Stanford, Washington meet in a duel of the disappointed
SEATTLE — Maybe you predicted before the season that when Stanford and Washington played each other, both would be unranked teams with three losses and that neither Bryce Love nor Myles Gaskin would be among the Pac-12’s top five rushers.
Maybe you also predicted that UW QB Jake Browning would be pulled during a 12-10 loss at Cal.
If you indeed predicted all that that, well, do you have any stock tips?
The Cardinal (5-3, 3-2 Pac-12) and Huskies (6-3, 4-2) meet Saturday at Husky Stadium — naturally, rain is expected — in a duel of teams with readjusted expectations.
For these two, the College Football Playoff went out the window a long time ago. Saturday’s winner still technically will be in the hunt for the Pac-12 North title. But if it’s Stanford, the Cardinal also will have to hope that front-runner Washington State loses two of its last four games.
Stanford has lost three of its past four games and, although its passing game looked excellent last Saturday against the Cougars, it has one of the worst ground games in the country.
Washington has lost two of its past three. Most recently it was smothered by Cal’s defense, when Browning — the 2016 Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and the school’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdown passes — was yanked for two series in the second half.
Unsurprisingly, the four-year starter was royally peeved that head coach Chris Petersen gave him the hook. Browning hasn’t spoken publicly since then, but the coach acknowledged the senior’s displeasure.
“If I’m Jake, I’m not liking it, either,” Petersen said this week. “That’s what I love about Jake Browning. That dude is a competitor. I don’t care what happens. That’s why I told him, ‘You’re going back in, but I’m going to give this guy (redshirt freshman Jake Haener) a couple series.’ ”
Browning will start Saturday. He needs one more victory to tie the Pac-12 record of 36 career wins by a quarterback.
Meanwhile, both Stanford’s Love (ankle) and Washington’s Gaskin (shoulder) are iffy going into the game. Love might be in this situation the rest of the season, just as he was over the second half of last year. Petersen said Gaskin was “closer” to playing this week.
“They’re somewhat like us,” Cardinal head coach David Shaw said. “There are times for a quarter and a half, they look like a top-10 football team.” Other times, not so much. Gaskin, UW’s all-time leading rusher, has missed the past two games, the only ones he’s missed in his four-year career.
“I’ve said it for years,” Shaw said. “He’s the most underrated running back that probably has played in this conference since I’ve been here. Nobody talks about him. All he does is break tackles and make people miss.”
As for Browning, Shaw said, “I like to watch guys that have moxie. He’s a tough son of a gun. … He’s going to be on an NFL roster next year because of his brain and because of his desire.”
Nevertheless, Washington has had its worst offensive showing in a decade. The Huskies average 23.8 points per game in conference play.
After scoring on their first series against the Bears, they went: interception, punt, punt, lost the ball on downs, punt, interception, punt, punt, field goal. Nevertheless, they’re solid favorites against a Stanford team whose defense hasn’t been stellar, either.
Before Friday, the Cardinal ranked ninth in the Pac-12 in yards allowed (416.5 per game) and last in passing yards allowed (275.4).
“I think what people will see this week is two very good football teams that haven’t quite had the season they wanted,” Shaw said. “This should be an exciting football game.”
The Huskies are already bowl eligible, but the Cardinal are not. They need to sweep their last four games to get a quality bowl game. If they were to lose two more, their fans might well say hello to the Cheez-It Bowl in Phoenix on Dec. 26.
It’s the bottom bowl among the Pac-12’s affiliations.