Getty Image / Steph Chambers
The Washington Huskies football program had a surprisingly successful season last year.
They entered the year as an unranked team in the Pac-12 and was expected to be overshadowed by programs like USC and Oregon during the conference schedule.
They ended up being the conference’s highest-ranked squad at the end of the season, finishing 8th in the AP poll, and only ended up missing out on the conference title game because of a tiebreaker.
Following that success, Washington is getting respect right off the bat this year. The Huskies were ranked 10th in the country in the preseason poll thanks in large part to an offense that was surprisingly strong a year ago.
Unfortunately, it looks like that offense is going to be missing a key piece before the season even get started.
Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer told reporters today that running back Cameron Davis will miss the season because of a lower body injury he suffered in practice last week.
No. 10 Washington loses RB Davis for season https://t.co/xhPBB7FsHd
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) August 22, 2023
“Cam is a huge part of [the offense],” DeBoer said (via ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura). “It’s his second year in the system, works so hard, leads the right way, disciplined guy. He not only does a great job with the ball in his hands, but in pass protection he knows everything inside and out.”
Cameron Davis was an important part of the offense last season, rushing for 522 yards and 13 touchdowns on the year.
With Wayne Taulapapa, who was the team’s leading rusher last season, heading to the NFL, Davis was expected to be the team’s starter this year.
Now the team will have only a couple of weeks to determine who will shoulder the load this season.
Luckily, the Washington Huskies’ offensive attack is built to be much more reliant on their passing game than the run, but it’s still a tough blow this close to the start of the season.