Even with injuries to the running back room, the ground game has been a highlight for the Huskies.
The Washington Huskies football team is days away from its final game of the regular season.
The Huskies will take on No. 6 Oregon at 12:30 p.m. PT on Saturday at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.
Washington will be able to play upset to its Pacific Northwest rivals while also ending the regular season on a strong note.
If the Huskies win, they'll finish the regular season 9-3 — a three-win improvement from head coach Jedd Fisch's first season at the helm of the program in 2024.
Washington doesn't have a chance at the College Football Playoff, but it has managed to put up some of its best showings of the season over its last several games despite being down several injured contributors.
Part of that has been due to the success against the run game.
The Huskies rushed for 212 yards in their 49-13 win against Purdue on Nov. 15. Washington followed that showing with another 212 rushing yards in a 48-14 win against UCLA on Nov. 22.
Huskies senior running back and two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Jonah Coleman has been out or limited for both contests.
In a news conference Wednesday, Washington offensive coordinator Jimmie Dougherty spoke about the team's success on the ground:
"I think it's coming along great," Dougherty said in the news conference. "We kind of talked about getting our running back room going and not relying on (quarterback Demond Williams Jr.) too much. We know he's gonna make some plays with his feet and he did this past game, as well, with some designed stuff and also getting out of trouble on a big 3rd & 1. ... Doing a really good job up front and (we're) just continuing to harp on that. It hasn't been perfect at times throughout the year but it's something we've really committed to. ... At the end of the day, you got to commit to wanting to run the football. And I think we've done that. And to the players' credit, they've done a good job of it. Everything's got to tie in together."
The Huskies are eighth in the Big Ten in total rushing yards (1,830); eighth in rushing yards per game (170) and seventh in yards per rushing attempt (4.7).
Coleman will be back at full strength for the Huskies' season finale against the Ducks.
Saturday will be the 118th all-time football matchup between Oregon and Washington. The Huskies own the all-time record 63-49-5.
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