The third season under Chris Petersen begins for the University of Washington football team on Saturday, September 3rd when UW takes on Rutgers at Husky Stadium. A lot of pundits have Washington finishing second in the Pac-12 North this season. This could be the year that sees Washington finally beat the University of Oregon for the first time since 2003.
There is a lot of optimism in the Pacific Northwest for the Huskies to return to dominance and show the rest of the Pac-12 they are here to stay. Let’s take a look at a few key players for the Huskies for the upcoming 2016 football season.
Key Players
Jake Browning
Jake Browning will be entering his second season as the starting quarterback from Washington. Last year, he finished with 2,955 yards with a 63.3% completion rate (233-368) in 12 games played. He threw for 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Browning’s sophomore season could be a breakout year for him.
As the season went along, you could see his arm strength getting better and he was hitting the deep throws he was missing earlier in the year. Browning’s last four games of the 2015 season, including the bowl game, he averaged 275.75 yards through the air with 1.25 touchdowns and one interception per game.
Myles Gaskin
Myles Gaskin had an incredible year for the Huskies in 2015. As a true freshman, he rushed for 1,302 yards on 227 carries and 14 rushing touchdowns. Gaskin’s best game of the season came on December 26th against the University of Southern Mississippi. He rushed for 181 yards on 26 carries and had four touchdowns.
Gaskin, as well as Browning, will need to at the very least duplicate their success they had last year if the Huskies want to seriously contend for the Pac-12 North division title as well as the Pac-12 overall title.
Budda Baker
On the defensive side of the ball, Budda Baker is one of many key players on the vaunted Huskies defense. Baker finished the season with 36 tackles and one interception and seven pass defenses. This is Baker’s junior season and he has been a key contributor to a defense that has been one of the best in all of the Pac-12 these last two years. Expect Baker to be a key defensive leader and player in 2016.
Schedule
Like all Pac-12 teams, the Huskies will play 12 games, nine conference games, and three non-conference games. They open up with three straight games at home, all non-conference games. Their first conference game comes on the road against the Arizona Wildcats. Their first true test of the season comes the following week when they take on the Stanford Cardinal at home on Friday, September 30th. They could very well enter this game with a 4-0 mark.
The following week it doesn’t get any easier as they travel and take on Oregon at Autzen Stadium. Autzen stadium has not been kind to the Huskies these last few years they have played there. In their last four trips to Autzen, the Huskies have given up an average of 48.5 points in those games while scoring only 16.75. If the Huskies want to finally get over the hump against Oregon, they will need to limit Oregon’s scoring chances and actually put points on the board with touchdowns, not field goals.
They will have two more rough road games at the end of October and the first week of November when they travel to take on Utah and Cal, respectively. Washington follows up their game against Cal with a game at home against USC. They round out their 2016 season with a home game against Arizona State on November 19 and then a road game against instate rival Washington State on November 25th.
Feel free to vote here on what games you think that Washington will win this season.
Prediction
The Huskies have a talented team and should be able to compete with any team in the Pac-12 barring any serious injuries to key players outside of the ones listed above. This writer could easily see the Huskies going 10-2 (7-2 in conference play) and playing in a respectable bowl game at the end of the season. Their two conference losses will be against Stanford and USC and will miss out on playing in their first ever Pac-12 title game by one game.