Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl: Myles Gaskin leads Washington past Southern Miss

Myles Gaskin scored four touchdowns to lead the Washington Huskies past the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl.

Washington freshman running back Myles Gaskin had seven games with more than 100 yards rushing as he topped the 1,000-yard marker in his first year with the Huskies, but he saved his best for the last game of the year when he ran for 181 yards and four touchdowns in the win against Southern Miss in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.

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Gaskin had an 86-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage to give Washington a 31-24 lead after Southern Miss tied the game at 24 with 2:47 remaining in the third quarter. Chris Petersen’s Huskies would go on to score 10 points in the first half of the fourth quarter to end any threat from the Golden Eagles to come away victorious, 44-31.

The win gives Washington a 7-6 season as they look to use this performance from Gaskin at the end of a promising freshman season to serve as a catalyst in the offseason as Petersen looks to have his team contending for a Pac-12 North division title with heavyweights, Stanford and Oregon.

Washington freshman quarterback Jake Browning finished 23 of 34 passing with 284 yards with Jaydon Mickens leading the team with eight catches and 95 yards.

Southern Miss ends the season on a downer, but it was a highly encouraging season for head coach Todd Monken who led his team to nine wins after only winning four games the previous two seasons combined.

Quarterback Nick Mullens threw 331 yards and two touchdowns, both to Michael Thomas who had nine catches for 190 yards. Running back Ito Smith ran for a pair of scores, but Southern Miss had to play without leading rusher Jalen Richard and his absence was felt on a day the Golden Eagles only mustered 22 rushing yards on 30 carries against the Huskies defense.

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Southern Miss ends their season with a 9-5 record.