Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Buffs Run 'D' Faces Challenge In USC's Allen
October 14, 2014 | Football, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - In a conference that of late has staged an electrifying arms race with its quarterbacks, overlooking the league's legwork would be a grave mistake. And it's one that won't be made this week by the University of Colorado.
CU plays at No. 22 Southern California on Saturday (4 p.m. MDT, Pac-12 Networks) and while Trojans quarterback Cody Kessler's passing accuracy isn't being passed over, it's the running of Javorius Allen that puts the Buffaloes on edge.
USC proudly wears the nametag of "Tailback U" for a reason - and Allen has provided reason enough this season to keep the tag in place.
"Unbelievable," says CU defensive coordinator Kent Baer of the 6-1, 220-pound Allen. "He's a great one - and that's an understatement. He's extremely strong, he's got a great burst and great vision. He runs through tackles. They use him in a lot of different ways out of the backfield. He can catch the ball, he can run the ball. He's a workhorse."
FYI: Baer gushes about as often as Niagara Falls flows backward. He's about as no-nonsense as a nuclear sub commander. When he goes on and on about a guy his defense will try to tackle, he's not embellishing the story.
In USC's 47-29 win last season in Boulder, Allen ran for a then-career-best 145 yards on 21 carries and scored three touchdowns. This season Allen, who answers to "Buck," is the Pac-12 Conference's leading rusher, averaging 130.2 yards a game. He's fresh off a career-high 205-yard, three TD performance last weekend at Arizona.
He's rushed for 100-yards plus in five of USC's six games this season, which puts him in the company of some pretty fair Troy tailbacks. The last pair to have at least five 100-yard games in one season was Reggie Bush (8) and LenDale White (5) in 2005. (Bush lost his due to NCAA infractions.)
As a team, the Trojans are averaging 185.3 yards a game and are seventh in the conference, one notch ahead of CU (156.3). USC's second-leading rusher is Justin Davis, whose average (39.5) is nearly a hundred yards below Allen's. In a running game that has run hot and cold, CU's top ground gainer is Christian Powell at 54.8 yards a game. He's expected back Saturday after missing the Oregon State game two weekends ago due to a concussion.
Baer's defense has a weekly goal of stopping (or at least slowing) the run and this week, said defensive tackle Justin Solis, "It's even more important. The coaches have been hammering on us about No. 37 (Allen) and how he's one of the best backs in the Pac-12 and maybe the best we've faced all year . . . if we stop (Allen) I think our chances are pretty good."
When CU played Arizona State, Sun Devils tailback D.J. Foster led the Pac-12 in rushing at 181.5 yards a game. Foster ran for 147 yards and a touchdown in ASU's 38-24 win, but Baer and his boss - Mike MacIntyre - say their run defense has steadily improved since September.
Baer isn't big on player comparisons, so sizing up Foster and Allen and determining who is better at what is left for someone else. "I don't really compare," Baer said. "I just think this guy (Allen) is as good as there is. Now that guy (Foster) is pretty good too, but I'm not going to say who's the best."
No need, but the Buffs' challenge is obvious. They opened the season by allowing 266 ground yards to Colorado State, but have yielded over 200 yards only once since (223 to ASU). In their first six games, CU's run 'D' has allowed 266 yards (CSU), 104 (UMass), 223 (ASU), 131 (Hawai'i), 127 (Cal) and 167 (Oregon State).
The Buffs rank ninth in the Pac-12 in rushing defense (169.7), but both Baer and MacIntyre contend tackling is crisper and more efficient than it was a month ago. "It's gotten a lot better . . . we work on it all the time," Baer said, adding that the defense's overall improvement also is noticeable.
"I don't know whether I'd call it gradual or dramatic, but I've seen improvement," he said. "It's in all areas - communication, playing hard, tackling. In all the things it takes to be a good defense, we've gotten better. We've been in every ball game and had a chance to win a couple. We have to learn how to finish."
CU's leading tackler is middle linebacker Addison Gillam, who regained the top spot after an injury plagued first month. MacIntyre said Gillam has been "full go" for the past two days of practice after suffering a concussion and missing the second half of the Oregon State game on Oct. 4. He was hit in the chin by a helmet and required stitches.
Although missing the final half against OSU, Gillam has averaged nine tackles in the past two games and contributed to what Baer called his linebacker corps' "best overall game" against the Beavers. "They're never as good as you want. Never. That's just not me. But aside from the things going on injury wise, they've gotten better."
Gillam, "will" linebacker Kenneth Olugbode and "sam" linebacker Woodson Greer will have to be better still against Allen and the Trojans. Olugbode, fourth on the team in tackles (5.7 a game) behind Gillam (8.7) and safeties Tedric Thompson (7.2) and Chidobe Awuzie (7.0), calls Allen "a great runner. He's got powerful legs and he keeps them churning . . . when it comes down to it, we've got to tackle and make plays."
Allen runs behind an offensive line that starts two freshmen, a sophomore and a junior. They average just above 300 pounds, with that number inflated by right tackle Zac Banner (6-9, 350). Solis acknowledges USC's size and talent up front but adds, "They're good but they're just another O-line to us. We work hard and we've got enough confidence in ourselves to know we can play with them. They're still a good O-line and will give you a good game, but we've got confidence in ourselves that we can have a good game against them."
Along with their 185.3 ground yards a game, the Trojans are gaining 265.8 passing yards per game. Their 451.2 yards in total offense stations them eighth in the conference, one rung below the Buffs (476.7). Kessler is in the middle of the Pac-12 pack in both passing yards per game (260.8, No. 6) and in passing efficiency (149.2 percent, No. 5), but he's thrown only one interception in six games and has a 69.1 percent completion rate. His streak of 195 attempts without an interception (190 this season) ended last weekend in USC's 28-26 win against then-No. 10 Arizona.
"He's a good quarterback or he wouldn't be at SC," Baer said. "They've got some offense - just like any SC team."
And just like most teams at "Tailback U," this team has one - a very good one, too.
LARRY ZIMMER UPDATE
Larry Zimmer, KOA Radio's longtime voice of the Buffs, remains hospitalized at St. Anthony's in Lakewood. Zimmer, 78, fell at his Golden home two weekends ago after working that Saturday's CU-Oregon State game at Folsom Field.
He was rushed to the hospital, where he initially was in intensive care while being diagnosed for a possible heart problem. His condition was said to have improved late last week, but he has since developed pneumonia and was returned to ICU on Tuesday.
MacIntyre and his wife, Trish, have visited Zimmer at St. Anthony's several times since he was admitted. He called Zimmer "a phenomenal man" and an "icon," and at Tuesday's weekly press luncheon asked "if you're a praying person, which I am, I would like for you to pray for Larry Zimmer."
Working CU athletic events (483 football games and over 1,000 basketball games) for 41 years, Zimmer's streak of broadcasting 251 straight football games will be broken on Saturday. "We're definitely going to miss him," MacIntyre said. "We can't wait to get him back here in the press box against UCLA (Saturday, Oct. 25) is what I'm pulling for and that's what I'm telling him."
Zimmer last missed calling a Buffs football game at the end of the 1993 season - CU was in the Aloha Bowl vs. Fresno State - because of a scheduling conflict with the Denver Broncos. At the time, he was doing play-by-play for the Buffs and Broncos, and it was impossible for him to return from Saturday's CU game in Honolulu to work a Sunday Broncos game in Denver.
NOTABLE
USC is 8-0 (4-0 in LA) against CU and has outscored the Buffs 277-76. Buffs quarterback Sefo Liufau said the lopsided series record doesn't provide any special motivation for Saturday: "We want to win every week no matter who's put in front of us." . . . . Olugbode, who is from San Jose, said he didn't grow up a USC fan, or a fan of any California schools for that matter. He and his older brothers - Kyle and Kris - took great interest, he said, in the University of Miami. But none of them went in that direction to play football. Kyle is a sophomore safety at Stanford, Kris a sophomore running back at Idaho. "We talk all the time," Kenneth said . . . . The USC front seven, anchored by All-America end candidate Leonard Williams, might be the best the Buffs have faced thus far. Williams (6-5, 300) has four of the Trojans' 11 quarterback sacks. The other formidable up-front Trojans: tackles Delvon Simmons (6-5, 295) or Claude Pelon (6-4, 295) and nose man Antwaun Woods (6-1, 325). "Their front seven is excellent," MacIntyre said. "They're so big, so athletic . . . they play those guys a lot; I hope that wears them down." . . . . Liufau acknowledged that the Buffs respect Williams as "a good player," but added, "I expect everyone to do their job; we're not doing anything different (because of Williams). We're not going to focus on him." . . . . Through six games, the Buffs are averaging 467.7 yards in total offense - or about 100 more than at this point last season. Liufau pinned the increase on "being inside the offense for another year" and he and his teammates knowing and understanding their roles and executing better.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
