Washington Football: 3 takeaways from blowout win over Boise State in Las Vegas Bowl

2. Washington had no real ground game to provide balance

A lot was made about Jake Browning’s departure and Jacob Eason’s elevation to the starting role, and for good reason. The biggest loss on offense from last season, though, proved to be not Browning but rather four-year rushing dynamo Myles Gaskin. Over four years as the feature back, Gaskin rushed for at least 1250 yards and 10 touchdowns each season.

Washington missed that consistency this season, as they dropped 22 spots in the FBS rankings in terms of rushing offense. Salvon Ahmed did eclipse the 1000-yard mark this year, but that proved to be a statistic bloated by a few big games. Ahmed topped the 100-yard mark in a game this season only four times.

Those struggles continued on Saturday night in the Las Vegas Bowl. Ahmed had two touchdown runs, but he otherwise carried the ball six times for just 20 yards.  Richard Newton finished the day with 69 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Both backs punched in short touchdowns, but they led an effort by the backfield that netted only 118 total rushing yards as a team.

Washington obviously proved capable of winning the game despite the lack of any substantive ground game. But those struggles were illuminated one final time, in a year where the Huskies just weren’t very good at moving the football when they opted to hand it off instead of heaving it downfield.