Daily Evergreen: 'Three-headed Monster' leads the Cougars rushing attack

Three WSU running backs helping to ease the loss of All-American Jerome Harrison.

Michael Baldwin

The three-headed monster, most commonly known as the WSU football team’s rushing core, is vastly approaching the 1,000-yard mark for the season. After the departure of Jerome Harrison via the NFL draft last April, the Cougars’ offense was faced with a void in the rushing game that the coaching staff tried filling during the spring and fall camps with three athletes. The three-man running back rotation, which consists of junior college transfer Derrell Hutsona, freshman Dwight Tardy and sophomore DeMaundray Woolridge, has already recorded a combined 845 yards rushing through six games this season. “They come in and they’re fresh and hungry,” WSU running backs coach Kelly Skipper said. “Competition brings out the best in them.” The running back crew has worked out so far for the Cougars, boosting the team’s offense and giving quarterback Alex Brink more options in the passing game. The team has six rushing touchdowns this season. “We’re more comfortable around each other, we’re like brothers,” Hutsona said. “We all have the same mindset, which is to score and keep points on the board and contribute to the team as a whole.” While Harrison was the stealthy halfback for the Cougars the past two seasons, he passed on a plethora of knowledge about the game to Tardy and Woolridge. Both agreed having Harrision as a teammate helped them out immensely. “It was a great learning experience,” Woolridge said. “[Harrison] taught us a lot of things that seniors know about playing this game. He knew that we had potential, so he taught us the little things to help us get loose.” Tardy added: “I learned a lot; I think my redshirt year was the best thing that happened to me. I watched his attitude going into each game and I knew that I needed that mentality.” Woolridge, who has rushed 58 times for 268 yards in five games this season, started at running back at the beginning of the season before he suffered a right thigh bruise during the team’s season opening loss to Auburn.

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