Closing In on 1,000 Yards, Johnson Might Come Back for More

Dillon Johnson, as Pac-12 tacklers will tell you, is a hard man to tackle and bring down.

However, the University of Washington football team just might get its hands on the former SEC running back once this season ends and not let him go anywhere.

When he first arrived from Mississippi State, Johnson, a 6-foot, 218-pound junior, intimated that a perfect scenario for him would be to have one great season in Montlake and head for the NFL.

On the eve of the Pac-12 championship game against Oregon in Las Vegas, the Southern transplant has had a fairly successful run in coming out the backfield for the third-ranked and 12-0 Huskies, closing in on 1,000 yards, yet he said everything is still on the table regarding his future — he remains open to both moving on or coming back in 2024.

"It could go either way," said Johnson, who will sit down with his Husky offensive coordinator and running-backs coach when it's time to plot his future. "I'm going to talk to [Ryan] Grubb and [Lee] Marks after the [season] and we'll come up with a decision."

In 2024, the Huskies no longer will have the services of prolific passer Michael Penix Jr. and offering a fearsome running game could become that much more important for the Huskies to ease into the Big Ten.

Entering the postseason, Johnson has run 173 times for 961 yards, or 5.6 per carry, and 12 touchdowns. At Mississippi State for the late Mike Leach, he had rushing totals of no better than 488, 485 and 225 yards in his three seasons for the pass-minded Bulldogs.

What's changed for him in moving a couple of time zones is his role as a receiver. He has 18 UW receptions. For Leach, he caught 48, 65 and 36 passes in the Air Raid offense.

"That was the talk me and Grubb had before," said Johnson, who entertained Husky coaches in Mississippi a multiple times before committing to them. "I knew I was going to run the ball a lot. We're trying to be more balanced. We're definitely more balanced this year."

Meantime, if all goes well, Johnson should surpass the 1,000-yard barrier against Oregon in the conference title game by a lot.

The mindset going in is the Huskies have to be able to throw and run the ball effectively to beat the Ducks and advance to the College Football Playoff, and they want to leave nothing to chance.

"We're 'coming in to try to dominate," Johnson said. "We're not trying to keep it close. We're coming in to dominate, get the W and go home."

And if the Huskies work it right, he might reside and run the ball there for another year.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published. Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3

Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.