In a year where the passing game wasn’t nearly as dynamic, Myles Gaskin was the clear MVP on offense for the Washington Huskies.
After the Pac-12 championship and the trip to the College Football Playoff in 2016, 2017 was honestly a bit of a letdown for Washington. The Huskies failed in their bid to defend the Pac-12 crown. That was all due to the fact that North Division honors came down to the head-to-head tiebreaker against Stanford. A 30-22 loss in Palo Alto gave the division to the Cardinal.
The loss of John Ross to the NFL and Chico McClatcher to injury had a severe impact on Jake Browning’s productivity at quarterback. Though he still had Dante Pettis as a viable weapon as a receiver, Browning didn’t have the depth of weapons for the aerial attack that he enjoyed in 2016.
That put even more pressure on the running game to keep Washington in football games. For the past few years, that has meant heavy doses of Myles Gaskin. Last year a solid sophomore season was overshadowed by the high-flying exploits of Browning’s big passing numbers. But Gaskin continues to execute as well as he has since his true freshman season.
Gaskin has been steadily improving since taking the field right away.
As a freshman, Gaskin snagged the starting role in the Washington backfield and never looked back. He ran for 1302 yards and 14 touchdowns, then followed it up with a 1373-yard rushing season as a sophomore. Hoping to repeat as Pac-12 champions in his junior year, Gaskin did his part with a season just 18 yards shy of another 1,300-yard campaign. He will get there and possibly even to 1400 yards on the season in the postseason.
With only a spot in the Fiesta Bowl against Penn State awaiting, the Huskies are going to depend heavily on Gaskin in a duel with Nittany Lions star Saquon Barkley. Both will be vying for the eyeballs of NFL scouts, and a big performance by Gaskin could push him into second-round territory.
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With the passing game sputtering from its 2017 zenith, Gaskin was keyed in on by defenses more than ever. The junior rose to the challenge, and his 19 rushing touchdowns and 22 touchdowns from scrimmage led the Pac-12 in both categories. Gaskin was a major reason why Washington got itself back to a New Year’s Six bowl in 2017, despite missing out on another conference crown. He was without a doubt the offensive MVP for Washington in 2017 and will be the key to whether they can take down Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl.