The Atlanta Falcons are turning to rookie Michael Penix Jr. as their starting quarterback and benching veteran Kirk Cousins as they fight for their first playoff berth since 2017.

If the Atlanta Falcons are going to make a playoff push, coach Raheem Morris and quarterback Kirk Cousins both know the 13-year veteran needs to improve his play over the last three games of the season.

Kirk Cousins threw his first touchdown pass in five weeks and the Atlanta Falcons did just enough to beat the struggling Las Vegas Raiders 15-9 and keep pace in the NFC South race.

Kirk Cousins is set for his return on Sunday to Minnesota, his NFL home from 2018 through 2023.

Atlanta rookie Michael Penix Jr. completed 9 of 16 passes for 104 yards in the Falcons’ 20-13 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Friday night in the preseason opener for both teams.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins’ recovery from a torn right Achilles tendon remains on track as the team approaches next week’s mandatory minicamp.

The top 100 prospects have been scooped up by NFL teams through the first three rounds of the draft.

Defense became the focus of the NFL draft on Friday night after a record-setting 23 offensive players were selected in the first round.

Michael Penix Jr., the biggest surprise of the NFL draft’s first round, received a congratulatory call from Kirk Cousins even as Cousins’ agent was second-guessing the Atlanta Falcons adding depth to their quarterback spot.

Michigan Wolverines national championship-winning quarterback J.J. McCarthy was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the No. 10 pick in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday.

The Atlanta Falcons provided the first major surprise of the NFL draft by selecting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. of Washington with the No. 8 pick.

Michael Penix Jr. couldn’t complete the final chapter in his storybook season.

Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s wizardry in the Sugar Bowl got the Huskies into Monday’s College Football Playoff championship game.

Michael Penix Jr. passed for 430 yards and two touchdowns as No. 2 Washington beat No. 3 Texas 37-31 in the Sugar Bowl to advance to the College Football Playoff championship game, earning the beleaguered Pac-12 one more game this season.

The Washington Huskies are applying lessons from Olympic rowing in 1936 to their quest for a college football national title at the dawn of 2024.

Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels from LSU was one of seven players in either their fifth or sixth season of college football selected to The Associated Press All-America team.

The Heisman Trophy race is looking wide open for 2024.

This year’s Heisman Trophy ceremony is an ode to the new era of college sports, transformed by the transfer portal and NIL.

LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., transfer quarterbacks who have all played at least five college seasons, and Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. are the finalists for the Heisman Trophy.

Michael Penix Jr. passed for 319 yards and a touchdown, Dillon Johnson ran for 152 yards and two TDs and No. 3 Washington wrapped up a spot in the College Football Playoff, beating No. 5 Oregon 34-31 on Friday night in the Pac-12 Championship.

Rome Odunze can see not all is right with the offense for No. 3 Washington.

Grady Gross made a 42-yard field goal on the final play, Rome Odunze caught two touchdown passes from Michael Penix Jr. and No. 4 Washington beat Washington State 24-21 in the Apple Cup for an undefeated regular season.

Washington moved ahead of Florida State and into College Football Playoff position, coming in fourth in the latest rankings.

Michael Penix Jr. threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and No. 5 Washington remained undefeated and clinched a spot in the Pac-12 championship game with a 22-20 victory over No. 10 Oregon State on Saturday.

No. 5 Washington’s prolific offense kept the Huskies unbeaten with a 52-42 victory over No. 24 Southern California.

Michael Penix Jr. threw four touchdown passes and No. 5 Washington held off a fierce comeback attempt to beat Stanford 42-33 for its 15th straight win.

Washington sixth-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has been selected to The Associated Press midseason All-America team, one of 19 players honored who have been in school at least five years.

Michael Penix Jr. threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze with 1:38 remaining after another questionable fourth-down decision by Oregon, and Camden Lewis missed a 43-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the game as No. 7 Washington held off No. 8 Oregon 36-33 on Saturday in another wild chapter to their heated rivalry.

A month into the season, teams across the Pac-12 are getting a sense of where they stand.

Michael Penix Jr. threw for 473 yards and four touchdowns and Jack Westover had three scoring catches to lead No. 8 Washington to a 41-7 victory over Michigan State, playing their first game without suspended coach Mel Tucker.

No. 8 Washington visits Michigan State on Saturday.

