It was his return to his “home away from home,” and
Washington State running back Jerome Harrison did everything he
could to make the most of it.
Setting a new school record for single game carries, Harrison
ran all over the Bruins with 247 yards and three touchdowns on 42
carries. The performance was the fourth best ever of any running
back against UCLA.
“You could almost run in a blindfold the way (our
offensive line) was blocking,” Harrison said. “I
don’t think I did much except run.”
Harrison, a native of Kalamazoo, Mich., transferred to
Washington State this year from Pasadena City College. He had
previously committed to Eastern Michigan, but then decided to come
out West instead. As a sophomore at Pasadena City College, he
rushed for 1,059 yards and 10 touchdowns. Harrison was one of the
top-rated tailbacks coming out of junior college when Washington
State recruited him.
But so far this season, he hadn’t had that breakout game,
and was averaging just 48.1 yards per game ““ that was until
he met the Bruins.
Coming into the game, the Cougars were looking to exploit
UCLA’s rush defense and had planned to primarily run the
ball, but they had no idea their plan would be as successful as it
was.
“We had seen some things from their defense that showed us
that we could really take advantage of their run game,”
Cougar quarterback Alex Brink said. “But then we continued to
run well all game.
“It looked like they were wearing down on (their defensive
line) from the start,” he added. “We were getting three
or four yards (per carry) right away.”
And it was Harrison who was getting those yards right away,
accumulating 90 yards on nine carries in the first quarter and 134
yards off 18 carries by the end of the half. By that point, he also
had two touchdowns.
But Harrison also said he could hear UCLA’s defense
struggling.
“There were a few times you heard them yelling at each
other, and normally when you hear that, you can tell they’re
breaking down,” he said.
The Bruin linebackers dismissed any on-field concerns, saying
that if anything, they were just trying to encourage each
other.
But the on-field encouragement didn’t seem to be enough
for the Bruins’ defense.
Stopping the run has been the Achilles’ heel for the team
all season. Though they were able to hold Stanford to just 83 yards
last week in their best performance of the year, the Bruins are
still allowing over 200 yards on average to their opponents.
Saturday was just another example of an opponent having a career
rushing day against the Bruins.
The Cougars compiled 321 yards on the ground, even though they
entered the game only averaging 99 per game.
“It really came down to Jerome being the big difference
today,” Washington State coach Bill Doba said. “We
needed something positive to happen because our last two (games)
weren’t even close.”
Harrison may have had a breakout game, but that doesn’t
mean anything extraordinary against the Bruins.
“Harrison is a good back. We’ve seen a lot of good
backs,” defensive coordinator Larry Kerr said. “But
we’ve made backs look good too.”