Bryson Washington walked off the McLane Stadium grass hugging his mom, Sherita Anderson, as she proudly squeezed him and proclaimed, “You did it, Bryson.” The thing he did was lead Baylor past rival TCU with a career-high 196 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. The redshirt freshman had achieved a young kid’s dream with a grown man game. He had arrived. 

The destination isn’t all that surprising. Washington was a standout two-way player at powerhouse Franklin High School, leading the Lions to consecutive Class 3A Division II state championships in his last two years as a prep star. He rushed for over 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior and was a semifinalist for the 2022 Mr. Texas Football. 

He rushed for 1,480 yards and 20 touchdowns on only 104 carries as a junior, adding 119 tackles and two defensive touchdowns on defense. He was the district MVP as a sophomore and Defensive Newcomer of the Year as a freshman. Oh, and he was a standout in track and field and on the basketball court. 

“I feel like (my mom) has been waiting on it,” Washington said of his postgame celebration after his big game. “She’s seen me throughout my career scoring all these touchdowns and she finally got to see me do it at the collegiate level.” 

The route to collegiate stardom wasn’t direct, however. Washington was a top 70 recruit on the final DCTF rankings, but he only carried the ball 10 times as a true freshman in 2023. All of those carries came in non-conference against Long Island. It was Dawson Pendergrass who became the standout true freshman contributor at running back for the Bears. 

“So much of his journey is maturity,” Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said after the game. “There are just things off the field that were pulling him from playing as much as we needed him to play. We had to deal with off-the-field stuff to get him (playing) and it was a fight, but you look at him now and he’s doing well in school. He’s achieving on and off the field, so it is good to see.” 

Washington was named the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Player of the Week after his Week 10 performance in the 37-34 victory over the Frogs in the 120th meeting between the foes. His four touchdowns were the most by a Bear in a single game since 2011. The 196 yards were the most by a Baylor player since 2016. Washington was also named the Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Week. 

The true freshman campaign can be tough for former prep stars. Washington went from playing every snap on both sides of the ball for a state championship program in his hometown to fourth-string duty in Waco for a squad that won three games. He went from hundreds of touches to ten. From thousands of snaps to a couple dozen. 

But this wasn’t the first time Washington faced adversity in his young life. It wasn’t even his toughest hurdle. That came as a young man when his father, Bobby Washington, was shot and killed the day after Thanksgiving in 2007 when he was 27 years old. Bryson was only three years old.

“When it comes to his father, I’d just say that’s going to be the way Bryson wins, because he thrives off making his father proud,” Anderson told the Baylor Lariat after Bryson’s first start in October. “Whatever he’s done, whatever he’s going to do, it’s just going to be a bonus.”