Peyton Henry made a 22-yard field goal with 8 seconds left to cap a 92-yard scoring driving, and Washington held off No. 24 Oregon State 24-21 to preserve its hopes in the Pac-12 championship game race.

Washington made its season debut in The Associated Press college football at No. 18 and Penn State and Oregon moved into the top 15 after all three had decisive nonconference victories.

Michael Penix Jr. threw for 397 yards and four touchdowns and Washington emphatically stated its case as a contender in the Pac-12 with a 39-28 win over No. 11 Michigan State.

No. 11 Michigan State travels to Seattle on Saturday for a matchup against Washington with both teams seeking validation for their 2-0 starts.

Matt Coghlin's 51-yard field goal gave No. 10 Michigan State the lead and Payton Thorne's third-quarter touchdown throw gave the Spartans the breathing room they needed to beat Indiana 20-15.

Michigan State has been one of the biggest surprises in the Big Ten season.

Indiana tied a program record Saturday by earning its sixth Big Ten win of the season, joining the 1967 and 1987 teams. Tuttle also lost a fumble that led to a Wisconsin field goal. “He goes running into the locker so I’m thinking, I’m telling Dex (Dexter Williams), ‘OK, this is your time. Indiana entered the day with a Big Ten-leading 18 takeaways and used an early turnover to take the lead for good. Wisconsin had moved the ball to the Indiana 39 when Tiawan Mullen sacked Mertz and knocked the ball loose.

Fryfogle had 11 catches for 200 yards — surpassing career highs he’d set just a week earlier — and the Hoosiers handled Michigan State 24-0 on Saturday. Michigan State was shut out at home for the first time since a 31-0 loss to Michigan in 1985. Michigan State: The Spartans have been hurt by turnovers in all three of their losses, and this was no exception. Lombardi isn't the only one to blame, but it was time for Michigan State to try another option at quarterback. “We thought it was some decision making early in the game," Michigan State coach Mel Tucker said.

Fryfogle had 11 catches for 200 yards — surpassing career highs he'd set just a week earlier — and the Hoosiers handled Michigan State 24-0 on Saturday. Michigan State was shut out at home for the first time since a 31-0 loss to Michigan in 1985. Michigan State: The Spartans have been hurt by turnovers in all three of their losses, and this was no exception. Lombardi isn't the only one to blame, but it was time for Michigan State to try another option at quarterback. “We thought it was some decision making early in the game," Michigan State coach Mel Tucker said.

23 Michigan 38-21 on Saturday for its first victory against the Wolverines in 33 years. Their second consecutive loss could turn up the pressure on coach Jim Harbaugh in his sixth season at Michigan. Indiana: The Hoosiers answered some questions about their ability to contend for a division title or conference championship. Indiana: After beating their first top-10 foe in 33 years, the Hoosiers made their second Top 25 appearance since 1994. Now, after dominating the Wolverines, Indiana could be headed toward its first top-10 ranking since September 1969.

(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)Indiana jumped into The Associated Press college football poll Sunday after pulling off the weekend’s most dramatic upset and Ohio State moved up to No. Ohio State leaped two spots after easily dispatching Nebraska as the Big Ten Conference kicked off its pandemic-delayed and abbreviated season. When the Big Ten postponed its fall season, Ohio State and the rest of the conference's teams became ineligible for inclusion in the rankings. Now that all the voters are including Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan, et al., those teams got an extra boost this week. 3 Ohio State at No.

8 Penn State — its first win over a Top 10 team in more than 33 years. “We liked the call and stayed with the call (after Penn State called timeout) and stayed with the call. Penn State sacked Penix on the next two plays, forced him to throw the ball away on third and an incompletion on fourth, taking the ball back on down at the Indiana 14. Obviously, we could have handled it better and I could have handled it better," Penn State coach James Franklin said. SCARY SCENELess than two minutes into the fourth quarter, Penn State thought it had another turnover when receiver Miles Marshall fumbled at the end of a 17-yard completion.

