TAMPA, Fla. — Washington quarterback and Tampa Bay Technical High School alum Michael Penix Jr. has been named this year's Maxwell Award winner.
Penix Jr. was given the award during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN. He was also named to the Walter Camp All-America first team, the University of Washington announced.
The Maxwell Award is given to the best player in college football.
The 23-year-old Husky quarterback is the first player in program history to win the award and also the first player from the Tampa Bay area to earn the prestige honor.
Head football coaches from the NCAA Bowl Subdivision, sports information directors, selected national media and members of the Maxwell Football Club voted to give Penix the award.
The Tampa Bay Tech product was also recently named as one of the finalists for the Heisman Trophy alongside LSU's Jayden Daniels, Oregon's Bo Nix and Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
"Congratulations to Washington QB and [Tampa Bay Tech] alum Michael Penix Jr. on being named a Heisman Trophy finalist," Hillsborough County Schools said at the time of the announcement in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Penix finished the regular season ranked first in the country in passing yards and passing yards per game. He finished in third for passing touchdowns and was sixth overall in total offense.
"In two seasons at UW, Penix Jr. has written his name all over the UW record book," Washington wrote in a news release. "He is fourth in career passing yards (8,859), third in 200-yard passing performances (25) and touchdown passes (64). The two-time senior captain holds five of the Top 10 single-game passing yard performances including the program record of 516 yards against Arizona in 2022."
