Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Replacing 'Speedy' A Tall Task For TB Trio
October 18, 2011 | Football, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Jon Embree's vision of Colorado's football identity hasn't been clouded by a 1-6 record, four consecutive losses and enough injuries to create a hospital wing at the Dal Ward Athletic Center.
Embree's offensive goal remains developing a power running game, but that priority list is now a wish list as CU struggles to find consistency and keep its lineup intact. The Buffs are 11th in the Pac-12 Conference in both rushing (89.9 yard average) and total offense (337.9) and 12th in scoring offense (21.9 points a game).
And this week finds CU facing No. 9 Oregon minus leading rusher/chief offensive contributor Rodney Stewart, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury. Will "Speedy" be missed?
"We'll miss him a lot," CU quarterback Tyler Hansen said Tuesday. "You could do a lot of different things with 'Speedy' . . . . When he's out it's going to limit you, it'll change up the way you use certain people. You have to change your mentality a little bit on offense."
Consider: In the Buffs' first seven games - actually about 61/4 counting his time on the sideline last week at Washington - Stewart accounted for 908 yards from scrimmage (473 rushing, 435 receiving) and 1,169 all-purpose yards. That's 38.4 percent of CU's offensive yards and 37.9 percent of the overall yardage.
The first call to replace Stewart on Saturday will go to redshirt freshman Tony Jones, who got a season-high 14 carries (49 yards) and scored on a pair of short runs last weekend after Stewart's injury. After Jones, who's constructed along Stewart's lines (Jones is 5-7 and weighs 182), there's sophomore Josh Ford (5-9, 195) and true freshman Malcolm Creer (5-11, 205) - although Embree clarified his position in regard to pulling Creer's redshirt.
"We're bringing him up and preparing him (to play)," Embree said. "If it happens, it happens. If he doesn't have to do it, then that's what we'll do. But he's all for it; we've had good conversations with him. He's excited about the opportunity."
Also being weighed is avoiding making a "disaster situation" - one where Jones and Ford are unavailable - Creer's first game duty. Said Embree: "You have to prepare him and at some point you may have to decide to get him in there so that he has some game action, so the first time he's in there isn't in that disaster situation. Those are all different things we have to look at as a staff. I trust Eric and his judgment . . . Malcolm is all in, so we'll see what happens on Saturday."
Embree addressed his freshmen on Monday afternoon, complimenting them on their contributions thus far and explaining to first-year players like Creer how they might be needed due to the Buffs' injury woes. Creer said he understands the situation and is eager to play if summoned.
"If my name is called, I'm a team player," he said. "If I have to give up my redshirt to help my team out . . . yeah, I would pull it. Anyway I can contribute - special teams, playing (in the offense) - anyway I can contribute I will. I have no worries if I don't play, but if I can contribute I'll go all out."
After seeing only scout team offensive duty for the season's first seven weeks, Creer this week returned to "re-learning" CU's offense. "It's going to take me a while to get back in it because I've just been running scout team," he said. "But our offense isn't that difficult to get back in the flow of; I'll have coach (Eric) Bieniemy and some other seniors to help me get back into it. It'll just take time every day."
Ford, a Mullen High School product who walked on at CU in 2010, had one carry for 13 yards at Washington, giving him five rushes for 28 yards for the season. His back-up role now to Jones apparently puts him in position for more duty, although Embree said any possible tailback rotation would not be set until later this week.
"That's probably will come Thursday when we get a better feel for guys and how they practiced, what kind of game it's going to be," Embree said. "And how tired Tony gets will probably have some bearing on it."
Still, Ford is eager for a chance. Despite an above average high school career at Mullen (1,348 yards rushing, 19 TDs), he did not receive a Division I scholarship offer and planned to walk on at Kansas State. When that didn't pan out, he attended Barton (Kan.) Community College - which doesn't have a football team - and got his academics in order enough to be accepted at CU.
"This is always the college I wanted to come to . . . as a kid growing up, it was always CU," Jones said. "Everybody always goes somewhere from my high school, and not having any (scholarship) offers I just kind of wanted to be prestigious and show people 'look where I'm going.' It was tough coming off a state title and not going anywhere, but I'm happy to be here now."
Jones, New Jersey's Gatorade Player of the Year (he's from Paterson) as a senior, is a graduate of perennial football power Don Bosco Prep. The school was 47-1 in Jones' four years there and finished the 2009 season ranked No. 1 nationally by USA Today. He ran for 1,387 yards and scored 34 TDs in his final season.
Jones claimed there's "not too much of a difference" in his and Stewart's running styles, but Hansen sees at least one difference: "He's kind of a different player than Rodney is; he's more of a downhill guy. He's not going to make so many moves, but he's going to get north and south real quick - which is nice. It's a little different change up from what we've had. And he's a real good receiver - a lot like Rodney in the passing game. He's a good, solid back."
Embree said he hasn't "really thought of it or looked at it from that standpoint" of whether Stewart or Jones hits a hole faster. "Now sometimes, too, it's the play that's called. A running back - they all have their different styles and uniqueness. So I don't think you can pigeonhole guys in certain things. I thought (Jones) did run hard between the tackles (at Washington)."
Jones and CU's other tailbacks will have to contend with Oregon's overall speed, which shows up most prominently in the Ducks' offensive statistics. The Ducks aren't among the Pac-12 leaders in most defensive categories; they're 10th in rushing defense (173.0), 11th in total defense (413.8).
But given their offensive output, the Ducks don't need to be airtight on 'D.' Or as Hansen put it: "When your offense is so good and scores so many points (48.7 a game), it really puts your defense in some great spots . . . they're always ahead so much and they've got a comfort level with what their offense does, so the defense is going to play confident and fast."
Working sideline to sideline, Oregon's up-tempo option offense averages a league-best 315.0 rushing yards a game and is the primary reason the Ducks top the conference in total offense at 539.0 yards a game.
The best chance for Hansen and his tailbacks is to generate enough offense to make the clock work for them, relegating Oregon's 'O' to a spectator's role.
"But that's in any game," Jones said. "We want to be on the field more than our defense is out there. We pretty much want to take control and kill time. When you watch their games, they're really fast on offense and defense . . . if you can just keep (their offense) off the field, that would be great for us."
BUFF BITS: Embree admitted his team "took a step back on defense" (which includes tackling) last week at Washington, allowing 52 points and 562 yards in total offense. The Buffs are ninth in the conference in three defensive categories (rushing, 156.1; passing, 252.7; total, 408.9) and 11th in scoring defense (36.0 points) . . . . Senior defensive end David Goldberg says CU's pair of recent subpar defensive performances against Stanford and UW hasn't demoralized his unit. "I don't think that's shaken us too much," he said. "You just have to take it one play at a time and don't let it affect your (overall) performance." CU's defense has yielded 100 points and 1,000-plus yards in total offense in the past two games . . . . The Buffs, said Embree, have improved in drawing fewer penalties (only three for 30 yards at UW), and he believes the coverage units have improved with the use of more starters. "We're also getting some guys dinged up, too, but you've got to do it now," he said, adding that overall weekly improvement also is noticeable despite the record . . . . Hansen said the Buffs have experienced "some crazy things" this season and believes the team is at the point where it feels it has "nothing to lose . . . but we still get to play football." . . . . CU leads the series with Oregon 8-7, but the Ducks won the last meeting - 38-16 in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl. That loss snapped a six-game bowl winning streak for the Buffs . . . . CU has lost five straight games against ranked opponents, with the last win coming against Kansas in 2009 (34-30) . . . . Turnovers haven't been the Buffs' big problem this season. They've committed only six, tying them for the sixth fewest in NCAA stats.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
