People No Longer In a Rush to Belittle UW Running Game

Jimmy Lake has always wanted a running football team. It signifies superiority and toughness. He wore that infamous hat. This would be his mark on the University of Washington football program.

Yet for his first 11 games as head coach, his Huskies couldn't sustain this approach for any significant amount of time. They just didn't scare anyone when the ball was shoved into anyone's midsection.

Little Montana and big-time Michigan stuffed his guys at the line of scrimmage.

Lake produced one 100-yard rusher this season and last, but just barely, with sixth-year senior Sean McGrew churning out 104 on 16 carries a month ago at Oregon State — in a loss.

On Saturday night in Palo Alto, however, his Huskies finally took a big step forward offensively in their 20-13 victory over Stanford. They piled up a season-high 229 yards on the ground in 42 carries, or 5.5 yards a crack.

Finally, they underwent a decided identity shift, at least for 60 minutes in the Bay Area.

Against the Cardinal, Lake not only had another 100-yard rusher emerge in McGrew with 114 on 19 rushes, he nearly had two, with redshirt freshman Cam Davis adding another 99 yards on 18 touches.

For the first time all season, no one was screaming about schemes that seemed unimaginable and didn't work. There were no sheepish looks from anyone getting bent over backward.

What happened in the Bay Area was as encouraging as any team development all season — the Husky offensive line finally ripped off its confounding soft label and won the battle of the trenches against decent competition.

"We were able to get the ball off tackle a little bit more tonight than we have in our first seven games, which really opened up things inside," Lake said. "Our offensive line just really, really jelled well together. They played a tough, physical battle."

Right guard Henry Bainivalu might have had his best game as a Husky, just when program outsiders had begun to wonder if he was a weak link up front. Coming out of his stance, pulling out in intricate maneuvers and barreling into helpless Cardinal defenders, he was like a runaway semi truck taking out all road barriers.

On at least three occasions, the 6-foot-6, 330-pound junior from Sammamish, Washington, put his head down, shot along the back of the line and pancaked frozen opponents.

Pass the syrup, please.

On the other side of the Husky line, 6-foot-4, 310-pound redshirt freshman Troy Fautanu from Henderson, Nevada, turned in his second efficient performance as a replacement for All-Pac-12 left tackle Jaxson Kirkland, who remains injured.

Fautanu, waiting for Kirkland to enter the NFL draft and take his spot permanently, unexpectedly has had spring football show up six months early. He's taken the job and made it his, though he'll have to give it back when the older guy is ready to go again.

"I did from the sideline have a view of him mowing over people and getting some great blocks," Lake said.

Consequently, a young UW running back such as Cam Davis, the 6-foot, 205-pound redshirt freshman from Rancho Cucamonga, California, was able to take full advantage and show off his burst and vision while squeezing through these open lanes.

Now Oregon and Kayvon Thibodeaux will be more of a problem up front next weekend at Husky Stadium. Yet Lake's guys know what's possible.

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