When Washington needed to find its run game Friday night at Purdue, Jedd Fisch turned to first-year running back and budding star Brian Bonner Jr. to provide two crucial first-half touchdowns to help secure the Huskies' 38-26 victory at Ross-Ade Stadium and, in the process, the first Big Ten victory for UW in 2026.
Coming into the Huskies' Week 7 matchup against the Boilermakers, no running back had finished with at least one rushing touchdown and receiving touchdown in a single game over the first half dozen games this season. Bonner hauled in a 25-yard quick pass from quarterback Elijah Brown and ripped off a 25-yard touchdown with 6:27 left in the first half to put UW ahead 17-10.
On the final Huskies' possession before halftime, the Santa Clarita, California native punched in a 1-yard touchdown run to record his first career score on the ground, which extended the visitors' advantage to 24-17 at the break. Bonner ended the night with 13 carries for 64 yards to go along with his rushing TD, his third straight game with 10 or more carries in league play.
Only one ex-UW running back who finished their career ranked among the top 10 in rushing yards in school history, Vince Weathersby, managed to record at least one rushing and one receiving touchdown as a freshman, doing so in 1985 for legendary coach Don James. However, the versatile runner and pass catcher recorded each touchdown in three separate games for the Huskies over four decades ago.
Huskies take the lead with Bonner Jr.'s second TD of the night 🙌 @UW_Football
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 17, 2026
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Without four players—Oregon transfer Jayden Limar, returners Quaid Carr, Jordan Washington, and Julian McMahan—out for the remainder of the 2026 season, Fisch turned his prized young back loose early and often in West Lafayette.
The former four-star recruit in the 2026 class out of Valencia High School in California racked up seven carries for 46 yards in the first half, to go along with his 25-yard TD reception three plays later that retook the lead for UW 17-10 midway through the second quarter.
His success was briefly stunted after his first carry in the third quarter, a 3-yard run with just under three minutes to go in the period, led to the freshman leaving the field for a few plays due to a minor injury, the latest Husky runner to go down with an injury this season.
Bonner returned a few plays later on the same drive after Brown hit third-year wide receiver Justice Williams for an 18-yard gain to convert a third-and-12 inside Boilermakers territory. Over the final 15 minutes, the rising first-year RB added another four carries for 16 yards to push his season total to 296 yards on the ground on 64 carries with UW headed into its bye week before another conference road test at Nebraska on October 31.
The freshman's 64 yards, coupled with veteran transfer Trey Cooley, who suffered an injury with under five minutes left in regulation and did not return to finish the game, with his first triple-digit yardage game on the ground, adding eight carries for 113 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown to seal the 12-point UW road victory for his first 100-yard game in five years since 2021, when he was a freshman at Georgia Tech.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Freshman RB Scores Twice to Spark Washington Offense in Win at Purdue