Washington Huskies Football: UW overwhelms North Dakota: 3 takeaways

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SEATTLE, WA: Nate Ketteringham #8 of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux fumbles the football against Ariel Ngata #52 of the Washington Huskies in the first quarter during their game at Husky Stadium on September 8, 2018. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

1) Washington shook off the after-showdown letdown

If Washington had beaten Auburn, this game may have been a little closer. North Dakota hung in during the first half. Browning found Ty Jones early for a score and Myles Gaskin had a short touchdown run in the 2nd quarter as the defense set the tone early for the Huskies.

The Fighting Hawks just did not have the skill position players to deal with the overall speed and athleticism of the Huskies. This game is sandwiched beaten the Auburn game and a sneaky tough road game at Utah. It would have been easy to go through the motions here.

It was good to be home against an FCS opponent. It was also good to have Jake Browning, the senior quarterback running the offense. A less experienced QB may have struggled a little more to maintain focus. After the game, Browning was irritated with his performance and thought he should have played better. He did throw two careless interceptions in the first half but overcame his mistakes.

Halfback Myles Gaskin was held to just 53 yards rushing as well. Some of that probably had to do with the opponent, but ultimately this was not a competitive game heading into the 4th quarter. The Huskies will need a better start against the Utah Utes if they want to get off on the right foot in the conference. Last season, the Huskies scored 10 points in the final minute to escape with a 33-30 win at home against a 5-6 Utah team.

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