No. 12 Washington holds off No. 21 Texas 27-20 in Alamo Bowl

SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Michael Penix, Jr. 287 yards and two touchdowns and 12 Washington held out 21 Texas 27-20 on Thursday night at the Valero Alamo Bowl.

Texas scored 10 late, extending within seven thanks to Bert Auburn’s 26-yard goal with 1:40 remaining, then failing on an inside kick attempt. The Longhorns (8-5) stopped the Huskies (11-2) on the next hold and made their way through the round of 16 with 32 seconds on their own and advanced to Washington 40 on the final inning of the game.

Washington coach Kalen DeBoer said: “Another big night for ’22 Huskies. “It starts with the people here (Penix, Wayne Taulapapa, Bralen Trice). They all played huge roles in what happened tonight. It’s a culmination of everything we’ve worked on. Things we’ve been trying to improve on, especially in the second half of the season.”

Penix ended the season with a 4,641-foot pass to cross the 4,458-foot mark during the 20-year-old Washington’s season set by Cody Pickett.

And while Washington relies heavily on passing play, they have been successful on the ground for 158 yards, including a 46-yard optional TD shot by Wayne Taulapapa in the first quarter.

“We’re just trying to feel the game, feel how to adjust and react to our pass option,” Penix said. “I was like, ‘OK, this time I’ll go out and see how they adjust. I know hand it over to Wayne, we’ve got a good box and he’ll make it happen.

Penix led the scoring at 75 and 90 yards in the second half to extend the Huskies’ lead to 17. He’s 32 over 55, completed passes to eight recipients and finished. connected with Taj Davis and Jalen McMillan to score.

“They’ve done a great job of expanding the drives,” said Texas coach Steve Sarkisian. “They had three consecutive runs of 16, 13 and 14 yielding 17 points. But in the end I’m proud of our boys. They continued to fight; gave us a chance at the end. We just didn’t make enough plays.

Texas with no stars ran back to Bijon Robinson, and dashed only 51 yards. Robinson, who led the Longhorns with 1,580 yards and 18 touchdowns, skipped the game to prepare for the NFL preseason.

Sarkisian said the game’s plan was to throw the ball wide.

Texas cut its 10-point deficit at halftime to 13-10 on a 34-yard pass from Quinn Ewers to Jonathon Brooks at the start of the second half. Ewers is 31 out of 47 in 369 yards.

“After the first drive (of the second half), we started rolling,” Ewers said. “It was good to have that first touch. It was amazing to score for the first time coming out of the dressing room. And with our attack, once we start it’s very difficult to stop us.”

Washington, the team that lost the tiebreak to secure a spot in the Pac-12 championship match after 7-2 at the tournament, ended a seven-game winning streak with a second straight win.

Texas had its first bad game under second-year coach Sarkisian.

In addition to Robinson, Texas senior quarterback re-run Roschon Johnson and senior defender DeMarvion Overshown opted not to participate in preparation for the NFL draft. No Washington player opted out.

The Huskies are drawing 1-1 at the Alamo Bowl. In 2011, Washington – coached by current Texas coach Sarkisian – lost to Baylor 67-56 in the top-scoring version of the game.

Texas, 90 miles from Austin, ended a winning streak in San Antonio. The Longhorns, playing in their third Alamo Bowl in the past four years, beat Colorado 55-23 in 2020 and Utah 38-10 in 2019.