With Sam Huard’s admittedly agonizing decision to enter the transfer portal, the tale of the University of Washington quarterback, past and present and temporary, continues to take all sorts of interesting twists and turns.

No one rightfully would have guessed that Huard, the one-time 5-star recruit and UW legacy player, would come and go in Montlake in 21 months and throw just 44 passes in five games.

Yet there he in the portal, finally putting his competitiveness ahead of any sentimental tug to keep waiting for an opportunity to run the Husky offense that was widely projected but never assured.

Huard moved on because he hasn’t played much at all in three seasons now, going back to his junior year at Kennedy Catholic High School because of the COVID pandemic and getting beat out. He was faced the stark reality of watching others play the position instead of him for yet another season.

The lingering questions for this left-hander from Bellevue, Washington, are where will he land and will he ultimately realize that mountain of hype he carried into the collegiate level?

Huard was asked if he might consider playing for Cal Poly, dropping down a level to the Big Sky, only because his Kennedy Catholic coach Sheldon Cross was hired last week as the Mustangs offensive coordinator. He said it was too soon to tell. He’s better than that, though.

Huard, of course, found himself in this tight squeeze for playing time because of the arrival of Indiana transfer Michael Penix Jr. and his fellow lefty’s wildly successful first season for the Huskies.

“I know how big he is for this program and how great of a player he is,” Huard said of Penix. “As you can imagine, him coming back definitely had an effect on this decision, because he’ll be the starter next year, and it’s his team right now.”

Penix’s impressive achievements were his 4,641 passing yards in a season, directing the Huskies to an 11-2 season with wins over Michigan State, Oregon and Texas, and helping make them the nation’s eighth-ranked team in the final Associated Press poll. Most of all, this 6-foot-3, 213-pound graduate transfer from Tampa, Florida, played in all 13 UW football games, more than double his outings in any of his four years in Indiana, each marred by a season-ending injury. Rather than put his name in the NFL draft, Penix surprised everyone by announcing he would return for a second Husky season, presumably bent on making a concentrated run at both a national championship and a Heisman Trophy while enjoying his continuing good health in Seattle, which boded well for everyone except Huard.