Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Buffs Run Game Putting Its Best Feet Forward
October 30, 2014 | Football, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Finding genuine improvement in Colorado football is there if you look for it, but bona fide progress in the Buffaloes' running game isn't so hard to find.
The Buffs are coming off their best rushing game of the season - a season-high 233 yards in last weekend's 40-37 double-overtime loss to No. 25 UCLA. That output was a yard higher than CU's previous best this season against Arizona State, but it's more significant in that two 200-yard plus ground games represents a significant upgrade from 2013.
Last season's best running effort was 218 yards, but it came against Charleston Southern, whose run defense is not to be confused with almost any the Buffs will be tested by in the Pac-12 Conference. CU averaged 120.8 rushing yards last season, but with those 218 yards thrown out, the Buffs' 2013 rushing average would dip to 112.0.
If the 2014 wins are in a holding pattern (2-6 overall, 0-5 Pac-12), the ground numbers have been creeping upward. Through eight games, the Buffs are averaging 167.9 rushing yards a game, which places them eighth in the conference and is helping achieve the balance that coach Mike MacIntyre and offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren are seeking.
Two Buffs have rushed for 100-plus yards this season, Christian Powell getting 118 in week three against ASU and Michael Adkins II getting 107 last weekend against UCLA. Powell has missed two of the last three games with concussion issues but appears fully cleared for Saturday's game against Washington at Folsom Field (11 a.m., Pac-12 Networks). His return would restore position coach Klayton Adams' top four tailbacks (Powell, Adkins, Tony Jones and Phillip Lindsay).
In their past four games, the Buffs have averaged a shade under 176 rushing yards a game. Adams credits that to his backs running with more confidence and the offensive line's weekly improvement; his backs and the O-linemen credit the four-game surge to Adams' and line coach Gary Bernardi's preparation.
Said Adkins, who is healthy again after an early season ankle injury: "A shout out to coach Adams; he's prepared us for these games and how we're going to get certain types of looks. He's got our eyes in the right places to help us make cuts. I also want to give a shout out to our O-line, they've been blocking well the whole season and it's allowed us to break off a few runs."
Added guard Daniel Munyer: "Credit goes to coach Bernardi . . . he gets us prepared every single week. We meet with him a lot individually and as a unit. He expects a lot out of us in the run game and in the pass game. And I take my hat off to the running backs; they're all running well. We're keeping defenses off balance."
Bernardi points to his group and Adams' backs simply "feeling it, seeing it and doing it. That kind of sums up the whole thing. We've tried to acclimate a little more to what (players) can do. That's really it -the combination of guys working together."
But the confidence component mentioned by Adams can't be overlooked or overstated. Nowhere is it more apparent than with Adkins and Jones, who has rushed 47 times for 217 yards over the last four games (54-yard average).
"The guys up front are confident in what they're doing," Adams said. "The backs feel confident in what those guys are doing and what they're doing. The backs are trying to help set up some of those blocks."
Also, Adams noted that a portion of the backs' confidence comes from "being decisive in the read they're making and the decision they're making. Even if it's not the right decision, it's being made fast - that's where the confidence comes in. And right now we've a couple of guys who are playing pretty confidently."
That pair would be Jones and Adkins, whom Adams said is exhibiting better ball security - "and that's always a good thing for him because it helps with his confidence. He can run and not worry about (fumbling). When he's able to do that he's a better player. It's what we've got to get him to do all the time."
Munyer said the confidence exhibited by the guys who line up behind him is highly noticeable: "I see it a lot. They're hitting the holes more times than not now, and it's the right hole from an O-line perspective. But they're not afraid to put a foot on the ground and hit someone either. I give all the credit to them for that. They're running hard, and when you have backs who are doing that it makes you want to block longer and harder as an O-line and be more physical."
Among the reasons the ground game is showing an upward turn this season is the Buffs being in closer games than in 2013. Said Bernardi: "It's frustrating and hurtful (losing) but it's a lot easier to run the ball and protect (the quarterback) when the game is close. Then you can do both. Sometimes we got in situations last year . . . it was just hard."
The Buffs' protection of quarterback Sefo Liufau has been stellar. Bernardi's bunch has allowed a league-low 12 sacks, but that 1.50 per game average will be challenged this week by UW, which is second in the conference (and nationally) to Utah. The Utes have 35 sacks, the Huskies 34. "U-Dub" also plays stingy run defense, ranking third in the Pac-12 at 128.5 yards a game.
If the Buffs can run successfully, the Saturday afternoon pressure should ease a bit on Liufau, who is averaging 284.5 passing yards a game. He called the ground game's recent progress "really encouraging" and pointed to the O-line creating holes "and some really good running backs who can find the hole and make guys miss and make something happen if there's nothing there . . . I just hand the ball off, but it's really good to see us keep the running game going. It'll help balance out the attack."
Adkins, whose 59.4-yard average (nine games) led the Buffs last season, said his success as a freshman in 2013 came more from instinct and talent than knowledge. "Now it's more of an understanding of what's going on," he said. "I've got a better grasp of what to do and it allows me to (read) defenses better and create more decisive runs."
Liufau has noticed. Adkins, he said, "is doing a really good of bouncing back after some early setbacks. He's doing a really good job not only on the game field, but on the practice field and that's where it all starts. He's doing a really good job of staying after and doing a little bit extra, paying attention in the film rooms . . . it's just a testament to his hard work on and off the field. Mike's just going to keep going because he's a really good back and we expect it from him."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
