Washington football is looking to return to the College Football Playoff in 2017. Here are five reasons why the Huskies can go all the way to a national title.
26 years ago, Washington won a share of the national championship. That year, the Huskies went 12-0 under head coach Don James. They won the Pac-10 title and then defeated Michigan in the Rose Bowl to cap their perfect season.
Since then, Huskies fans have been longing for a return to the college football summit. Last year, Washington went 11-1 in the regular season, then beat Colorado to win the Pac-12 for the first time since the league expanded to include the Buffaloes and Utah. Chris Petersen’s team was then selected to play Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Peach Bowl.
That game did not fare so well for the Huskies. After scoring the first touchdown of the game in the first quarter, Washington never saw another point. The Crimson Tide went on to a 24-7 victory, and the Huskies went home. Then they watched a large part of their defense depart in the NFL Draft in the spring, though at least the bulk of the offense returns.
2016 offered a taste of the rarefied air among the FBS elite for the Huskies. Now that he has restored UW as the top dog in the Pac-12, Petersen will not want to relinquish that title. Click ahead to see five reasons why the Huskies are in position to go all the way and win the national title in 2017.
5. The Huskies have several threats in a dangerous backfield
Last year, the Huskies were among the best teams in the nation at putting points on the board. The ground game, led by Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman, averaged nearly 200 yards per game. The duo punched in 17 rushing touchdowns as well, helping finish off drives with hard runs as well as busting big plays out of the backfield.
Gaskin enters his junior year after already building a storied resume in Seattle. Snagging the starting role immediately, he became the first UW true freshman to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season. Likely to be picked high in the 2018 NFL Draft, Gaskin enters what is almost certainly his last season with the Huskies. In two years he has already rushed for nearly 2,700 yards and 24 scores.
Coleman is a redshirt senior who broke the school record for yards per carry in a season last year. He averaged 7.5 yards on 118 carries to finish with 852 yards and seven touchdowns. More of a bruising back than Gaskin, Coleman offers a thundering change of pace from the backfield.
In 2017, the Huskies are going to have the advantage of two dependable backs that both have demonstrated the ability to drive the offense on the ground. Even in an era of high-flying aerial attacks, a strong running game is a key ingredient for a championship team in the 21st century.
4. Jake Browning will develop into a legitimate Heisman contender
For the past two seasons, Petersen and offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith have been able to rely on Jake Browning at quarterback. In 2015, Browning became the first true freshman to start a season opener at quarterback for the Huskies. He finished the season with nearly 3000 passing yards, but had a pedestrian 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Rather than a sophomore slump, Browning vaulted into the upper echelon of quarterbacks in his second season at the helm of the Huskies offense. Browning threw 43 touchdowns and just nine interceptions to earn Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year honors. The QB efficiently led UW within reach of its first national title in a quarter-century. The touchdown total was bolstered by big games against Idaho, Oregon, California and FCS foe Portland State.
His worst two games came against USC and Alabama, the two teams which dealt the Huskies defeats in 2016. The Trojans held Browning under 50 percent passing, while the Crimson Tide held him to only 150 passing yards. Both teams intercepted Browning twice to stall Washington drives. But he also was hardly the sole reason that the Huskies faltered in those contests, either.
Smith and new co-offensive coordinator Matt Lubick will work to utilize the weapons around Browning to the fullest potential. That also means making the junior quarterback even more efficient and dangerous throwing the ball as he builds up a Heisman candidacy on Washington’s path to a national title.
3. Defense should be fine despite several major departures
In 2016, the Huskies ranked eighth nationally as they allowed fewer than 18 points per game. Teams managed just 316 yards on average against the Huskies, as the secondary gave up fewer than 185 passing yards and the front seven held teams under 135 rushing yards per game.
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No team forced more turnovers than the Huskies did in 2016. Their 33 turnovers gained were the product of a team that ranked eighth with 19 interceptions and fifth with 14 fumbles recovered. They also ranked 19th in red zone defense, seventh in opponent third-down conversion rate, and finished 19th in team sacks.
At first glance, Washington’s defense could be in a bit of trouble this season. The team lost four starters in the 2017 NFL Draft and a fifth to graduation. Three starters from the Huskies’ game-breaking secondary were called in the second round of the draft in April. Defensive tackle Elijah Qualis also landed with the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round.
But the team does have back six of its seven top linebackers, and the defensive line has a relatively deep two-deep across the board led by tackles Vita Vea and Greg Gaines. There is also plenty of young talent ready to step up in the secondary. A trio of four-star talents are waiting in the wings from this year’s recruiting class, ready to challenge safeties JoJo McIntosh and Ezekiel Turner and cornerbacks Taylor Rapp and Jordan Miller for playing time.
2. Washington enjoys a clear path to 13-0 and Pac-12 title
Last year the Huskies were left sweating the College Football Playoff selection committee’s final decision after winning the Pac-12 championship. That is because they lost a regular-season game at home 26-13 to USC. Combined with a weak schedule out of conference, Washington was fighting against other Power Five teams that had played tougher calendars.
This year, the Huskies once again play an underwhelming non-conference slate. They play a return game at Rutgers, then take on FCS Montana and Fresno State at home before Pac-12 action begins. The question isn’t whether Washington will be 3-0 at the end of the run, but how few points they will give up to the trio of opponents.
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In conference play, the Huskies avoid the only team that managed to beat them in the regular season. Washington will only play USC if the two meet in the Pac-12 championship game. As a result, it should be much easier for the Huskies to get through their schedule unscathed.
They also get to play UCLA and Utah at home in interdivisional play, and the Apple Cup will be in Seattle this year. Washington does have to go to Boulder to take on Colorado and the Bay Area to play Stanford. But they beat the pair by a combined scoreline of 85-16 last season, and the Cardinal and Buffaloes both lost their best offensive weapons. An undefeated Pac-12 champ will get into the playoff, and that champ will be Washington.
1. Chris Petersen is a master tactician who cannot be discounted
Once they get into the College Football Playoff, the Huskies aren’t going to falter a second time around. Chris Petersen has been one of the most brilliant coaches in the game for the past decade. He led Boise State to two Fiesta Bowl victories in the BCS era, and looked like he might remain at the school forever.
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Then Washington came calling, and Petersen finally jumped ship for a Power Five program. He inherited a team that had plateaued at seven or eight wins a season under Steve Sarkisian. That was admittedly an improvement from the smoldering crater left by the Tyrone Willingham era. But he also is great at hiring top coaches and engendering loyalty among his staff.
Look no further than Pete Kwiatkowski, the architect of Petersen’s top-shelf defenses with both the Broncos and Huskies. Kwiatkowski has quietly been one of the best defensive coordinators in the country over the past seven years. In five of the past seven seasons, he has put together a top-11 offense according to Football Outsiders Defensive S&P+ rating.
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The Huskies may have lost twice, but they also held USC to 26 points and Alabama to 24 points. Washington will learn and grow from those experiences. With another shot at winning the national title, a football genius like Peterson won’t fail a second time.