3. Myles Gaskin carried the Huskies ground game in 2017
Last year, Myles Gaskin rushed for over 1300 yards and spearheaded a middle-of-the-road ground game in the Pac-12. Last year, he wasn’t required to shoulder the entire load. Lavon Coleman also had a big presence, breaking Washington’s season record for yards per carry by over a full yard.
Both Gaskin and Coleman were back for the 2017 squad, but it seemed like only Gaskin truly came to play this season. Coleman didn’t have a bad year, finishing with 396 rushing yards and 155 receiving yards out of the backfield. The senior put up seven total touchdowns as he became more of a reserve run/catch threat.
But the offense leaned heavily on Gaskin as the season moved forward. For the year, Gaskin had 1510 yards from scrimmage on 226 touches and scored 22 touchdowns along the way. Six times he finished in triple digits for rushing yardage, and Gaskin also posted the first 100-yard receiving game of his career against Utah.
This season, Gaskin accounted for over 30 percent of the Washington offensive production. Without the dynamic elements of last year’s receivers, both Gaskin and Coleman were targeted more by Browning passes. Both young men performed well, but Gaskin’s emergence as the feature back was revelatory.