Inside The Huskies

Briefly a Husky, Dumas Goes Home to UTEP to Resurrect Career

The Texas running back couldn't make it work at the UW.
Dan Raley|
Briefly a Husky, Dumas Goes Home to UTEP to Resurrect Career
Briefly a Husky, Dumas Goes Home to UTEP to Resurrect Career

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Washington Huskies

Running back Aaron Dumas, who could churn out a big yardage total against a Kalen DeBoer team but couldn't do it while playing for one, has resurfaced at UTEP in his Texas hometown.

The 5-foot-9, 208-pound El Paso native left the University of Washington following spring football practice and a busted year for him in Seattle and entered the transfer portal. 

Dumas never got on the field for the Huskies on game day and barely drew meaningful offensive reps in the most recent spring ball, turning out to be a rare recruiting miss for DeBoer's staff while in Montlake.

Asked in Appril what was holding Dumas back, UW offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb responded with one word: "Speed."

After rushing for 6,083 yards and 57 touchdowns in his career as an El Paso high schooler, Dumas began his college career at the University of New Mexico in 2021 and led the Lobos in rushing with 658 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 136 carries. 

A good chunk of Dumas' yards came against a DeBoer-coached and Jake Haener-quarterbacked Fresno State team when he piled up 143 yards and a score on 21 carries in a 34-7 loss. Dumas even broke a 63-yard run in that game.

He arrived for 2022 UW spring ball and was one of the few healthy running backs available to DeBoer's staff and took a majority of No. 1 tailback reps. However, an immediate observation among media members was Dumas lacked quickness.

He joins a UTEP team that plays in Conference USA and comes off a 5-7 season. 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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