Colorado University Athletics
Improving Rushing Numbers A Focus For Buffs Vs. UNC
September 14, 2017 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Of all the statistics from last weekend's 37-3 Colorado win over Texas State, maybe the most curious were CU's rushing totals.
The Buffs finished with just 91 yards on the ground, only the fifth time in the last 16 games — stretching back to the beginning of the 2016 season — that CU didn't eclipse the 100-yard mark on the ground.
The stat is even more curious when you consider the other teams who held the Buffs under 100 yards in that stretch: Michigan, USC, Washington and Oklahoma State. No disrespect to the Bobcats, but no one is including their defense alongside those four teams.
It wasn't as if the Buffs didn't try to establish a run game against Texas State. CU attempted 41 rushes in the game (a number that includes quarterback sacks, counted as rush attempts in college ball), but averaged a mere 2.2 yards per carry.
Most telling were Phillip Lindsay's statistics: 26 carries for just 87 yards. While Lindsay was not stopped once for a loss or no gain, he still averaged just 3.3 yards per carry and his longest gain of the day was a mere 9 yards. Only once last year in 14 games — against Idaho State, when he carried just seven times — was Lindsay held without at least one gain of 10 yards or more.
"We didn't pop a couple that we would like to pop and we will do that," head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "Their two inside 'backers did really well at shedding and getting off our second-level blocks. That's an area we have to keep working at and getting better at. It goes back to if it's two times out of 20 runs and he's almost there on a couple, it's a little closer than it looks sometimes."
Indeed, just as in the passing game, the Buffs were close to springing some big gains on running plays. But each time the gap closed just before Lindsay could break to daylight in the second level.
That, in turn, affected Colorado's passing game. As long as the Bobcats were stopping CU's rushing attack with their base defense, they were able to keep as many as six defenders back in pass coverage, greatly limiting the Buffs' ability to throw the ball downfield — particularly deep routes.
The Buffs will no doubt be making that second-level attack in the run game a priority in Saturday's non-conference finale against Northern Colorado at Folsom Field (noon, Pac-12 Networks). If they can establish a run game and break some healthy gainers early, the Bears will be forced to add defenders to their rush defense — which, in turn, should open up some passing lanes for quarterback Steven Montez and his receivers.
DEFENSE GELLING QUICKLY: Colorado's defense has no doubt been a pleasant surprise early — even to MacIntyre. A unit that most expected would take time to establish continuity instead has been solid from the start, holding opponents to just one field goal in each of the first two games.
"What I've been so surprised about is that we haven't totally blown a coverage or blown a situation," MacIntyre said of a defense that had to replace eight starters from last year's group. "We've lined up right, we've played hard, we've made checks, we've handled different situations and we've played third-down situations correctly. It's like an accordion. They've got to make checks and they've got to move with it. It's not a cookie-cutter thing. I was most impressed with so far that they've played all those situations really well. They've handled different adverse situations well and been able to line up correctly. I know that sounds simple, but it's not when teams are going fast and lining up in different formations. They make a lot of good checks that have really helped us. That's an area where I thought we'd struggle with early. We haven't really had any bone-headed mistakes.'
MacIntyre said the early play is a good indication of the influence new defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot has had on the defense. Eliot has been a stickler for detail since he arrived.
"That's a credit to players and I think that's a huge credit to the way our coaching staff and Coach Eliot has been teaching them with some of the different things we've done in practice, our meetings and our walk-throughs that D.J. brought," MacIntyre said.
BIG-PLAY SHAY: Colorado WR Shay Fields now has five 100-yard games in his career after last weekend's five-catch, 110-yard day against Texas State. Fields currently leads all active Pac-12 receivers in receptions (155) and touchdowns (18) and is second in receiving yards (2,117). He needs just two more catches to move past Paul Richardson into fourth on CU's all-time last and 60 yards to move into seventh on the all-time yardage list.
Fields also has nine career plays of 50 yards or longer, second-best among active NCAA receivers behind Oklahoma State's James Washington (10).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
