Huskies survive Pac-12 thriller; edge Ducks; QBs shine … This afternoon’s Pac-12 showdown between #7 Washington and #8 Oregon more than lived up to the billing as possibly one of the best games of the year when the Huskies came away with a 36-33 win as the Ducks missed a potential game-tying FG as time expired. For the record, both QBs in this game – Michael Penix of Washington and Oregon’s Bo Nix – were outstanding. Penix, for example, completed 22 of 37 passes for 307 yards and 4 TDs, including the game winner with just over 90 seconds to play, while Nix was 33 of 44 for 337 yards and a couple of scores. We also came away thinking that Nix had the edge from a scout’s perspective. Certainly, Penix has a live arm and really zips it in there, especially when he has time to set his feet; he’s also very accurate on throws down the field. At the same time, though, Penix appears to have a rather slow, deliberate windup; he also just isn’t a very good athlete. He doesn’t move around the pocket all that well and isn’t going to make plays with his legs. He also appears to lose a lot of velocity and accuracy when he doesn’t get his feet set. The Ducks’ Nix, on the other hand, is a very good athlete who can run by design as well as escape trouble in the pocket; he also throws well on the run and has that innate ability to make off-script, off-platform throws.
