with an unknown ailment, while Perryman left last week’s game against Kent State with an upper leg injury.
Julius Irving, who began his UW career at safety, got the start in Perryman’s stead.
On the other side of the field, cornerback Mishael Powell struggled before being replaced in the second quarter. Powell committed both a holding penalty and a pass interference penalty in the span of three plays to extend a Portland State drive that eventually ended with a Vikings’ field goal. After those penalties, Powell was replaced on defense by freshman Jaivion Green.
Redshirt freshman Davon Banks dodged trouble twice, biting on a Portland State reverse trick play that would’ve gone for big yardage if not for a penalty, and also nearly allowed a touchdown reception to Emmanuel Digbe, who dropped the ball in the end zone.