Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Challenges Await Hagan's 'Baby Back' Crew
August 25, 2010 | Football, B.G. Brooks
The most popular (and positive) line about tiny tailbacks is that they can hide behind the wide bodies that assemble and plod in front of them. You know: hard to find, harder to catch. Most of Hagan's bunch could hide behind your lawn furniture - Hagan, too, for that matter.
One of Hagan's backs - 5-8 redshirt freshman Quentin Hildreth - has been nicknamed "Gary Coleman" by Hagan and his undersized entourage. The gregarious Hildreth doesn't seem to mind, but he usually answers to (and prefers) "Q."
Brian Lockridge (5-7), Corey Nabors (5-9) and Rodney Stewart (5-6) were on last season's roster with a pair of bigger backs - 6-1 Darrell Scott and 5-11 Demetrius Sumler, both of whom left the program in the off-season.
To restock, CU looked high and low - mostly low. Signing in February were Trea' Jones (5-10) and Tony Jones (5-7). Allen (6-1) and Torres (6-0) are the token 6-footers in Hagan's collection of swift, skittering miniatures.
But offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau cautions to not look down on the Buffs' "Baby Backs:" "We've got different types of athletes. Last year, we had a couple of bigger backs, now we've got more scat-backs, guys that make you miss. It's a different mentality, a different outlook in our run game."
The burning question in 2010 is whether different means better. The Buffs could neither run nor hide in 2009. They were No. 11 in rushing in the Big 12 Conference and No. 113 nationally last season, leaving lots and lots of room for upward mobility.
"I've been on them," Hagan said. "I've gone over film, showed them the details we haven't been doing. We probably left 400 (rushing) yards on the field last year because of them not doing their reads, stuff like that. Now they're doing them, I'm happy with that progress."
Midway through fall camp, Stewart noted that the offense was averaging 4.7 yards a carry - "And our defense knows most of the time what we're going to do. So that's a good thing."
Also, Kiesau believes a simplification of the run game in general will be beneficial. Sets/plays have been pared down to what the coaching staff believes is a manageable, digestable number, which Kiesau said will give his offense "fewer things to think about; they can just go out and play. It helps the O-line and the running backs."
Stewart, CU's leading rusher for the past two seasons, had a narrow escape early in camp when he was involved in a traffic accident. Another vehicle ran a red light and hit his, leaving him mildly shaken and with a sore neck. He missed barely a day of camp.
Pound-for-pound, Stewart is one of the strongest Buffs and also among the quickest. His size (5-6, 180) routinely raises doubts about his durability and pass protection abilities, but he scoffs at them. He's been a better blocker in this preseason because he wants to be.
Another question has concerned him following blockers, but coach Dan Hawkins said Stewart's two years at CU have seen him "pick up on the nuances" of being a top-tier tailback.
"There was time against Florida State (two years ago) when he ran the opposite way from what the play was blocked - and got yards," Hawkins said. "But you'd like to think in the long haul he's going to be a little more productive going the way the play is going . . . . As a freshman he was too fast at times. Backs need to learn patience, to see things develop in a crowd . . . a lot of those pacing kinds of things."
Stewart, of Westerville, Ohio, contends he's "better with everything as a whole - reads, pass protection, everything. And I'm strong and faster than I've ever been. We'll see what happens."
With generating a ground game critical for CU, Stewart knows he enters 2010 with more on his shoulders than in his first two seasons. Or as Hagan bluntly pointed out, "He understands that in the run game, we go as he goes."
"Yeah, I can tell from the coaches they expect a lot more out of me this year - just from the little mistakes I make, them telling me how big they are," Stewart said. "There's definitely a lot on my shoulders this year.
"I'm the starter now, but I don't know what God has planned out for me, what can happen during the season. Hopefully I can finish the season without any injuries."
The Buffs hope so, too; behind Stewart is a sea of inexperience. He doesn't take the running game's non-productivity and criticism personally. Good players have been in place to produce better numbers, but for a variety of reasons haven't.
"We've just got to let it show on the field," he said.
Lockridge has had a bigger impact as a kick returner than in the backfield, and he'll continue in the return role this season. Hildreth (Denver East) and Nabors (Rangeview) are local high school talents seeking recognition on the college scene.
"I think a lot of people don't know what I'm capable of . . . a lot of people in Colorado haven't seen me run the ball since high school," Nabors said. "So I'm hoping to surprise some people - and 'Q's' the same way."
"I have a lot of confidence in what I do," Hildreth added. "Yeah, I think I can surprise some people and I think we can do that as a team."
Nabors sees himself as having a good knowledge of the offense, being one of Hagan's better pass protectors and being able to run physically. Hildreth believes his vision, shiftiness and ability to anticipate - "I'm like a point guard" - are his fortes. He showed all those in April, prompting this from Hagan: "I don't think 'Q' will surprise anybody after last spring; he showed he's a reliable back."
Addressing Nabors and Hildreth, who is second on the depth chart behind Stewart, Hagan said each will have a role and added, "If anything happened for the worst, we can win with those two guys."
Of the four freshmen, Torres' study habits, as well as his short-yardage work in the first camp scrimmage, propelled him to the front of the pack. Torres, whose high school coach was former CU quarterback Mike Moschetti, missed the second scrimmage to attend freshman orientation.
Dismayed by the slow progress of his other three freshmen, Hagan assembled them last week and showed them their high school highlight tapes. When he flipped the lights back on, he asked, "Where are these guys? They haven't shown up here yet. You know you guys are here for a reason."
All three, said Hagan, responded with their best practices of camp. Torres, though, figures to be the first-year back on the field first, offering at least one big body to a run game that had a pair in 2009 but still failed to produce.
Addressing the departures of Scott and Sumler in retrospect, Hagan said, "We were kind of rushed into playing Darrell. Everybody wants to see a five-star guy play. He put a lot of added pressure on himself and didn't have the fundamentals down like he should have. A redshirt year probably would have done him a world of good."
Sumler, said Hagan, "was a big running back capable of being a power back, but he was reluctant to be that power back. He wanted to be shifty; he wanted to be 'Speedy.' The last two years, 'Speedy' was 'Speedy,' but he was inconsistent in doing his reads.
"But our guys understand what they're doing now. I think people will see a totally different team this season, especially in the running game."
THE INSIDE LOOK AT . . .
Running backs
Coach: Darian Hagan, fifth season.
Returning starters: TB Rodney Stewart, Jr.
Returnees: TB Brian Lockridge, Jr.; TB Corey Nabors, Sr.
Newcomers: TB Quentin Hildreth, Fr-RS; TB Cordary Allen, Fr.; TB Trea' Jones, Fr.; TB Tony Jones, Fr.; TB Justin Torres, Fr.
Key losses: TB Darrell Scott (transferred), TB Demetrius Sumler (transferred).
Stat line: The running game simply hasn't materialized; the Buffs were No. 11 in the Big 12 Conference and No. 113 nationally in 2009, averaging 87.9 yards a game. Stewart's 804 yards (198 carries) led CU last season, while Lockridge only had 12 attempts in 12 games (53 yards).
Bottom line: Developing a ground game isn't an option for CU, and this is the season it must be done. The offensive line is big and experienced; Stewart is talented and deceptively strong for his size; Lockridge is a blur and offers a backfield change of pace. Overall, though, this is a collection of tiny TBs and behind Stewart and Lockridge, inexperience could be an issue. There are a couple of big guys in Allen (6-1, 230) and Torres (6-0, 215), but they're raw. One needs to take a big step up, and it appears Torres will get the first chance.
Next: Special teams
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
