RB Respect Month Vol. 2, Day Seven: Corey Dillon's lone season at Washington was a masterpiece
Dillon was brilliant for the Huskies in 1996.
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Welcome to day seven of Running Back Respect Month™! Yesterday, Marcus Allen kick-started his 1981 Heisman season by torching Tennessee. Here's where we're at today, and how the rest of the month looks:
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Today: Corey Dillon's 1996 highlights at Washington
RB Respect Month Vol. 2, Day Seven: Corey Dillon 1996 Washington Highlights
Corey Dillon played just one year of major college football, and wasn't even Washington's starting running back until the fourth game of the 1996 season. Here's (some of) what he still managed to accomplish in 11 games (plus a bowl, which didn't count towards your stats at the time):
- Set Washington's single-season rushing record with 1,555 yards (1,695 if we're counting the bowl), which was fifth-most nationally.
- Set Washington's single-season all-purpose yardage record with 2,185.
- Led the nation with 22 rushing touchdowns (24 counting bowl), a mark that tied the Pac-10 record shared by USC legends OJ Simpson and Marcus Allen.
- Led the nation in points scored (138).
- Named Third-Team All-American, and First Team All-Pac 10.
- Set NCAA records that still stand for most rushing yards in a quarter (222) and all-purpose yards in one quarter (305) against San Jose State. If you want a deeper dive on what Dillon did that day, I made a video and wrote about it here on the site back in November 2023:
Colton Denning
Dillon stuffed a career's worth of accolades into just one season, and it shows in his 1996 game log:
It also reflects in his highlight reel. I gotta warn you, though - if you're looking for the 90s version of Tavon Austin or Percy Harvin, you're gonna be disappointed. Sure, Dillon could (and did) make guys miss and rip off big runs, but his style was definitely more akin to an Eddie George type than a flashy homerun hitter. (Shoutout to Gary Danielson on the Holiday Bowl broadcast for that apt comparison.) In essence, Dillon was everything at Washington that he'd display for 10 excellent NFL seasons; A physical runner with terrific vision, cutting ability, and a mean spin move. Enjoy nearly 20 minutes of 1996 highlights from one of my GOATS - the great Corey Dillon:
Other notable things about this video
- Washington's purple/white/purple look from this era is one of the best looking uniforms of all-time:
- I can't write about Dillon and not show love to Washington's 1996 offensive line. They were arguably the best group in the country, anchored by future six-time NFL Pro Bowler Olin Kreutz, ten-year NFL vet Benji Olson, and most importantly, future IWGP Heavyweight Champion Bob Sapp:
- Anything pre-2000s feels like a different universe when it comes to equipment. I got a kick out of Dillon rocking a full-on rain jacket under his uniform during the Washington State game:
