JEROME HARRISON, TB, SR., WASH. ST.
Background: It’s not easy getting from Kalamazoo, Mich., to Pullman, Wash., but the nation’s leading rusher has made it pay off. It just took him a while. He made stops in Ypsilanti, Mich., Pasadena, Calif., and on Washington State’s bench before becoming the leading rusher in a conference sporting a guy named Reggie Bush. After rushing for 2,338 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior at Kalamazoo’s Central High, Harrison went to Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti. After all, his father, Jerome, was a star at Western Michigan. Turns out Eastern Michigan was too small and he was told Pasadena (Calif.) City College was a hotbed for major college recruiters. After rushing for 1,059 yards on 6.1 yards per carry during his sophomore year at Pasadena, he followed former Pasadena tailback Jonathan Smith to Washington State. Harrison sat on the bench last year, used only as a third-down specialist, until late in the season. He gained 515 yards and four touchdowns in the last three games of the season.
Stat line: Harrison has topped 100 yards in all 10 games this season, giving him a Pacific 10-record 13 games in a row over 100 yards. Harrison leads the nation with 169.3 yards a game on 6.2 yards a carry and 15 touchdowns. The competition hasn’t been directional schools in Michigan, either. He had 147 yards against top-ranked Southern California, 260 against No. 12 UCLA and 240 yards against Arizona State.
What’s up: He has good size at 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds but his vision and uncanny ability to set up blocks are his biggest strengths. Oregon coach Mike Bellotti recalls seeing a play on film against Arizona State when Harrison ran a counter play. “He actually stopped and waited for his lineman to get there and block, and then he hit the hole and made 6 or 8 yards,” Bellotti told the Eugene Register-Guard. “Had a back been too impatient or not trusted his line or not known the timing of the play, it wouldn’t have been that way.”
What’s next: The Cougars (3-7, 0-7 Pac-10) meet Washington (2-8, 1-6) for the conference cellar Saturday, but Harrison has history to make. If he makes his average of 169.3 yards, he’ll have a career total of 2,762 yards, putting him fifth on the school’s all-time list. Not bad for starting only 14 games.
Henderson’s take: Forget his yards. I like this kid’s character. The week of the Oct. 15 UCLA game, he put thank-you notes in all the offensive linemen’s lockers and bought them a cake. On Nov. 3, a few players were at a pizza joint where some kids recognized them as Cougars. One child asked if Harrison was among them. A player telephoned Harrison and told him the kids were asking about him. Harrison arrived 20 minutes later and signed all their autographs.
