Column: Lack of Heisman Campaign Hurts Jake Browning's National Allure
SEATTLE -- If Wednesday marked the end of the 2016 season Washington would be in the College Football Playoff for the first time ever and it's NCAA record-setting quarterback would finish second in the Heisman voting . . . at the fault of the program he represents.
Sophomore quarterback Jake Browning stands as the single-season leader in passer rating in NCAA history through nine games with a rating of 202.79. His combined touchdown totals against Cal and Oregon - 12 touchdown almost equal that of the total amount of touchdown passes thrown in 2015.
Browning has eight more passing touchdowns than Louisville starlet Lamar Jackson, thought to be the favorite to win the Heisman, with 34. Jackson does have 19 rushing touchdowns this season to couple with his 26 touchdowns through the air, a reason for his burst onto the college football scene this season.
So why would Browning be considered second, when most of his numbers would suggest otherwise?
Washington has not started a Heisman campaign for Browning and it's November. Yet, with the unanimous No.4 ranking between the Associated Press, Coaches Poll and CFB Playoff rankings, and his numbers already flying up the all-time records for both Washington and the NCAA as a whole there still isn't a movement for Browning.
"No, I think it’s so early." UW coach Chris Petersen said on Oct. 10 of the Browning Heisman hype. "I think it’s so early for all this stuff. You guys already know I’m going to say that. I just think that. I think there’s so much football left to be played for all this different stuff. I think the good thing is our team is playing well and he’s playing well without question. So those are good problems to have.”
At the time Washington was 6-0, coming off a 70-21 victory over Oregon to end the 12-year losing streak and Browning was still a relatively unknown commodity on a national level.
Prior to the 2016 season the Huskies hadn't won their first six games since the 1992 season, with the sixth coming against . . . you guessed it the Oregon Ducks. Washington came into '92 ranked No.2 in the country after winning the 1991 National Championship under the late Don James.
Washington flirted with starting 6-0 a handful of times from 92-2003 but never made it all the way. After 2003 the Huskies slipped into an abyss and finally reappeared this season built on a fast, physical and young defense and a Heisman-hopeful quarterback in Browning.
The Huskies were the off-season national champs over the summer, picked by many to be a Top-5 program and potential CFB Playoff team if everything worked out. It has, and the UW brand has been rebuilt by Petersen.
"Washington is back," said CBS National College Football Columnist Dennis Dodd back in October to Rivals. "You can define that any way you want but UW is a national brand that had been dormant for too long. There is still a long way to go but the Huskies are definitely a top 10 team and definitely the favorite now to win the Pac-12."
It's established the Huskies are back. But the program has never had a Heisman Trophy winner and for the new-aged fan this unfamiliar territory. Washington still has time - not much - to build a campaign for Browning nationally to appeal to voters.
The case against Pac-12 Heisman candidates and the overall complaint coming from the conference is the late starts and voters on the east coast not being awake to see, for example, Browning's prolific performances.
Response?
1 - Get the Pac-12 conference to realize that marketability means putting your best programs on a prime time platform that will feature teams and players will national allure. 2 - Washington needs to put pressure on itself AND the conference to improve their marketability from a television standpoint. Alabama has the SEC and tradition, both past and over the past 5-7 years, so their marketability doesn't have to come from the conference. It also doesn't hurt their covered by the eastern time zone. Regardless of location it comes down to both the university and the conference stressing the importance of being what USC use to be from a national perspective for the conference. 3 - Washington must create a campaign for Browning ASAP. Creating a website this late in the process isn't worth it and won't generate must interest. The UW marketing department has to get the voters at large to a point where they know right off the top of their head that Browning right now is the single-season all-time leader in passer rating. He's the most efficient quarterback in NCAA history and still not all voters know about him.
If Washington can do that and the Pac-12, if not this season at least in the coming seasons, can understand from a television standpoint how to better position its better universities, then Browning could legitimately win the Heisman this season.
Browning still has a chance, with 87 percent of Heisman voters making their selection after Conference Championship Games and toward the end of the season. ESPN's "College GameDay" will be on campus this weekend with the Huskies hosting a surging USC.
A victory over Southern Cal,with the backdrop of ESPN coverage before and after the game, is the perfect ignition to a full-force Heisman campaign for Jake Browning.