Johnson Will Face A New Challenge With Texas' Run Defense

Washington's running back has been at his best in the biggest games.

After a slow start to the season because of a nagging injury, running back Dillon Johnson became a focal point of the Washington Huskies' offense in big matchups. 

The second-team All-Pac-12 running back averaged nearly 23 carries per game across Washington's five outings against ranked opponents and will be asked to do so again in the Sugar Bowl against the Texas Longhorns.

Led by defensive tackles T'Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II, the Longhorns have arguably the best pair of defensive tackles in the country and make defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski's front one of the toughest challenges the Huskies have faced this season.

Thanks in large part to those defensive linemen, Texas has one of the best run defenses anywhere, allowing 80.8 yards per contest, which ranks third in the nation behind just Penn State and UCLA. 

Washington has had its fair share of tests against top-ranked rushing defenses, playing five games against teams ranked inside the top 20: Arizona, Utah, Oregon State and Oregon twice.

Johnson averaged 107.2 yards over those five games and has received a lot of support from his offensive line, which was honored with the Joe Moore Award that is given out each year to the best offensive front in the country.

"They've got a really good team, a really good defense and they play together," Johnson said of Texas' defenders. "They're more experienced [than the 2022 Alamo Bowl] but this year we're a lot better, especially in the run game and we're ready to ball out."

Washington's offensive line has improved as run blockers throughout the year and has been as physical as any group in the country this season. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb found a way to limit the damage Sweat and Murphy caused in the Alamo Bowl and will be looking to do it again, with much higher stakes.

"We did a really good job on working on our double- teams," Grubb said of Sweat. "We have really good clips of [center] Corey Luciano getting into double-teams on him. We had good clamps on him, not a lot of daylight. That'll be the key, is getting two bodies on him."

Johnson, who has shown to be just as physical as his offensive line all season, will have another opportunity to have a big game with a trip to the national championship on the line.

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