Offense vs. defense: Southern Miss looks to make statement vs. Washington

“We have great respect for Southern Miss and their program”.

It would be pretty tough to find someone who performed better than Washington running back Myles Gaskin who finished with 26 carries for 181 yards and four of the Huskies’ five touchdowns. Gaskin became the first true freshman in UW history to run for over 1,000 yards in a season and he also now hold the record for most rushing yards for a freshman in their history.

“End of the day we didn’t make enough plays or the plays that we needed to make to win the game in the second half”, Miami interim coach Larry Scott said.

Now the Washington Huskies sport a record of 6-6, and have published a corresponding slate of 7-5 against the spread.

Myles Gaskin burst onto the scene in the rough-and-tumble Pac-12 and put together a freshman season that exceeded most’s expectations.

UW quarterback Jake Browning threw for 284 yards on 23-of-34 passing, and the Huskies finished with 580 yards of total offense, their most in a game this season. Despite not throwing a touchdown pass, the 19-year-old signal caller from California led the Huskies on seven scoring drives. “We got better through the latter part of the season, and we’re really proud”. Southern Miss is coming off a 45-28 defeat at the hands of Western Kentucky in the Conference USA Championship Game. “As we tried to change over the culture and tried to change things and keep building, a lot of guys left”, third-year Southern Miss coach Todd Monken said.

“I’m excited as a coach”, Monken said at his press conference last week.

“Hats off to Washington”, Monken said.

That was before Gaskin chose to turn on the jets though, as his 86-yard burst would come on the next possession, just a mere 21 seconds after Smith’s tying score. Browning completed four consecutive passes to start the march before eight straight runs. In 2013, he took over a team that went 0-12 the year before.

Senior receiver Jaydon Mickens scored on a 29-yard highlight-reel touchdown run in the second quarter to give the Huskies a 21-10 lead early in the second quarter.

Joshua Perkins added 69 receiving yards on three catches and Marvin Hall 44 yards on four receptions. Braxton Berriors’ 65-yard run to the WSU 5-yard line set up Walton’s score that cut the deficit to 20-14 with 13 minutes to play.

Mullens and Thomas connected on a 27-yard score with 5:22 remaining, but Gaskin and the Huskies were able to chew up the clock from there.

Southern Mississippi quarterback Nick Mullens (9) looks for an open receiver against Washington during the first half of the Heart of Dallas Bowl NCAA college football game, Saturday, Dec. 26, 2015, in Dallas. But the excitement for 2016 doesn’t come from Washington’s winning record, rather from the performance of the Huskies youth after closing strong with this victory.

UW’s leading tackler, Brian Clay, is also a senior, and senior linebacker Travis Feeney had a sack and two tackles for loss in his final game. Though recruiting is far from an exact science, it is notable that Scout.com ranked Washington’s recruiting classes from 2012 to 2015 23rd, 14th, 35th and 23rd in the nation; meanwhile, the talent brought in by Southern Miss during that time frame ranked 70th, 81st, 100th, and 92nd among the nation’s 128 FBS programs.