September 16, 2023 Week 3 · Regular Season Belt defended

Washington defends the belt, 41–7, on the road at Michigan State.

Home · Challenger

Michigan State 7

Away · Defending Holder

WashingtonAP No. 8 41

AP poll, week 3: Washington No. 8 at Michigan State unranked · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Washington came in 308 days into reign #321, which began with a win over Oregon, with 5 defenses already behind it; this was its 6th defense. Washington went on to defend it 11 more times before Michigan took it on January 8, 2024, 422 days after the reign began.

For Michigan State this was its 15th shot at the belt; it had held the belt twice before.

This is the only time Michigan State and Washington have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Washington's high-powered passing attack dominated Michigan State from start to finish, with Michael Penix Jr. orchestrating a clinic in efficient offensive football to keep the belt firmly around the Huskies' waist. The game was essentially decided in the first half, as Washington scored five touchdowns in the opening two quarters, including four passing TDs to three different receivers and a rushing score, while Michigan State managed only a single drive of note late in the second quarter. Penix connected repeatedly with Rome Odunze, Ja'Lynn Polk, and Jack Westover throughout the contest, accumulating 536 passing yards on an efficient day that saw Washington control the game with a dominant 35:32 time-of-possession advantage. Michigan State's Noah Kim was intercepted early and the Spartans' 261 total yards of offense proved completely insufficient to challenge a Washington team that generated 713 yards and methodically bled the clock, with the Huskies adding two field goals in the second half to put the game completely out of reach.

Penix's 50-yard completion to Rome Odunze in Q2 set up Washington's third touchdown and exemplified the Huskies' dominant passing efficiency throughout the game
Noah Kim's interception in Q1 with 2:21 remaining gave Washington prime field position and led directly to another Penix touchdown pass, effectively ending any momentum Michigan State might have built
Washington's four passing touchdowns in the first half (to Polk, Westover twice, and another to Westover) established a commanding lead that Michigan State never threatened to overcome
Grady Gross's two field goals in Q3 extended Washington's lead to 41 points and eliminated any remaining drama from the contest

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

Michigan StateWashington

Total yards261713

Rushing yards53177

Passing yards208536

First downs1528

3rd down conv.6/163/10

Turnovers11

Penalties–yards11–8311–110

Time of possession24:2835:32

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 12:03	Washington	+39 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Jalen McMillan for 39 yds to the MSU 16 for a 1ST down
Q1 9:51	Washington	+1 yd	Germie Bernard run for 1 yd for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q1 2:21	Michigan State	+0 yd	Noah Kim pass intercepted
Q1 2:21	Washington	+38 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Ja'Lynn Polk for 38 yds to the MSU 6 for a 1ST down
Q1 1:14	Washington	+5 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Jack Westover for 5 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q2 12:23	Washington	+50 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 50 yds to the MSU 45 for a 1ST down
Q2 10:44	Washington	+30 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Ja'Lynn Polk for 30 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q2 6:49	Washington	+13 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Jack Westover for 13 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q2 4:45	Washington	+24 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 24 yds to the MSU 27 for a 1ST down
Q2 1:50	Michigan State	+20 yd	Noah Kim pass complete to Montorie Foster Jr. for 20 yds to the MSU 30 for a 1ST down
Q2 1:50	Michigan State	+30 yd	Noah Kim pass complete to Montorie Foster Jr. for 30 yds to the WASH 40 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:41	Washington	+34 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Jalen McMillan for 34 yds to the MSU 30 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:20	Washington	+23 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 23 yds to the MSU 7 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:06	Washington	+7 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Jack Westover for 7 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q3 10:43	Washington	+22 yd	Grady Gross 22 yd FG GOOD
Q3 14:53	Washington	+45 yd	Dillon Johnson run for 45 yds to the MSU 4 for a 1ST down
Q3 8:20	Washington	-4 yd	run for a loss of 4 yards to the WASH 21 fumbled, recovered by WASH Michael Penix Jr.
Q3 6:54	Washington	+39 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 39 yds to the MSU 16 for a 1ST down
Q3 3:45	Washington	+29 yd	Grady Gross 29 yd FG GOOD
Q4 11:13	Washington	+0 yd	Dylan Morris pass intercepted
Q4 12:31	Washington	+57 yd	Dylan Morris pass complete to Josh Cuevas for 57 yds to the MSU 21 for a 1ST down
Q4 11:13	Michigan State	+61 yd	Katin Houser pass complete to Christian Fitzpatrick for 61 yds to the WASH 13 for a 1ST down
Q4 5:48	Michigan State	+4 yd	Katin Houser run for 4 yds for a TD (Jonathan Kim KICK)

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Michigan State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Noah Kim	12/31	136	4.4	0	1	22.2
Katin Houser	2/4	72	18.0	0	0	99.5

Washington

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Michael Penix Jr.	27/35	473	13.5	4	0	98.2
Dylan Morris	2/4	63	15.8	0	1	41.2

