Washington Huskies Links: Is There Football Yet?

The Seattle Times — UW’s Jake Browning has heard his critics. Now, he’s hell-bent on turning doubt into fuel

Adam Jude gives us a window into the mind of Washington’s mild-mannered senior quarterback, for whom the 2018 offers one last chance to play for and win a national championship. The takeaway? While Jacob Eason, Jake Haener, Jacob Sirmon and Colson Yankoff represent a bright future for the position, there should be no doubt that Browning and his meticulous work ethic offer the team its best chance for immediate success.

The Seattle Times — Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed — best backfield combo in UW history?

The combination of Gaskin and Ahmed could wind up being one of the best in program history, which is saying something with the Huskies’ strong tradition at the position.

So says Jude, in what I can only assume is an intentionally provocative statement. Gaskin is absolutely one of the program’s all-time greats, and Ahmed is one of the most promising underclassmen on the roster: No reasonable observer would quibble with either one of those points. But such a question also demands that we take into account the way in which scoring has exploded in college football during recent decades. For instance, Gaskin’s 21-touchdown season last year would rank 13th in program history for career rushing touchdowns. In other words, “best backfield combo in UW history” is an incredibly subjective statement that should be good for at least 200 comments in this article alone. (fingers crossed)

The Athletic — Pac-12 quarterbacks uniquely positioned to benefit from new redshirt rule

Chantel Jennings examines how the NCAA’s newly reformed redshirt rule, which allows players to participate in up to four games while retaining a fifth year of eligibility, will affect the game plans and decisions of the Pac-12’s college football coaches. Arizona State quarterback Manny Wilkins is unambiguous about his feelings on the matter:

“Experience is everything in this league, it’s everything in football. I can’t tell you how important it is if I would’ve had 30 snaps before I went to start my first game, how much more comfortable I would’ve felt going onto the field.”

Sports Illustrated — As Coaches Advocate for an Expanded Playoff, Will Non-Conference Schedules Get Tougher?

In his latest mailbag, Andy Staples ponders how regular season non-conference scheduling would change in the era of an eight-team playoff that included automatic bids to the winners of the power-five conferences. He also looks at what Florida fans should expect in year one of the Dan Mullen era, and how he expects this year’s ACC race to roughly shake out.

USA Today — The Pac-12 needs Washington to be its savior amid concerns about the league’s future

George Schroeder doesn’t mince words in his analysis of the state of the Pac-12:

USC, the defending Pac-12 champion, is searching for a quarterback. Stanford’s consistent performance has settled in recent years to a level below elite. Oregon is hoping its third coach in three seasons will lead the way back to prominence. But Washington, which is 22-5 in the last two seasons, returns the bulk of a very talented roster including a fourth-year quarterback starter in Browning. ... We’ll begin to see [if Washington has what it takes] when the Huskies take on Auburn. The matchup of top 10 teams is enticing on its face, and important because of the College Football Playoff’s emphasis on challenging schedules. But it’s also the first and probably most important challenge for the entire Pac-12 as the league tries to rebound from 2017.

And in case you missed it last week, Schroeder’s colleague Paul Myerberg ranked the Huskies as his No. 1 team in the conference.

Dots

• The Washington men’s soccer team traveled to São Paulo, Brazil, and on Saturday won gold at the FISU America Games via a 1–0 victory over Brazil.
• From Pac-12 Media Day last week, here’s Chris Petersen’s press conference and a mashup of the Washington delegation’s appearance on the Pac-12 Network.