For the past two seasons, Washington fans have become accustomed to a pass-heavy offense. It appears that under coach Jedd Fisch, there has been a huge shift, and a strong rushing attack is back on Montlake.
The star of that show is transfer running back Jonah Coleman, who had an extremely impressive bottom line, with 16 carries for 127 yards and 3 touchdowns on Saturday in the season-opening 35-3 win over Weber State. Advanced analytics also loved Coleman’s day, as he graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 Power 4 running back on the week, receiving an elite 90.3 grade.
Coleman was the first Husky running back to rush for over 100 yards in his debut since 1960, and the 5-foot-9, 229-pound powerhouse showed that not only is he hard to bring down, bouncing off of defenders on multiple runs, but he can move with ease and can draw them off and switch direction without notice.
His first carry of the game went for 25 yards down the right sideline, and on his next touch, he burst through the line and went 44 yards for a touchdown, but the run was called back due to a holding penalty on tight end Quentin Moore, wiping out what would have been the first score for the Huskies in the Big Ten.
In just three quarters, Coleman scored half of the amount of touchdowns that he did all of last season at Arizona. He found the end zone six times with the Wildcats in 2023, 5 rushing and 1 receiving.
Offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll has what appears to be one of the deepest and most talented running back rooms in the Big Ten after the emergence of true freshman Adam Mohammed and the return of senior Cameron Davis.
With the trio of talented backs at its disposal, Fisch, Carroll, and the rest of Washington’s coaching staff should be able to design plays to attack any of the defenses the Huskies will face this year.
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