UW Went Without Cam Davis, Injured After Arriving in Texas

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The Texas Longhorns showed up without their top two running backs, with Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson choosing to save themselves for the NFL and greatly wounding their team for the Alamo Bowl in the process.

This was known coming into Thursday night's game at the Alamodome.

The University of Washington football team, keeping this news under wraps until game time, didn't have one of its own backs, going without sophomore running back Cameron Davis, who supplied a team-leading 13 rushing touchdowns this season, who was rule out of the game with an injury.

The Huskies, however, were able to survive quite nicely without him in their 27-20 victory over Texas by getting solid performances out of others.

Senior starter Wayne Taulapapa made his final college outing a memorable one by running for a game-high 108 yards on 14 carries, good for his third consecutive 100-yard game to close out his career, and fourth overall this season.

Junior Richard Newton, who confirmed he'll be returning for 2023 while leaving the field, provided 44 yards on 11 carries.

As for Davis, he suffered some sort of unspecified injury during practice while the team was in San Antonio and was forced to watch the game in street clothes from the UW bench area.

"He got dinged up a couple of days ago," UW coach Kalen DeBoer said. "It was a no-contact day for us, really. One guy zigs and one guy zags and you get dinged up. He wasn't able to go tonight. It's nothing serious."

Davis, who started only the Oregon State game this season, will be the leading candidate to become the No. 1 back now that Taulapapa has used up all of his eligibility.

He ran the ball 107 times for 522 yards besides all of those touchdown jaunts. He was more of a power runner compared to Taulapapa, who darted in and out holes.

"I feel really bad for him because he works so hard every day," DeBoer said of Davis. "He's been a good counterattack to Wayne, the way they've operated all season long."

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