10 years after the last 1000-yard rushing season in Washington Husky football history, we got another star running back gashing opposing defenses for absurd amounts of yards. Yep, it took a little while, but in 2007, Louis Rankin had a really strong season for Washington’s offense and managed to put an end to the 1,000 yard rusher drought that lasted a decade.
Rankin managed to run for 1,294 yards all while averaging 5.6 yards per carry (which means he got 233 carries back in 2007). He only scored six touchdowns on the ground, but that’s not what we’re here to talk about.
We’re here to talk about how Rankin ran for an absurd amount of yards against Wahsington’s opponents in 2007.
Washington Husky football history: Louis Rankin snapped UW’s decade-long 1,000-yard rushing drought in 2007
And yeah, he really punished some opposing defenses. Like the Stanford Cardinal, who gave up a remarkable 255 yards on the ground to Rankin. Or the California Golden Bears, who allowed 224 yards (at a rate of 10.7 yards per carry) to Rankin.
Heck, the Syracuse Orange (who allowed Rankin to score half of his rushing touchdowns on the season in just one game against their defense) permitted the UW running back to gain 147 yards on the ground when they played the Huskies.
On five different occasions, Rankin had at least 100 rushing yards in 2007. That, my friends, is pretty impressive and definitely worth bragging about.
And again, he was the first Husky in 10 years to run for 1,000 yards in a single season. I mean, that had to have felt good for him to accomplish. Yeah, I really think that was definitely worth bragging about. Rankin finished his career with 2,480 yards on the ground and though the Huskies struggled, he was one of the few bright spots UW fans got to experience in 2007.