Joel Klatt loved what Michael Penix Jr. produced in the Sugar Bowl, but it also illustrated a lot of people did not pay attention to Washington this season.

Coming out of the College Football Playoff win, Klatt said he was “happy” to see Penix perform the way he did in the win over Texas. Klatt also says it was a coming-out party of sorts for the quarterback.

“Michael Penix is that dude at quarterback. That guy is really good, I’m happy for him that he went out there and played the way that he has for the majority of the last two seasons. And in a lot of ways, it was his introduction to some people around the country,” said Klatt. “Because it’s abundantly clear to me a lot of people that didn’t watch this guy play.”

Though Penix finished second for the Heisman Trophy, Klatt believes many analysts treated it as a scandalous idea to suggest that Penix even be in the discussion with winner Jayden Daniels. That’s the same group of people Klatt believes did not even see Penix perform during the season.

“And yet, it was heresy to even suggest that Michael Penix could in any way be in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy,” Klatt said. “Don’t you realize that those people who said it was not a conversation between Jayden Daniels and Michael Penix are the same people who didn’t watch Penix play? Because he’s been doing this forever! He did it all year.

“He wasn’t padding stats against Grambling and Georgia State. Listen, all due respect to Jayden Daniels — who was a phenomenal player this year — but the notion that it was not a conversation between Penix and Daniels is ridiculous. And it shows obscene bias by those that would suggest it.”

Penix certainly lit up the college football world with his performance, including a number of people who felt the QB should have won the Heisman over Daniels. To his credit, Penix said his only focus is on winning a national championship, but it is probably worth starting a discussion about the current voting timeline for the major awards in college football.