Through five games of the 2013 season, Washington running back Bishop Sankey is putting together one of the best performances ever by a rusher for the Huskies. On Saturday, Sankey rushed for 125 yards in a loss at Stanford, becoming the first running back to crack the century mark against the Cardinal this season and pushing his season total to 732 yards. That ranks second to Napoleon Kaufman (1994) for the most yards by a Washington running back through five weeks:
Player Year Yards YPG ------------------------------------- Napoleon Kaufman 1994 924 184.8 BISHOP SANKEY 2013 732 146.4 Greg Lewis 1990 644 128.8 Chris Polk 2011 611 122.2 Napoleon Kaufman 1993 575 115.0 Joe Steele 1978 568 113.6 Hugh McElhenny 1950 557 111.4 Rashaan Shehee 1997 541 108.2 Ron Rowland 1976 526 105.2 Corey Dillon 1996 503 100.6
The single-season record Sankey is chasing (1,695 yards, or 141.3 per game) actually belongs to the last player on this list — Corey Dillon, who rushed for nearly 1,200 yards over the final seven games of his single season in a Husky uniform. Here’s how Sankey’s current pace (purple) compares to Dillon (the top line) and Kaufman (the line highest on the life) and the other top-six single season rushing performances in Washington history.
As long as Sankey keeps putting up big numbers — and he faces another defense this Saturday, Oregon, that hasn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher — we’ll update his pace on a weekly basis as he chases Husky history.