Washington Huskies Could Rely on Run Game More Often in Final 3 Games

SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies football team suffered a tale of two halves in a 28-25 loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions on Nov. 7.

In the first half, the Huskies fell behind 28-6 and let up three touchdowns in the second quarter in less than seven combined minutes of game time.

In the second half, Washington outscored Penn State 19-0 and forced the game to one final drive, which was extended with a 12-men-on the field penalty and still came down to a fourth-and-1 conversion in the red zone from the Nittany Lions.

One of the few consistent factors for the Huskies throughout both halves was the performance of fourth-year running back Jayden Limar.

Nov. 7 marked Limar's second back from an elbow injury he suffered in Week 1. His first game back was UW's 17-10 win against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Oct. 31. In that contest, he was limited to just 26 plays.

The Oregon Duck transfer saw an extended workload against Penn State (close to 40) and performed. He had nine runs for 66 yards and another two catches for 11 yards. Washington finished the game with 134 rushing yards on the day.

The Huskies running back room has been plagued with injuries this season dating back to spring practice, but multiple tailbacks, such as Limar, sixth-year Trey Cooley and first-year Brian Bonner, have had standout performances in the last several weeks. Those performances can result in the running back room being relied on more than it has this season.

"I think we felt much more comfortable as an offense going out there every series (against Penn State)," UW head coach Jedd Fisch said in a weekly news conference Monday at Husky Stadium. "I felt more freedom to call the best play rather than viewing, like, can we handle 'x' player, 'y' play. I thought the running back room feels more and more comfortable, more and more confident. ... With the running backs themselves, I think that they do feel more and more confident about running the football."

Unfortunately, Washington was unable to make it out of the game against the Nittany Lions without more ailments in the running back room. Cooley suffered a concussion on the team's successful two-point conversion attempt with seven minutes, 40 seconds left in the game, which resulted in the eventual final of 28-25.

Limar will have a green light for a full workload in the Huskies' upcoming game against the Michigan State Spartans on Nov. 14. Bonner and either first-year running back Ansu Sanoe or second-year Ryken Moon will likely make up the running back rotation with Limar.