The Washington Huskies have had many excellent running backs over the years, but few have scored as many touchdowns in one season as Jonah Coleman. The senior’s one rushing touchdown in Saturday night’s 48-14 win over UCLA brought his season total to 14, good enough to tie for the seventh-most in single-season program history.
Coleman entered the game with 13 rushing touchdowns, a total which placed him in a four-way tie with Hugh McElhenny (1951), Jake Locker (2009), and Cameron Davis (2022) for the 10th-most in a single Huskies season.
His one-yard score in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s blowout gave him 14 rushing touchdowns, and propelled him into another four-way tie with Jacque Robinson (1984), Napoleon Kaufman (1993), and Myles Gaskin (2015) for seventh on the Huskies’ single-season leaderboard.
However, with just the Oregon game and bowl game remaining, the second-year Husky is running low on time to advance from seventh. However, he’s only two scores away from entering a tie for fourth place, so he could still make a sizable leap up the standings.
Rashan Shehee, who scored 15 rushing touchdowns in 1995, is currently alone in sixth place. Just ahead, Bishop Sankey (2012) and Dillon Johnson (2023) are tied for fourth with 16 rushing touchdowns.
UW’s top three may be harder to catch. Sankey scored 20 rushing touchdowns in 2013, Gaskin scored 21 in 2017, and Corey Dillon tallied a program-best 24 in 1996.
Coleman is also ascending the Huskies’ leaderboard for total touchdowns scored as a result of his two receiving touchdowns. He entered Saturday’s game with a total of 15 touchdowns, a single-season total which has been surpassed only 10 times in program history.
Chris Polk (2011) and Sankey (2012) are now joined by Coleman in ninth with 16 total scores, while Chuck Carroll (1928), McElhenny (1951), and Dante Pettis (2016) remain tied for seventh with 17 touchdowns.
After that, it’s Mario Bailey (1991) in fifth with 18, John Ross (2016) in fourth with 19, Sankey (2013) in third with 21, Gaskin (2017) in second with 24, and Dillon (1996) leading the way with 25 touchdowns.
Again, Coleman could still climb the rankings with two games remaining. He’s five touchdowns from a tie for third place, a total he previously reached in the span of four quarters against UC Davis in Week 2.
However, there’s no guarantee that Husky fans will see that version of Jonah Coleman again. He was limited to just four carries for six yards and the score against UCLA due to the lingering effects of a knee injury he suffered early in Week 11 against Wisconsin.
That injury sidelined him for the remainder of that game and for the Huskies’ Week 12 win over Purdue. Coleman had scored seven of eight games this season before going down against Wisconsin, and his scoring tallies would likely be even higher had he not missed the better part of the last three games.
In addition to his injury, Coleman will have to overcome a fearsome Oregon Ducks defense that ranks third nationally in yards allowed per game (235.4). History’s not on his side, either. Coleman struggled to make an impact in last year’s loss to Oregon, when he was held to 11 carries for just three yards, a rushing touchdown, and a lost fumble.
But if anyone can power through injury and defy long odds, it’s Coleman. The transfer from Arizona has been an absolute freight train across his two years with the Huskies.
His efforts this season will rank among the best in program history for years to come, and he’s still got two final games to add to his already-impressive scoring tallies. A favorable bowl matchup for the second game could go a long way toward bumping Coleman further up Washington’s scoring leaderboards.
The Huskies (8-3, 5-3 Big Ten) will host the Ducks (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) at 12:30 p.m. PST on Saturday for a rivalry clash which will be Coleman's last game inside Husky Stadium.