Huskies May Lose Leon Neal Senior Tailback Again Hobbled By Broken Bone In His Right Foot

The No. 15 Washington Huskies may be missing tailback Leon Neal for their final three Pacific-10 Conference football games. Neal is talking about having surgery soon to repair a broken bone in his right foot.

“I’m feeling real sore right now,” Neal said Monday. “I can’t put any pressure down on my foot.”

Neal, this week’s Pacific-10 Conference offensive player of the week, was on crutches two days after rushing 31 times for a career-high 152 yards and two touchdowns in a 21-21 tie with No. 14 Southern California at Husky Stadium. He returned to the lineup after missing three games because of what initially was described by the Huskies as a sprained and dislocated big toe.

Coach Jim Lambright on Monday described Neal’s injury as a stress fracture that will require surgery.

“It doesn’t look good for Saturday at all unless a miracle happens,” said Neal, who was originally injured Sept. 30 at Oregon State.

Neal, a senior, who was Napoleon Kaufman’s backup last season, accounted for 291 all-purpose yards against USC, adding five receptions for 65 yards, two kickoff returns for 53 and four punt returns for 21.

“If I injured my toe against Oregon State and I missed three games and it’s injured again, then I most likely will miss three more games,” Neal said. “So I might as well just go ahead and have the surgery and then be ready for our bowl game. That’s what I’m thinking.”

Washington starts this week tied with USC for the Pac-10 lead with a 4-0-1 record, but the Trojans will go to the Rose Bowl if the two remain tied because they have a better overall record (now 6-1-1 to 5-2-1).

The No. 2 Pac-10 team will go to the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day.

The Huskies will start Rashaan Shehee at tailback against No. 19 Oregon Saturday in Seattle despite Shehee’s torn ligaments in his left thumb, Lambright said.

Shehee, who fell on his left thumb on a run in the first quarter against USC, leads UW with 623 yards on 106 carries, a 5.9 average, and seven TDs. Neal has 539 yards on 100 carries, a 5.4 average, and three TDs.

Other Pac-10 awards went to Arizona safety Brandon Sanders, who had two interceptions in a 24-14 win over Washington State, as the defensive choice, and UCLA’s Paul Guidry, who had punt returns of 75 and 21 yards in a 33-16 win over Cal, to claim special team honors.