Michigan football has the secret to beating Washington. And it has Ohio State to thank.

They haven’t played anybody like him.

Not just him, though, not just Michael Penix Jr. But the offense he directs — the Wolverines haven’t played anything like that either.

Not this season. Not once.

You’d have to go back more than a year to find the last time Michigan football lined up against an offense like Washington’s. Partly because the Big Ten isn’t known for its offense — outside of Ohio State and the occasional Purdue anomaly — but mostly because offenses like the Huskies' don’t come around often in general.

When the Wolverines face the Huskies for the national title game Monday night in Houston, they won’t quite be facing the firepower of, say, LSU circa 2019 (which featured Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, and Ja’Marr Chase), and why would they? U-M doesn’t have a time machine, nor would want one I would think.

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But these Huskies can toss the football around, too. In fact, they lead the country in passing yards. Penix is at the center of it, but he throws behind an offensive line that won the Joe Moore Award — the honor the Wolverines recieved the previous two seasons as the nation's top O-line — and throws to three of the best route-runners in the game.

Though don’t be fooled when analysts and draftniks talk about the route precision of Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan, because they aren’t just technicians. They can run. They have size, especially Odunze (a projected top-15 pick), and are explosive, as well.

Not too many teams combine this level of receiving with stellar line play and a fifth-year quarterback who throws passes through keyhole-sized openings and thinks the game with the speed of a microprocessor.

You watched what Penix did to Texas late Monday night while still in your U-M-induced delirium, right? Plopping throws over the shoulders of those receivers? Picking apart the Longhorns’ athletic and solid defense to the tune of 439 yards on 29-for-38 passing?

That's a 76.3% completion rate. He has been doing this all season, with the exception of a single off game against Arizona State.

Penix threw two picks that game. He managed only 275 yards. So, it’s possible, I suppose, that he has an off night Monday.

But unlikely.

He has played well against the best opponents on the schedule all season, and when the season was at stake Monday night in New Orleans, he unspooled his best effort of the season, against the best defense the Huskies had faced.

If Michigan wants him to have an off night, it’ll have to make him have an off night. This won’t be easy, considering the protection he gets and the speed with which he diagnoses defenses and gets the ball out.

Yet Penix isn’t nearly as reliable when he throws on the move. Then, his completion rate drops well under 50%. This is true of most quarterbacks, yes, but the drop in accuracy is worth noting. The problem is forcing Penix to move.

Texas couldn’t do it. You saw the results. With even a little time, the receivers are too good and Penix Jr is too accurate.

The Wolverines, of course, saw him do this up close when he played at Indiana. It didn’t go well, back in 2020; Penix completed 30 of 50 passes for 342 yards in a rare Indiana — yes, the Hoosiers — victory in Ann Arbor. These are different Wolverines, though, running a different, more complex defense, buoyed by more speed and depth.

And some of these “different” Wolverines have seen a facsimile of Penix up close: His name is C.J. Stroud.

Ohio State’s former quarterback combined accuracy, processing and mobility within the pocket similar to Penix’s. In fact, you can argue Stroud is more gifted.

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When he was throwing to a similarly talented collection of receivers, as he was two years ago against Michigan in Ann Arbor, he put up big numbers, too. Stroud threw for 394 yards that snowy day in the rivalry.

How did U-M win?

With its offense.

But also, by forcing field goals and fumbles and chewing up the clock on offense. Ohio State’s attack that year wasn’t exactly like Washington’s this season, but it offers a good proxy, especially the receivers then — future NFL first-round picks Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Garrett Wilson. They racked up yards. In the end, it didn’t matter.

The same thing happened last season in Columbus, when Stroud threw for almost 350 yards, primarily to Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. Both will be first rounders this spring.

And though the Buckeyes don’t have the receiver depth this season they had in 2021-22, or the depth Washington has in 2023, the Wolverines had to line up against two of the best in football only six weeks ago. Unfortunately for Egbuka and Harrison, they weren’t sharing a huddle with Stroud.

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Kyle McCord is nowhere near Penix, obviously. Yet he still led OSU to 24 points and had the ball with the chance to win the game.

The good news for Michigan is that the Huskies’ defense isn’t great, or even good. It certainly won’t be as stiff as Ohio State’s, which means the Wolverines should have the chance to score more than 30 points, or a lot more if they don’t turn the ball over.

The Wolverines picked off Stroud twice last season. That was the difference. Well, that and four big plays — two from Cornelius Johnson and two from Donovan Edwards.

U-M doesn’t need four 60-yard plus touchdowns to beat Washington, however. A couple would help, sure. But the Huskies don’t stop the run, and with Blake Corum looking closer to his old self earlier this week against Alabama, a big night from him would help keep Penix on the bench.

The Wolverines may not have seen a quarterback like him this season, but they’ve seen a similar one each of the last two, and a receiving group every bit as good, if not better. That they prep for the Buckeyes all season, and even during the offseason, should help as they get ready to face the best offense they’ve played all year, by far.

Unless Penix falls apart — again, unlikely — the Huskies are going to score. U-M could turn in a solid defensive effort and still allow 30 — the Huskies are that formidable in the passing game. But as witnessed against Ohio State, forcing a turnover or a field goal or two can be the difference.

As long as the offense hums.

Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football knows how to beat Washington QB Michael Penix Jr.