It’s a Fresh Approach to the Running Game

What a day for Washington, and not the University of.

For 60 minutes Saturday, freshman Delon Washington put the “T” back in Tailback U and made right what had been, of late, Student Body Wrong.

Washington, not even listed on USC’s flip card, came off the bench to dart and dash for 109 yards in 10 carries to spark USC’s 24-17 victory over Washington at the Coliseum.

“It looked like “The Natural,’ ” USC Coach John Robinson said. “I was going to call him Robert Redford.”

Washington, 18, was playing his first game since high school only because backup Leonard Green suffered a pulled hamstring.

“No,” Washington said. “It could not have gone any better.”

The Trojans, who ranked eighth in conference rushing last season, gained 165 net yards on the ground (232 gross). Shawn Walters gained 91 yards in 26 carries and scored two touchdowns. Washington did the rest. The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder from Dallas added a different gear to the USC running game.

Robinson cautioned that Washington is not the second coming of Marcus Allen.

“It’s premature to talk in those terms,” Robinson said. “Shawn is still the starter, but Delon Washington certainly had an impact.”

Washington became the first true USC freshman to rush for a 100 yards or more since Ryan Knight gained 100 against UCLA in 1984. Washington became only the fourth true USC freshman ever to top the 100-yard mark.

He not only averaged 10 yards per carry, but had one of the game’s most important runs in the third quarter, when he broke free for 34 yards on third down to keep alive what turned out to be the score-tying drive.

Washington acknowledged that he was scared before the game.

“I had a lot of jitterbugs,” he said.

Once he hit the huddle, he said the fear left him. He said he felt as if he was at Kimble High again, before those Texas-sized prep school crowds of 13,000. Washington said he ran like the wind, the way his late brother, Benny, taught him.

“I think about him every day,” Washington said. “He’s inside of me, enjoying himself, he’s above me. I pictured him in the crowd, yelling, telling me to stay inside or go outside.”

It was Benny who convinced Delon that USC was the place for his brother; Benny who was convinced John Robinson would restore the Trojan tailback tradition.

Benny who, Jan. 27, was standing in his Dallas neighborhood when a car drove past. Someone shouted his name from the window, then fatally shot him in the back.

Fifteen minutes after Delon learned of his 27-year-old brother’s death, he phoned USC and committed to attending the university.

“I just wanted to get rid of everything,” he said. “I just wanted to get it out of the way.”

His brother’s killer soon turned himself in, but justice has been slow.

“They let him out two weeks later, and keep pushing the trial back,” Washington said. “It was supposed to be July 18, but was postponed. Now it’s Oct. 18.”

Washington hopes to have gained a 1,000 yards by then. Benny saw USC as Delon’s ticket to the top. He believed Delon could start a new tradition.

“That was part of it,” Washington said. “I hope to have a Heisman too.”

It was difficult to tell who was happier Saturday, Washington or Robinson.

“The run is back,” Robinson said. “The run has got to be back for us. It’s not a question of yardage, it’s a question of belief and the will to do it.”

Washington showed Robinson the will, and maybe the way.

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