More than a Lexus with a four-wheel drive
Rich Alexis can be Washington’s Tour de Force
By: Richard Linde, 26 September 2002

If Washington is to have a potent offense this season, it must run the ball more effectively than last season. Quarterback Cody Pickett knows that, head coach Rick Neuheisel knows that, and tailback Rich Alexis is the man who must make that happen. 

The Dawgs’ most bruising runner since Cory Dillon, Alexis has all the tools to cross the Rubicon and be Washington’s talisman for this season.

Rated the number three running back in the state of Florida by one recruiting service, Alexis came to Washington out of John Pope Paul II high school, Boca Raton, Florida.  As a true freshman in the 2000 season, Alexis ran for 738 yards, breaking Willie Hurst’s freshman-rushing record of 538 yards. Alexis was part of a rushing attack that ranked first in the Pac-10, and he helped beat Purdue in the Rose Bowl (34-24), his 50-yard gallop in that game being the longest non-scoring run in Husky bowl history.

At the end of that run, Alexis dislocated his right shoulder, which he had injured near the end of the regular season. He had off-season surgery, which corrected the problem.

Last season, Alexis managed to stay injury free and he finished second on the team in rushing. But he amassed just 391 yards on the ground--which was half again as much as the year before.

A lot of fans grumbled. They thought Alexis didn’t hit the holes with authority. They said that he lacked vision, and that he was hampered because he’d played only one year of high school football.

Other fans said that wasn’t true, that his lack of productivity was due to the development of a new offensive line and the fact that Washington eschewed the option, more or less, after quarterback Cody Pickett suffered a third-degree shoulder separation in the fourth game of the season against USC. 

Last season’s lack of ground productivity has not been forgotten.

This season, Washington needs to run the option to make its running attack more effective--along with Alexis (6’1, 228 pounds), who can bowl people over for extra yardage or take a pitchout from quarterback Cody Pickett and out-race a defender to the goal line. 

Alexis is at his best when he runs outside the tackles after taking a pitchout from the option. His long run in the Rose Bowl was an option play--courtesy of Marques Tuiasosopo.

But if the option is to be successful, the Huskies must pull at the sled a bit harder and keep the ball from going adrift. Of the Huskies' eleven fumbles this season, seven of them lost and counting, most have come off the option. Either the pitchout has been fumbled or Pickett has fumbled the ball when he’s kept it. The Huskies need to run the option cautiously—Pickett’s repaired shoulder in mind. And without reckless abandon—preventing fumbles in mind.

In his three games thus far, Alexis has averaged 105.7 yards per game, good enough for third in the Pac-10. He is averaging 25 carries per game, 4.2 yards per carry, and has scored two touchdowns. A workhorse this season, his devotion to duty is remindful of the late John McKay’s famous quip,  “The ball isn’t heavy and he doesn’t belong to a union.”

Hence, running-wise, it has been mostly a one-man show for the Huskies, at least until Braxton Cleman returns to the lineup. Chris Singleton, the only other tailback to see action for Washington, has run just 10 times for 51 yards.

At this time, the Huskies are first in the Pac-10 in passing offense and third in the nation. On the downside, the Dawgs are ninth in the Pac-10 in rushing and ninety-ninth in the nation.

The numbers' game will improve as Pickett becomes more comfortable with the option. The option doesn’t need to be used a lot, just more effectively. And that will happen, along with other ways to give Alexis more running room. In the last two games, he has been used as a pass receiver, catching 9 passes out of the backfield for 82 yards.

Rich Alexis is a whole lot more than a Lexus with a four-wheel drive--pardon the pun. He can be Washington’s Tour De Force.