Mizzou’s Washington has locked down No. 1 running back job
The chase to replace Tony Temple as Missouri’s No. 1 running back appears to be over, and the winner is sophomore Derrick Washington.
Washington has big shoes to fill as Temple rushed for 1,038 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2007, his second consecutive 1,000-yard season, though he missed two games and part of another with an ankle injury. Temple also capped his career in style, rushing for 281 yards and four touchdowns in the Cotton Bowl against Arkansas.
Washington seems confident he can give the Tigers what Temple did.
“Like the coaches have been telling us,” Washington said, “we don’t rebuild, we reload.”
Washington actually took over the No. 1 spot in the spring Black and Gold Game, but he has solidified it with a great fall camp and the fact that he has big-time receiving skills out of the backfield.
“Tony had good hands,” said Coach Gary Pinkel said. “Derrick has great hands. That allows us to game-plan a little bit differently.”
In 2007, Washington, used mostly to run pass patterns on third down, led all of Mizzou’s running backs with 10 catches for 70 yards and a touchdown. Temple, meanwhile, caught just seven balls for 68 yards.
Washington also ran for 184 yards in limited duty last fall but averaged an impressive 5.1 yards per carry.
“I’ve gotten a lot stronger, a lot smarter,” said Washington, who’s up to 220 pounds after playing at 210 last year. “I’ve got a great feel for the game. Experience helped me out a lot because I know what to expect more. I’m lowering my shoulder a little bit more, running lower and just trying to get better as a running back.”
There are times, Pinkel said, that the Tigers could go to a two-back set with Jimmy Jackson joining Washington. Jackson’s 331 yards rushing and seven scores were second and third most, respectively, for the Tigers last season and earned Jackson the nod as the starting running back going into spring practices before being passed on the depth chart.
Jackson now has become the Tigers’ version of a short-yardage back.
“He runs very low to the ground,” running backs coach Brian Jones said. “In those types of situations, you need a low runner that is going to get the ball up field for us.”
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