Washington Football: Jake Browning folds as Huskies fall to Cal

2. This team needs Myles Gaskin

There was a chance Washington’s star running back could have been back in uniform for the Huskies’ game against Cal. When it came time to make the decision, the Huskies chose to keep him out for at least one more week. Gaskin missed the Cal contest, but he could be back as early as Week 10 against Stanford.

Washington is going to need Gaskin to beat Stanford, but they needed him to beat Cal, too. The Cardinal have so much more talent than the Golden Bears, but even though the Huskies had the talent edge on Saturday, it didn’t seem to matter that much.

The dynamic, game-breaking ability of a player like Gaskin elevates everyone around him. Salvon Ahmed has spelled Gaskin in the past, but he was limited to minus two yards rushing on eight carries against Cal. The Huskies’ leading rusher, Kamari Pleasant tallied 62 yards on the ground on 12 carries.

Gaskin is the type of player that isn’t easy to replace. Without him, this offense doesn’t move, in part because of the continued decline of quarterback Jake Browning…