Was there ever a game where you went "Without Browning we lose that game".?
Yes. Many. So many that this is a silly statement. Off the top of my head, they beat Cal if our boy Hainer doesn't step in. Browning was the perfect quarterback to ball-protect and hold on to a boring win instead of a what-the-fuck loss.
If there's one way in which I part ways with the collective wisdom of this bored (TDS/BDS/TTTT aside), it's the prioritizing of looking the part and big-dick/gunslinging over actual wins and losses and on-field effectiveness on a college football field. Thinking BBK was a liability, or thinking he was until his senior year, is very on-brand for Hardcore Husky and yet completely wrong. Having a guy who could cover as much field as he did and make EVERY tackle in his gap allowed the rest of the defense to take fewer risks, and this more than made up for a couple embarrassing incidents per game of him getting "dragged." Sure, you'd like to have a 250 lb. monster who's just as fast and smart, but my daughter wants a pony, too.
It's the same with Browning. The dude was a winner, but he wasn't a 6'5" Adonis, didn't risk the ball for the sake of a big play, didn't tuck it and run for 50 yards, and expressed disappointment when his kicker misses a chip shot on a day when nothing's going right, so he fucking sucks. The most important things a quarterback can do are get the offense into the right play and throw an accurate ball, and he's the best at that at UW since I've been old enough to remember. He took some embarrassing sacks like just about any other quarterback, put a lid on the offense with his arm strength, and largely avoided the middle of the field to protect the ball. Not perfect, but consider the alternative: Over his starting career, the Huskies lose at least a half dozen more games with anyone else on the roster starting. Easily.
So, yeah, if Trevor Lawrence or Joe Burrow are sitting on the bench, there's not a single game that I felt they'd lose without Jake Browning. With Cyler Myles, Troy Williams, Jeff Lindquist, and a young Jake Haener? Plenty. Myles Gaskin is rightfully a Hardcore Husky hero, and Gaskin apparently LOVED this guy. He very often called the right shots to put Gaskin in a position to succeed. There are things going on on the field that you don't see from the stands or your couch.