Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. held the Heisman Trophy while posing for pictures with his parents on Friday.

Tonight, the former Tampa Bay Tech came close to taking home college football’s most coveted award.

Penix Jr., sporting a purple suit featuring the names of his teammates and coaches on the inside of his jacket, made history by becoming the runnerp for this year’s award behind the winner, LSU’s Jayden Daniels ‘He is the first player from the area (Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties) to ever finish second in the voting for the award, which was closest contest since 2018.

The senior can take solace in being selected as the fan’s vote for the Heisman.

This season, Penix Jr. threw for 4,218 yards and 33 touchdowns while leading the Huskies to an undefeated season, a PAC-12 title and a berth in 2023 College Football Playoffs.

He was the first local athlete to ever be named a Heisman finalist, which was just as much a testament to his perseverance.

At Tampa Bay Tech, Penix Jr. threw for a combined 61 touchdowns and just six interceptions while leading the program to consecutive district titles his junior and senior seasons (2016-17).  Still, he had an offer pulled after committing to Tennessee, forcing to start his recruiting process all over. He ended up signing with Indiana.

Penix Jr. continued to excel with the Hoosiers, leading the program to its only pair of winning seasons in the past 16 years. In 2020, the left-hander led the Big Ten in passing yardage, yards per game, passing touchdowns, completions and attempts before a season-ending injury.

That was not the only setback. All four of his seasons at Indiana were cut short by injuries to his shoulder and knees.

Last year, Penix Jr. wanted a new start. He transferred to Washington to reunite with coach Kalen DeBoer, who was his offensive coordinator at Indiana.

Focused, stronger and injury-free, Penix Jr. shined, throwing for 4,641 yards and 31 touchdowns.

By putting up big-time numbers, he led Washington on a remarkable transformation. After going 4-8 in 2021, the Huskies are now a combined 24-2 in the last two seasons with Penix Jr. as the starter.

An MVP in the conference championship game. An undefeated season. A playoff berth. Those were all goals Penix Jr. had checked off this season.

There were still two big ones left — the Heisman and a national title.

He missed out on the Heisman, but the national title still is in sight.