Michael Penix Jr., and Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer have history. Both were together at Indiana, and now both will get the opportunity to work together again on the field this season with the Huskies. The fifth-year junior transfer was named UW's new starting quarterback on Tuesday with less than two weeks to go until the season opener against Kent State on Sept. 3.

Penix had been battling with fourth-year sophomore and previous starter Dylan Morris and redshirt freshman Sam Huard for the starting job throughout training camp.

"He's just had a really great camp, and he's been consistent since the time spring ball started to where he's at now," DeBoer told reporters at Tuesday's practice. "He's done a great job earning it."

Penix has had to deal with injury issues throughout his career at Indiana, but he has still made 17 starts in his career with a 12-5 record plus he has played in 20 games overall through his previous four seasons on the field at Indiana.

The 6-foot-3 signal caller from Tampa, Florida has passed for just under 4,200 yards in his career to go with 29 touchdowns passing against 15 interceptions. He has also rushed for six career touchdowns as well.

The 2019 season has been his best up to this point in his career, and at that time Penix had the opportunity to work with DeBoer in Bloomington. The UW head coach was the offensive coordinator for Indiana that season, and Penix threw for nearly 1,400 yards to go with 10 touchdowns.

His familiarity with the system at Washington under DeBoer and the new staff certainly helped give Penix an advantage when he arrived on campus earlier in the year.

"Systematically he understands what we do," DeBoer said at Pac-12 Media Day last month. "That was an easy transition for him during spring ball. You see him being able to coach guys up and being a little more confident in that. In those workouts that we had, those 15 practices."

DeBoer made sure to mention the progress both Morris and Huard have made since the beginning of the year, and the Huskies could end up needing to call upon them this season if Penix continues to have injury problems.

He has had to deal with multiple season-ending injuries in his career, including ACL tears in 2018 and 2020. Penix has not played more than six games in any season of his career.

DeBoer and UW's new starting quarterback hope to buck that trend as they each head into their first season with the Huskies.

UW is set to open the 2022 season with four home games beginning with the matchup against Kent State followed by contests against Portland State, Michigan State and Stanford.