Washington finds replacement for Michael Penix Jr. in transfer portal

For now, the focus of Washington’s Football team is the Texas Longhorns in the College Football Playoff. But regardless of how the CFP finishes, the Huskies will soon be tasked with replacing Heisman Trophy finalist Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback. On Friday, they got some big news on that front.

Will Rogers will transfer to Washington from Mississippi State for his final season of college eligibility in 2024.

Pete Thamel of ESPN shared the news on Friday evening.

“NEWS: Former Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers tells ESPN that he’s committed to transfer to Washington,” Thamel tweeted. “Rogers is the SEC’s No. 2 all-time passer with 12,315 yards. He has one year of eligibility remaining.”

NEWS: Former Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers tells ESPN that he’s committed to transfer to Washington. Rogers is the SEC’s No. 2 all-time passer with 12,315 yards. He has one year of eligibility remaining. pic.twitter.com/TIWOrNb1pG

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 16, 2023

The general feeling in the college football world was the four-year Mississippi State starter was a good get for the Huskies.

Best of luck to Will. Rewrote a lot of the record books and was a great ambassador for MSU as well as a heck of a leader and teammate. Winston county blood. https://t.co/25tXDfs8ym

— Robbie Faulk (@robbiefaulkOn3) December 16, 2023

First 16-0 team in CFB history coming next season👀👀☔️#PurpleReign https://t.co/JMZ1DFKAiP

— Brandon C (@UWFBopinions) December 16, 2023

I am really excited to see Rogers in this offense, especially with the idea of McMillan returning to help him out. https://t.co/0MF9i3SKZ4

— Andrew Harbaugh (@MandrewNFL) December 16, 2023

Rogers is going to absolutely tear it up in Seattle. https://t.co/eMMwbITZtE

— SEC Unfiltered (@SECUnfiltered) December 16, 2023

Washington is going to b2b playoff appearances 👀👀 https://t.co/02mBZfwIfP

— CFB Home (@CFBHome) December 16, 2023

In addition to the 12,315 passing yards, Rogers had 94 touchdowns against 28 interceptions while completing 69.3% of his passes for the Bulldogs. The drawback is that things did get tricky for him against some of the better SEC opponents. This was especially true against Alabama. Despite a strong touchdown-to-interception rate in his career, Rogers has one touchdown pass and eight interceptions in his career against the Tide.

Regardless of that, it’s hard to imagine that Washington was going to find a more experienced player to replace a star like Penix.

[Pete Thamel on Twitter/X]