We’re exploring a lot of Washington Husky football history over the next few months folks, so buckle up. To help prepare for the future of Washington football, maybe we should look to the past? Or something, I don’t know. Insert cool motivational blurb here.
Mostly, I’ve been spending a ton of time going through the history books associated with the Washington Husky football program and I’ve enjoyed learning about some really cool stats and remarkable athletes. So, let’s talk about all of that.
Because there’s some great stuff here that deserves to be discussed.
We’ve already gone over the first Husky to ever run for 1000 yards in a season. Now let’s talk about the second to do it. Shout out to Rob Rowland, who 26 years after Hugh McElhenny first ran for 1000 yards in a season for the Huskies, managed to run for more than 1000 yards in a season.
Washington Husky football history: Rob Rowland was the second Husky to ever run for 1000 yards in a season
Rowland was officially the second Husky to ever achieve this and it had to have felt good for UW to get another 1000 yard rusher after 26 years had passed since McElhenny accomplished the feat. And man, Rowland got there by the skin of his teeth.
Through the 1976 season, Rowland gained 1002 yards on 203 carries. He got there. That’s all that counts, you know? Rowland averaged 4.9 yards per carry and managed to score six touchdowns during the season. Pretty good year for him, if you ask me.
In four of his 11 games that season, Rowland racked up 100 or more rushing yards. He managed to save his season high rushing total of 196 yards for the Washington State Cougars. I, for one, respect putting up a ton of yards and a historic sort of performance that gets you into the record books against a rival. More players should do that.