Injuries are bound to happen in a football game, which is no surprise. What is surprising is when those injuries hit one specific position group, and in this case, it was Washington’s Huskies running back room.
Starting running back redshirt freshman Quaid Carr and backup senior Jayden Limar suffered serious injuries in the Huskies’ 24-10 Apple Cup victory over the Washington State Cougars on Sunday. The injuries will keep both backs out for an extended period of time. Oddly enough, both players had arm injuries: Carr injured his hand, and Limar his elbow.
“Quaid is going to have to get surgery, and I don’t know what that will look like,” head coach Jedd Fisch said. “I don’t expect Jayden Limar for a while either.”
Despite the devastating losses, Husky head coach Jedd Fisch is confident in the stable of backs behind Carr and Limar. Fisch is looking for someone from that stable to step up.
Likely Replacements
In Monday’s press conference, the Husky head coach listed veteran Trey Cooley and true freshman Brian Bonner Jr. as the likely replacements for Carr and Limar. Cooley transferred from Troy University and missed all of last season due to an injury, he had four carries in last Sunday’s game The rust and maybe some nerves prompted Cooley to bobble a pitch on his first carry of the game, ending up in a loss of six yards. Despite the shaky debut, Cooley remains by far Washington’s most experienced back and will undoubtedly have to contribute in the coming weeks if the team wants to be successful in the run game.
Cooley is the most experienced option, while Bonner is limited. Despite the lack of experience, the true freshman from Santa Clarita, Calif., made a name for himself in the Spring when both Cooley and Limar dealt with injuries. Bonner’s production in the Spring and Fall camp make him the likely second option behind Cooley.
“Bonner had certainly the most amount of carries all Spring, all of training camp, and we went back and looked at that this morning,” Fisch said.
Other Names to Watch
Cooley and Bonner will receive most of the reps no doubt, but Fisch was adamant about the depth he has built at the running back position. A few other names to watch include redshirt freshmen Julian McMahan and Ryken Moon, and true freshman Ansu Sanoe.
Of the bunch, only Moon, the son of UW legend Warren Moon, has totaled any carries in a DI game with five for 22 yards. Four of those carries came in a blowout victory over Purdue, the other in a drubbing of UCLA.
McMahan and Sanoe have yet to record a carry, but are the two biggest backs that Washington has to offer. McMahan from San Ramon, Calif., is listed at 6-1 and 225 pounds, while Sanoe, the Gresham, Ore. native, is listed at 6-0 and 240 pounds.
“Ansu will give us a lot of football as well…and we’ll also have the ability to get Ryken [a] good amount of reps,” Fisch said.
Another interesting possibility Fisch threw out on Monday was transitioning tight end Kade Eldridge to the backfield. Eldridge played running back in high school for Lynden Christian and totaled 545 yards and seven touchdowns, but that was four years ago.
In whatever direction Fisch decides to go, an unlikely candidate at the start of the season will have to step up big. The first chance to see who makes a name for themselves will be on Saturday, September 12 against Utah State (0-1) at 12:30 p.m.
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