Ultra Thin on Running Backs, Huskies Lose Another

It appears the University of Washington football team is losing running backs so fast, the Big Ten availability list can't keep up.

On Saturday night, second-year rusher Julian McMahan limped out for pregame warm-ups against Minnesota in street clothes while wearing a protective boot on his right foot, which coach Jedd Fisch verified after the game to be a season-ending injury suffered in practice.

McMahan, who had made his college debut in the season opener against Washington State, became the fourth scholarship running back lost to the Huskies since spring football, joining Jordan Washington, Quaid Carr and Jayden Limar on the sideline.

"We're going to have to figure it out with the two or three guys we have right now," a somber Fisch said after losing to Minnesota 27-24.

Julian McMahan looks for a Spring Game opening. | Dave Sizer photo

The 6-foot-1, 225-pound McMahan from San Ramon, California, was not found on any of the mandatory Big Ten injury reports that were released leading up to Saturday night's game.

Instead, he walked out and stood in the end zone alongside the idle Carr and Limar who watched their teammates warm up without them.

Washington emerged from the locker room separately and sat on the bench for much of the loss to the Gophers.

With all of these backfield bodies in limbo, the Huskies are down to freshmen Brian Bonner Jr. and Ansu Sanoe, plus Troy transfer Trey Cooley and converted cornerback D'Aryhian Clemons, for available runners.

Against the Gophers, as the rushing attack struggled to get much done, Bonner had seven carries for 23 yards and Cooley ran the ball four times for 5 yards, hardly earth-shaking numbers.

Bonner has started the past three games after the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Carr from Riverside, California, opened against WSU, with the latter suffering a first-half hand injury that required surgery.

This season, Bonner has rushed 22 times for 126 yards, which ranks him second on the team behind quarterback Demond Williams Jr., who has 40 carries for 165 yards.

The 5-foot-11, 210-pound Cooley, after missing nearly two full seasons with injuries for Georgia Tech and Troy, is still trying to find a football comfort zone again.

Trey Cooley fumbled twice in Saturday night's game against Minnesota. | Dave Sizer photo

He fumbled twice against Minnesota, this after bobbling his first carry of the season against WSU.

Limar, the 5-foot-10, 210-pound Oregon transfer, similarly was injured in the season opener, dislocating an elbow late against the Cougars.

The aforementioned Washington, the Huskies' No. 1 back to begin spring ball, went down in the third April practice with a neck injury while trying to make a tackle and his football future remains very much up in the air.

"With Jordan, we're not expecting him to return any time soon at all," Fisch said.

So a third of the way through the regular season, the Huskies find themselves significantly short of having experienced and healthy running backs available.

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