Rushing

Michigan State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Nathan Carter	17	48	2.8	0	9
Jordan Simmons	4	11	2.8	0	4
Katin Houser	1	4	4.0	1	4
Alante Brown	1	-1	-1.0	0	0
Noah Kim	4	-9	-2.3	0	5

Washington

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Tybo Rogers	15	74	4.9	0	15
Dillon Johnson	8	71	8.9	0	45
Richard Newton	4	29	7.3	0	17
Will Nixon	1	4	4.0	0	4
Germie Bernard	2	2	1.0	1	1
Jalen McMillan	1	2	2.0	0	2
Team	2	-5	-2.5	0	0

Receiving

Michigan State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Christian Fitzpatrick	1	61	61.0	61
Montorie Foster	2	50	25.0	30
Maliq Carr	3	30	10.0	14
Tre Mosley	3	21	7.0	9
Jaron Glover	2	17	8.5	11
Tyrell Henry	1	16	16.0	16
Tyneil Hopper	1	11	11.0	11
Nathan Carter	1	2	2.0	2

Washington

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Rome Odunze	8	180	22.5	0	50
Ja'Lynn Polk	5	118	23.6	1	38
Jalen McMillan	4	96	24.0	0	39
Josh Cuevas	1	57	57.0	0	57
Jack Westover	4	37	9.3	3	13
Germie Bernard	3	23	7.7	0	12
Will Nixon	2	12	6.0	0	11
Devin Culp	1	7	7.0	0	7
Mason Wheeler	1	6	6.0	0	6

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Michigan State

Player	TOT	SOLO	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Jaden Mangham	8	4	0	1	0
Cal Haladay	7	2	0	0	0
Malik Spencer	7	2	0	0	0
Dillon Tatum	6	4	0	0	0
Charles Brantley	4	2	0	0	0
Brandon Wright	4	1	0	0	3
Justin White	3	3	1	0	0
Marqui Lowery	3	2	0	0	0
Khalil Majeed	3	2	0	0	0
Dre Butler	3	1	0	0	0
Jordan Hall	3	1	1	0	0
Maverick Hansen	3	0	0	0	0
Aaron Brule	2	1	0	0	0
Jacoby Windmon	2	1	0	0	0
Angelo Grose	2	1	0	0	0
Zion Young	2	1	0	0	1
Bai Jobe	2	1	0	0	0
Sean Brown	2	1	0	0	0
Darius Snow	2	0	0	0	0
Simeon Barrow Jr.	2	0	0	0	3
Derrick Harmon	2	0	0	0	1
Avery Dunn	1	1	0	0	1
Alante Brown	1	1	0	0	0
Aaron Alexander	1	1	0	0	0
Chance Rucker	1	1	0	0	0
Ben Nelson	1	0	0	0	0
David Millikin	1	0	0	0	0
Armorion Smith	0	0	0	1	0

Washington

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Dominique Hampton	6	3	0	0	0	0
Carson Bruener	6	0	0	0.5	0	0
Drew Fowler	4	3	0	0	0	0
Edefuan Ulofoshio	4	1	0	1.5	0	0
Alphonzo Tuputala	4	1	0	0.5	0	0
Zion Tupuola-Fetui	3	3	2	2	0	1
Jabbar Muhammad	3	3	0	0	0	0
Jacob Bandes	3	1	0	1.5	0	0
Tristan Dunn	3	1	0	0	0	1
M.J. Ale	3	0	0	0	0	0
Dyson Mccutcheon	2	2	0	0	0	0
Thaddeus Dixon	2	2	0	0	2	0
Makell Esteen	2	0	0	0	0	0
Voi Tunuufi	2	0	0	0.5	0	1
Maurice Heims	2	0	0	0	0	0
Bralen Trice	1	1	0	0	0	2
Elijah Jackson	1	1	0	0	0	1
Darren Barkins	1	1	0	0	0	0
Richard Newton	1	0	0	0	0	0
Tuli Letuligasenoa	1	0	0	0	0	1
Ralen Goforth	1	0	0	0	0	0
Bradley McGannon	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jayvon Parker	1	0	0	0	0	1
Jacob Lane	1	0	0	0	0	0
Leroy Bryant	1	0	0	0.5	0	0

Fumbles

Michigan State

No recorded stats in this category.

Washington

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Team	2	0	0

Interceptions

Michigan State

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Jaden Mangham	1	0	0

Washington

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Mishael Powell	1	7	0

Kick Returns

Michigan State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Tyrell Henry	3	49	16.3	18	0

Washington

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Germie Bernard	1	30	30.0	30	0

Kicking

Michigan State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jonathan Kim	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1

Washington

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Grady Gross	2/2	100.0	29	5/5	11

Punt Returns

Michigan State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Tyrell Henry	1	1	1.0	1	0

Washington

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jalen McMillan	2	1	0.5	1	0

Punting

Michigan State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Michael O'Shaughnessy	4	181	45.3	0	2	50
Ryan Eckley	4	154	38.5	0	2	52

Washington

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jack McCallister	2	63	31.5	0	1	36

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401520233) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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