Washington football overcame a sluggish first half in Boulder to run away with their first Pac-12 victory of 2017. Here are five overreactions to the Huskies’ win.
When Washington up just 10-7 at the half against Colorado on Saturday, it appeared that the game could go one of two ways. Either A) the Buffaloes were going to gain revenge for their loss in last year’s Pac-12 Championship Game, or B) the Huskies were going to pull away just like they did last December.
The latter of those two possibilities transpired as Washington pulled away for a convincing 37-10 victory on the road to start conference play. After the game afforded the opportunity for some initial takeaways on Saturday night, here are five overreactions that the game yielded with the benefit of hindsight.
5. Jake Browning is hurting the Washington offense
In 2016, Jake Browning ran one of the most efficient offenses in college football. This year, he looks like an impediment to offensive success rather than a linchpin for one of the nation’s most potent attacks. Eventually, Browning’s marginal play on the field is going to cost the Huskies a game they should win.
Against Colorado, Browning was just 11-of-21 for 160 yards. He threw one touchdown pass, but he also coughed up an interception in the victory. Sure, it was better than his 9-of-24 showing against the Buffaloes last season. But that only reinforces the point that Washington is winning despite their quarterback rather than because of him.
If the Huskies are going to keep winning and return to the College Football Playoff this season, a drastic turnaround needs to transpire in Browning’s game. The veteran quarterback is completing less than 55 percent of his passing attempts against Power Five competition. That is a drop of over five percent from his completion rate in 2016.
Right now, Jake Browning is hurting the Washington offense far more than he is helping the Huskies when they have the ball. Maybe it is time to turn to the future and get more looks from redshirt freshman Daniel Bridge-Gadd.
4. Myles Gaskin is the best running back in the Pac-12
The Pac-12 has no shortage of high-quality running backs. Bryce Love continues to make Stanford fans forget about losing Christian McCaffrey. Royce Freeman broke the Oregon career rushing touchdown record in a losing effort on Saturday night at Arizona State. The absence of Ronald Jones II on Saturday showed just how important he is to USC’s offense.
While they have all made major impacts for their respective teams, none of these guys is the best running back in the Pac-12. Instead, that distinction goes to Myles Gaskin, who gashed Colorado for 202 yards and two touchdowns in the Week 4 win. After getting little use during non-conference play, Gaskin asserted on Saturday night in Boulder why he is better than anyone else in a Pac-12 backfield.
As the Huskies struggle to rediscover their aerial prowess in 2017, Gaskin will continue to become more and more significant to Washington’s offense. The Huskies are going to go only as far as their junior tailback can take them this season. While he doesn’t boast the stats of his conference counterparts, Gaskin is the best back in the Pac-12 when Chris Petersen and the Huskies offensive coaches actually give him the football.
3. Dante Pettis won’t break tie for career FBS punt return touchdowns
Dante Pettis drew into a tie atop the FBS career punt return touchdowns list last weekend with his third return score of the season against Fresno State. He will remain tied with Texas Tech’s Wes Welker and Oklahoma’s Antonio Perkins at eight career punt return touchdowns for the rest of the season, and will end his Washington career stuck on that number.
Against Colorado, the Buffaloes didn’t even consider punting to the dangerous return man. Teams are going to replicate that tactic for the rest of the year in Pac-12 play. When the alternative is losing a few punting yards booting the ball out of bounds or allowing a longer punt to be returned all the way to the house, those lost yards don’t seem so painful.
Pettis is going to continue to have impact on the offensive side of the ball. But when it comes to special teams, he has already plateaued in his college football career. Teams have wised up to the danger that Pettis poses on punts, and they are going to take a page out of the Buffaloes script from Week 4. As the opportunities to get punt return touchdowns dry up, Pettis will continue to share the FBS record rather than secure it outright.
2. Tristan Vizcaino is no Cameron Van Winkle
On Saturday night, Tristan Vizcaino only connected on one of his three field-goal attempts and missed an extra-point try as well. Vizcaino served as the team’s punter last season during its run to the Pac-12 title, and perhaps that is where he should have stayed. After taking over for the departed Cameron Van Winkle as the Huskies placekicker, Vizcaino’s performances has done little to bolster faith in the senior special-teams player.
While he has connected on all three of his field-goal attempts inside 30 yards, the Washington coaching staff has little reason to be confident about sending the kicker onto the field from 30 yards or longer. From longer distances, Vizcaino is hitting at just a 25-percent rate this season. After hitting a 42-yarder in the win at Rutgers, he has failed to replicate that feat.
Might the Huskies be better off turning toward a player like Sebastian Valerio, who has yet to play in his third year on the UW roster? Or perhaps they could begin molding Van Soderberg, the three-star recruit brought in with the Class of 2016 as Washington’s next kicker of the future. At this point, kicking is one of those blemishes on Washington’s game that could prove costly down the road in a tight battle.
1. The Pac-12 is still Washington’s conference to lose this season
While the defending Pac-12 champs have plenty of issues to address up and down their roster, Washington still looks like far and away the best team in the Pac-12. In the North, only Washington State is still unbeaten alongside the Huskies. Oregon and Stanford continue to drift back in the division, while California suffered its first defeat against USC and Oregon State is nowhere near its best vintages.
It is hard to see who might seriously challenge them from the South, either. Colorado was last year’s division champion, and they once again sputtered in a runaway second half by the Huskies. USC has looked ordinary as Sam Darnold struggles to regain his freshman form depends too heavily on its defense to bail it out of games. The Arizona schools have fallen on hard times, UCLA continues to fluctuate between contender and pretender, and Utah is still trying to find its identity.
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Nobody looks like a real threat to Washington’s hegemony in the Pac-12. Though they will probably lose a game they have no business dropping over the course of the regular season, the Huskies will once again roll toward the conference crown. Whether it will be enough to return to the College Football Playoff is another question, but the Pac-12 is the Huskies’ to lose until further notice.