Jake Browning

Early life

Browning attended Folsom High School in Folsom, California. At Folsom, he had a 4.0 grade point average and set national and state high school records. In 46 games, Browning completed 1,191 of 1,708 attempts for 16,775 yards and 229 touchdowns, all California records. The 229 touchdowns also broke the national record held by Maty Mauk. As a senior, Browning threw for a national-record 91 touchdown passes. He also passed for a California record of 5,790 yards, which broke his record from his junior year. Browning was the Gatorade Football Player of the Year during his junior and senior years.

Browning was rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com and was ranked as the third-best pro-style recruit in his class. He committed to the University of Washington to play college football. Browning studied at the university's Foster School of Business, as a direct admit into their Business Administration program his freshman year.

Freshman

In his first year at Washington, Browning became the second ever (in any game) true freshman to start at the quarterback position at UW (the other was Marques Tuiasosopo against Oregon in 1997) and the first true freshman to start a season opener for the Huskies. In his first career start, Browning completed 20-of-34 passes for 150 yards and an interception.

Sophomore

As a sophomore, Browning performed on a much higher level, guiding UW to a 12–2 record, and the Huskies' first conference championship since 2000. He set a new record for touchdowns per attempt at 12.2%. On November 29, Browning was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and first-team all-Pac-12. He came in sixth in the 2016 Heisman Trophy voting, narrowly missing an invitation to attend the award ceremony in New York City. Browning's sixth-place finish is the third-best Heisman voting finish in school history, behind Michael Penix Jr. who finished second and Steve Emtman who finished fourth.

Browning underwent shoulder surgery on his throwing arm two weeks after facing Alabama in the College Football Playoff. His injury was kept secret for nearly two months, and some commentators have speculated as to a connection between the injury and Browning's reduced performance in the later portion of the season.

Junior

Browning started all 13 games of the 2017 season at quarterback, was named to the Academic All-Pac-12 second-team, was an honorable mention All-Pac-12, and broke the UW career touchdown passes record this year. Browning completed 230 of his attempted 336 throws, which was his highest throwing percentage. He threw for 2,719 yards, 19 touchdowns, and five interceptions.

Senior

On September 29, 2018, Browning became the school's all-time passing leader, against BYU. With the Pac-12 North Division title on the line, he led Washington against in-state rival and seventh-ranked Washington State on the road in the 111th Apple Cup. The Huskies won their second Pac-12 title in three years by defeating Utah in the 2018 Pac-12 Football Championship Game. The team was invited to the Rose Bowl, where they were defeated by Ohio State to end the year at 10–4, 7–2 in conference play. Browning finished the season with 3,192 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.