When Deontae Cooper arrived on Montlake, it certainly seemed plausible that the young running back would have a pretty strong career with the Washington Husky football team. He joined a loaded running back room and had some intriguing potential and was set to play for a young, innovative head coach who was rebuilding the UW football program (shoutout to Steve Sarkisian).
Unfortunately, knee injuries greatly impacted the trajectory of Cooper’s career with the Huskies and he ultimately ended up finishing his college football days elsewhere after transferring in 2016.
That said, while Cooper’s time with Washington wasn’t what he (or UW fans) really wanted it to be, he’s still a huge part of Washington Husky history. He’s even got a place (a few actually) in the Washington Husky record book.
One odd stat that he holds is a tie for the No. 9 longest rushing attempt without a score in Husky football history.
Washington Husky football history: Remember when Deontae Cooper ran for 68 yards in 2013 against the Oregon State Beavers?
Admittedly, this is one of my favorite stats and records that I uncovered when I was digging through Washington Husky football history. And in the 2013 Washington football season, Cooper managed to set a little bit of Husky history by running for 68 yards against the Beavers. Unfortunately, he didn’t score.
But, well, because he didn’t score, he actually ended up in UW history. So, uh, maybe it’s a good thing that he didn’t score?
The 2013 game against Oregon State was a lopsided affair in which Washington actually had three different players run for over 100 yards. Bishop Sankey ran for 179, Cooper totaled 166, and Dwayne Washington gained 141.
Washington, unsurprisingly, ended up winning the game. Cooper managed to average 15.1 yards per carry against the Beavers and the two touchdowns that he eventually did score in this game happened to be the first two touchdown runs in his college career.