No. 18: How Washington can live up to its sudden national hype

After going 7-6 last season, expectations are much higher for the Huskies in 2016

Every year, there's at least one college football team that becomes the offseason's darling dark horse -- you know, the team du jour. This team isn't necessarily expected to make a splash in the national championship race, but they nevertheless become the trendy "hey, watch out for this team" pick.

Other than Tennessee, no team is enjoying the high-ceiling hype of this offseason quite like Washington.

The last several months have set up nicely for the narrative that the Huskies -- ranked 18th in our CBS Sports Preseason 128 -- will push for a Pac-12 North title. Washington won four of its final six games in 2015, including a total dismantling of Washington State in the Apple Cup. This team also returns a nice number of starters from a year ago, including quarterback Jake Browning, running back Myles Gaskin and defensive back Budda Baker.

And, of course, there's Chris Petersen. The third-year coach had phenomenal success at Boise State, accumulating a 92-12 overall record, but his middle-of-the-pack record in Seattle has kept him from unquestionably being named among college football's elite coaches.

But like any rebuilding job, microwave results aren't realistic. As ESPN's Kevin Gemmell documented last December, a young team meant there would be growing pains.

This year, starting a true freshman at quarterback, running back and left tackle, underclassmen on the right side of the line and five more underclassmen on defense, the Huskies made the kind of mistakes you'd expect from such an inexperienced team. But you could also see the growth and development throughout the season.

This showed up the most notably in close losses, as one would expect. Of the Huskies' six losses, five were winnable; only a 31-14 loss to Stanford got out of hand. Here's how those closes losses played out:

• A 16-13 loss to Boise State was a defensive struggle.
• In a 30-24 loss to Cal, Washington held Golden Bears quarterback Jared Goff to one of his lowest completion percentages (60) of the season, but couldn't quite catch up in the fourth quarter.
• Similarly, Washington couldn't quite keep up with Oregon in a 26-20 loss, even though it was one of Oregon's lowest-scoring games of the season.
• In a 34-23 loss to Utah, a one-point game got away from the Huskies in the fourth quarter.
• Leading 17-0, Washington blew its lead to let Arizona State come back and win, 27-17.

Washington's only close victory was 17-12 against USC. Otherwise, the Huskies got the short end when it came to tightly contested games.

We know that Washington needs to close out better if it's going to have a shot at the Pac-12 North title. (Stanford, by the way, is the preseason favorite. The Huskies received eight first-place votes.) How does this happen?

Start faster, especially on offense. Washington showed it could close gaps and keep things interesting. Hats off to Petersen for second-half adjustments. However, in five of its six losses, the Huskies found themselves in double-digit halftime deficits.

Browning is a rising star, but he has to be better late in games. In fourth quarters last season, Browning threw for 458 yards, one touchdown and four picks. His passer rating of 107.8 in the fourth quarter was among the worst in the Pac-12.

Do better in ball security. The Huskies were +5 in turnover margin, which is good, but ranked 80th in the FBS in giveaways (22).

Ultimately, Washington has an Oregon and Stanford problem -- as does most of the Pac-12 North. The Huskies have notched just one win against either team since 2008. You have to go back to 2003 to find the last time Washington beat Oregon. However, unlike most of the Pac-12 North, the Huskies have some momentum moving into the new season that translates into a lot of offseason hype.

If 2015 was any indication, it appears as though Washington is headed in the right direction in slowing down its Oregon problem. Stanford might be another issue, but the Huskies do get the Cardinal at home in September.

The Pac-12 North has not been kind to dark horses in recent years. Realistically, if Washington wants to live up to the high expectations, it needs to at least split the Stanford-Oregon pair -- and this is no easy task, seeing as it gets the Cardinal and Ducks in back-to-back weeks.

Do that, however, and a Pac-12 title actually feels possible. And Petersen, translating his success from the Group of Five to Power Five in three years' time, will have a claim as one of the best coaches in college football.