SEATTLE -- During his playing career at Oregon State in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Washington offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith had three different quarterback coaches in five seasons. Eventually, he'd look back at those seasons as a good thing -- a way to experience as many different coaching styles as possible, styles that he'd use and mold into his own coaching style in Seattle.

As a player, however, any time there's that amount of turnover on the coaching side -- especially when it comes to a quarterback-quarterback coach relationship -- it's always hard.

Luckily Smith's current protégé -- sophomore quarterback Jake Browning -- has gone through almost none of those kinds of changes at Washington. Not only has Smith been there from day one, but many of the key offensive players and playmakers from 2015 returned in 2016, making Browning's shift into his sophomore season a smooth one.

The piece of it all that has remained the most unchanged? Smith's personality. Or Browning's personality. It's hard to say who is actually the most unflappable because in the competition of "most consistent" Smith and Browning seem to be 1A and 1B.

Browning describes his coach as "very consistent, as far as demeanor and all that. Doesn't really get real up or down. Just very straight to the point."

That quote could just as easily be Smith describing Browning.

Regardless, it's their fit together -- and the fact that they always know what to expect out of one another -- that has made them such a strong pairing for a Washington offense that has averaged 477 yards and 45 points per game this season en route to a Pac-12 championship and a berth in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

"Just to have someone who's very consistent," Browning said of Smith. "I think there are certain guys that can get very up or down and as a freshman, that can affect you a little more because you're doing something you've never done before, so I think it was good."

As a freshman, Browning was thrust into the starting spotlight. He became the first true freshman to start a season opener for Washington, and his job was made no easier by the fact that the Huskies opened the season by playing Chris Petersen's former team, Boise State.

Browning quickly learned that no interception was going to get any exaggerated reaction and no touchdown would get a huge celebration from Smith. Browning's coach would remain consistently levelheaded during game time and not get critical until after examining the game film, something that Browning thinks benefited him greatly as a true freshman.

"On the field, he wants to let you play," Browning said. "It's nice. As a quarterback you don't want someone on you, on top of you for the whole time."

In Year 2 of the Smith-Browning connection, the sophomore has come into his own. He leads all Power 5 quarterbacks with 42 touchdown passes this season and his 6:1 touchdown to interception ratio is the best among quarterbacks who've thrown for at least 30 touchdowns this season. He has made good use of a talented wide receiver group this season and his passer efficiency rating (176.5) is second only to Baker Mayfield among Power 5 QBs.

All of these are vast improvements from the overall numbers Browning put up last year, which is a tribute to both Smith's consistency and Browning's work. The one knock on Browning this season has been his surprising inconsistency in Washington's biggest games.

In the Pac-12 title game against Colorado in December and in the Huskies' loss to USC in November, Browning tallied two of the five lowest passer efficiency ratings of his career (26 games in total) and those were the only two games this season in which he completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes.

Both Smith and Browning know that those games pale in comparison to the stage Browning will be on when Dec. 31 rolls around. In order for the Huskies to have a chance against Alabama, Browning needs to play more like his consistent, unflappable self that showed up in every other game this season.

"He's going to have to be able to stand in that pocket and make some throws with bodies around him," Smith said. "These guys have made a living on scoring points on defense and creating turnovers and havoc for the quarterback. He's going to have to be a good decision-maker."

One facet that Browning has shown during his career is that he learns from his mistakes. Given the amount of teaching points that likely came out of the USC and Colorado games -- criticism that Smith waited to give until after reviewing the film -- Browning will be better prepared in game 27 than he was in previous games.

Unlike his coach back in his own playing days, Browning is equipped with one of the best weapons in college football for a young player -- a consistent platoon.