LINE: Penn State -14.5However, a win over the 25th-ranked Hoosiers would send the Nittany Lions to Ohio State the following weekend with a chance to seize the division lead with an upset of the Buckeyes. We're one of the best teams in the country," Penn State coach James Franklin told reporters. ABOUT PENN STATE (8-1, 5-1)Cliffords three interceptions last week doubled his season total, but Franklin does not expect the sophomore to go into any kind of a slump. Penn State fell five spots to ninth in this week's College Football Playoff rankings. PREDICTION: Penn State 34, Indiana 20

Indiana brings a three-game win streak into the first November night game in Memorial Stadium history Saturday evening against struggling Big Ten opponent Northwestern in Bloomington, Ind. LINE: Indiana -11.5A win over Northwestern would give Indiana its fourth consecutive Big Ten victory, which the program hasn't achieved since that 1993 season. Indiana has experienced much more success on offense than Northwestern, which was shut out last week in a 20-0 home loss to Iowa. Northwestern has won five straight meetings, but the teams haven't faced off since 2016 or played in Bloomington since 2011. PREDICTION: Indiana 27, Northwestern 14

- Despite the large gap between the two teams historically, Indiana and Nebraska share more similarities than either program may want to admit halfway through the 2019 season. Coming off consecutive 4-8 campaigns, four-win Nebraska could not have asked for a much better time to get a week off after entering its Oct. 12 game at No. 16 Minnesota without starting quarterback Adrian Martinez (knee) and leaving the 34-7 loss without dynamic freshman receiver Wan'Dale Robinson (foot, ankle). Nebraska, which has not hosted Indiana since 1977, won 27-22 in the teams' only meeting since becoming conference rivals in 2016. PREDICTION: Nebraska 31, Indiana 27More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

Despite the large gap between the two teams historically, Indiana and Nebraska share more similarities than either program may want to admit halfway through the 2019 season. Coming off consecutive 4-8 campaigns, four-win Nebraska could not have asked for a much better time to get a week off after entering its Oct. 12 game at No. 16 Minnesota without starting quarterback Adrian Martinez (knee) and leaving the 34-7 loss without dynamic freshman receiver Wan'Dale Robinson (foot, ankle). Nebraska, which has not hosted Indiana since 1977, won 27-22 in the teams' only meeting since becoming conference rivals in 2016. PREDICTION: Nebraska 31, Indiana 27More college football scores

- Indiana comes off a bye week looking for its first Big Ten victory Saturday at home against Rutgers. Indiana's 110.4 yards per game on the ground (70 yards in the loss at Michigan State) is second worst in the conference and top running back Stevie Scott III is averaging 56.2 yards per game. Philyor's 14 catches against Michigan State on Sept. 28 are tied for the most in a game this season in FBS and third on Indiana's career list. Rutgers' Raheem Blackshear is tied with Purdue's Rondale Moore for the Big Ten lead in catches per game (7.3), which is ninth nationally. PREDICTION: Indiana 52, Rutgers 10More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

Matt Seybert #80 of Michigan State runs downfield after catching a pass against Michael Ziemba #87 of Indiana. 25 Michigan State beat Indiana 40-31 on Saturday. Michigan State went back ahead 28-24 with 12:12 remaining when Lewerke threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Matt Seybert. Michigan State: The Spartans' offense has been deservedly criticized this year, but this is now back-to-back games with more than 30 points. Michigan State: The Spartans play at Ohio State next Saturday night.

- Indiana returns to nonconference play Saturday with a home game against Connecticut after enduring a 41-point loss to Big Ten juggernaut Ohio State last week. LINE: Indiana -27Hoosiers coach Tom Allen stressed that Indiana needs to put the 51-10 loss to Ohio State in the rear-view mirror and not let the effects of the rout linger this week. Senior offensive tackle and captain Coy Cronk echoed the coach's thoughts and put it this way: "Don't let Ohio State beat us twice." ABOUT UCONN (1-1)Freshman quarterback Jack Zergiotis made his college debut against Illinois and passed for 275 yards and no touchdowns with two interceptions. PREDICTION: Indiana 42, Connecticut 7More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.

Penix also made freshman mistakes that he'll try to eliminate this week against Eastern Illinois, throwing two interceptions and missing some reads that ultimately kept the game close. Five Indiana receivers finished with three or more catches as the passing attack outpaced the run game (148 yards) so Indiana will be looking for more production from its backs against Eastern Illinois. Linebacker Joe Caputo, who anchored Eastern Illinois' defense with eight tackles, has started 34 consecutive games and played under four defensive coordinators during his five years in the program. The Panthers are 0-8 all time against Big Ten opponents, but when Cushing was an assistant at Northwestern before taking the coaching job this season at Eastern Illinois, the Wildcats were 7-1 against Indiana. PREDICTION: Indiana 52, Eastern Illinois 10More college football scoresCopyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.