Washington HC Kalen DeBoer has only appreciation for QB Michael Penix Jr.

It would be easy to be down on Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. after his College Football Playoff national championship performance against Michigan.

Yes, football is a team game, but Penix was far from the superstar quarterback he was for the rest of the season in Washington's 34-13 loss to the Wolverines.

He completed just 27-of-51 passes for 255 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Credit Michigan's defense for getting after him all night, but Penix was clearly feeling the moment and that plus Michigan's pressure led to plenty of inaccuracy. It also led to a normally explosive Washington passing offense averaging just five yards per completion.

That's a tough way for a quarterback like Penix to go out, but after the game, his head coach, Kalen DeBoer, expressed nothing but appreciation for the sixth-year quarterback.

“I just made sure, just asked him if he’s all right," DeBoer said of his initial postgame interaction with his quarterback, per On3. “I mean he was obviously hit quite a few times. Making sure he was okay.”

After checking on Penix, the head coach wanted to make sure that his quarterback felt the gratitude. 

“This guy came here and the trust he put in me to put people around him? Whether it be offensive staff, offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, other players? He picked up and moved all the way across the country. And I just can’t tell you how much that means to me to have that trust from someone like Michael because this was his last crack at it.

“Two years ago when he made that move? It was a time where we all know his story. It was kind of at that point where it was kind of do or die. I knew in my mind what he was made of. I knew what he was capable of. Now it’s just a matter of bringing it all together.”

Though Penix's finale for Washington will go down as a disappointment, there's little doubting the fact that DeBoer and his quarterback did, in fact, bring it all together.

The Huskies were 11-2 last season with an Alamo Bowl win. This season, they finished 14-1 with a Sugar Bowl win over No. 3 Texas and for three quarters, they hung with the national champion Wolverines.

Penix was a Heisman Trophy runner-up and ended this spectacular 2023-24 campaign with 4,903 yards and 36 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. Unfortunately, two of those interceptions came against Michigan.