Washington Football: Jake Browning makes the Huskies Pac-12 favorites in 2018
Fighting for the second conference championship in three years, Washington football has a huge opportunity to accomplish the feat with Jake Browning now.
The chances that Washington football maintains their high level of competition going forward seems promising after the 2018 recruiting class. There’s a large amount of quarterback talent returning across the Pac-12. However, the Huskies might have the best of the bunch in the conference returning at the quarterback spot.
Rising senior quarterback Jake Browning provides the Huskies offense with some stability found in few teams in the nation. Browning had another productive season under center, although it was not as good as his 2016 campaign. He was able to push UW to close to another Pac-12 Championship Game and kept them in College Football Playoff contention.
A 2017 campaign that saw Browning throw for 2,719 yards, 19 touchdowns, and five interceptions signified an increase of the ground game’s role in the UW offense. Fellow rising senior, running back Myles Gaskin, proved he sits among the conference’s best with a career high in yards and touchdowns. Gaskin’s 21 scores accounted for some of the dip in Browning’s touchdown passes. Moreover, Browning racked up a career high seven touchdowns on the ground in 2017.
Outlook for 2018
Entering the upcoming regular season, Browning gives head coach Chris Petersen the most stability at quarterback of any Pac-12 program. The Huskies have more returning starters coming back on defense, with nine, than on the offensive side of the ball. Key losses such as versatile receiver Dante Pettis and bruising running back Lavon Coleman puts more question marks this year.
Washington’s toughest competitors in the Pac-12 North includes the Stanford Cardinal and Oregon Ducks. Cross conference matchups against the UCLA Bruins and Arizona State Sun Devils will also be challenges for the Huskies. An upset road loss against the Sun Devils cost the Huskies a shot at back-to-back conference titles in 2017.
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Another Pac-12 Championship under Petersen, Browning, and Gaskin should not be too far away in Seattle. It would also make for a great transition from Browning to former Georgia Bulldogs transfer quarterback Jacob Eason in 2019.