Inside The Huskies

Time For Huskies To Get Coleman More Involved In Offense

The UW running back has seen his yardage numbers tail off some over the past month.
Dan Raley|
Jonah Coleman (1) stiff arms Maryland linebacker Trey Reddick (3);
Jonah Coleman (1) stiff arms Maryland linebacker Trey Reddick (3); | Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images

Jonah Coleman is neither injured nor disinterested.

He's not tired or distracted.

Or bored or busy doing something else

After seven games, the 5-foot-9, 220-pound Coleman is the same old Jonah -- except in his rushing ledger.

The big reason is the Husky offensive line went from respectable before a rash of injuries turned it into a carbon copy of the Huskies of 2024.

Back-pedaling, whiffing on defenders, jumping offsides.

No one has paid for this more than Coleman, who spent the entire offseason remaking his body, increasing his speed and setting himself up for a big career finish.

"In so many ways, Jonah represents everything you could ever dream of for our program," UW coach Jedd Fisch said.

After opening with games of 177 and 111, lately he's been a little shy on yards.

Instead, he's had four consecutive games of 59, 70, 57, 44 and 50 yards rushing entering Saturday's game for the Huskies (5-2 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) against 23rd-ranked Illinois (5-2, 2-2) at Husky Stadium.

In the past three games, in fact, he's had just one run of 10 yards or more -- breaking off a 15-yarder against Rutgers on the third snap of that outing.

The loss of 6-foot-5, 312-pound senior Carver Willis at left tackle and 6-foot-6, 342-pound freshman John Mills at left guard stripped Coleman of his most reliable escort.

Down went a mobile blocker who could get downfield and provide Coleman with second-level blocking and the monstrous Mills who was just starting to pile up some pancake blocks.

Out of sync, the Huskies haven't scored any first-quarter points over the past four games.

Repeatedly falling behind on the scoreboard, the UW has been more apt to throw the ball more.

And with the Huskies at such a great disadvantage offensively, the opposition has made a concentrated effort to take Coleman out of the equation, which left quarterback Demond Williams Jr. free to rush for 136 yards against Rutgers but -19 against Michigan.

Yet for the Huskies to be at their best, they need Coleman picking up large chunks of yards.

Coleman still leads the nation in touchdowns scored with 13 and rushing TDs with 12.

Yet he's fallen all the way to a tie for 36th in rushing yardage across the FBS landscape, with 112 carries for 568 yards, with his total matched by South Alabama's Kentrel Bullock, who has 124 carries and 6 scores to show for his 568 yards.

Coleman is still motivated enough with life in general by getting named as a finalist for the Campbell award, known as the "academic Heisman," and maintaining a 3.91 grade average. He could use more football rewards, too.

Fisch said help could be on the way for this hard-running Husky back.

Willis and Mills will be game-time decisions, which is an upgrade over their previous status. One is dealing with a knee injury, the other a foot issue.

Coleman will be the first guy to shake their hands if one or both rejoin him in the huddle this weekend.

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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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