All the way back in 1989 (it’s been a few years, folks), the Washington Huskies took on the Purdue Boilermakers. This was well before the Big Ten Husky football days were even thought of. The two teams weren’t remotely in the same conference.
And thankfully, the Huskies managed to handle Purdue with absolute ease. It wasn’t even much of a challenge for the Huskies. Washington took down Purdue to the tune of 38-9. During that beatdown of the Boilermakers, Greg Lewis managed to make a bit of history for the Husky football team.
And it happened in a niche play that ended up being recorded as one of the most unique stats I’ve seen recorded. Here’s how a run that didn’t end up as a touchdown ended up putting Lewis in the UW history book.
Washington Husky football history: Greg Lewis gashed the Boilermakers well before UW joined the Big Ten
During that 1989 win over Purdue, Lewis gained 78 yards on a single carry. And while that run is really impressive, he didn’t get into the end zone. It’s this sort of bizarre and unique combination of the fact that he ran for 78 yards and then also didn’t score that ultimately put Lewis in Washington’s record book.
To this day, that 78-yard run against the Boilermakers remains the second-longest run to not end up being a touchdown in Washington Husky football history.
That’s just truly impressive stuff, if you ask me. And it’s also a really fun stat that not enough people will ever take the time to dive into. So that’s why we’re diving into it a bit. Because it’s a fun thing that we should enjoy.
Lewis managed to finish the 1989 season with 1,100 rushing yards on 239 carries. This game against Purdue happened to be one of his first 100-yard rushing games as he gained 165 yards against the Boilermakers.