Colorado University Athletics
Photo by: Tony Harman
Brooks: Tuesday Tidbits
October 11, 2016 | Football, B.G. Brooks
Ballage, ASU's 'Sparky' Formation Give Buffs' 'D' A Challenging Look
DON'T OVERLOOK SPARKY: And there's very little chance the Buffs will. The "Sparky" formation is the Sun Devils' version of the "Wildcat," usually featuring tailback Kalen Ballage taking the direct snap. He's scored nine TDs, eight of them coming in one game (Texas Tech, a 68-55 ASU win) and tying an FBS single-game record.
CU will see him Saturday night at Folsom Field (6 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) when Arizona State visits.
Ballage, a former Colorado prep star, is ASU's second-leading rusher. He's averaging 51.7 yards a game (a team-best 5.1 a carry) to Demario Richard's 72.7 yards a game. CU coach Mike MacIntyre on the two ASU TBs: "They have two excellent – not good – running backs and they have a very big, powerful offensive line."
To successfully defend "Sparky," MacIntyre laid out a simple strategy: "Tackle No. 7 (Ballage). They get him in situations where he just runs over guys, they get him in one-on-one spots. People aren't tackling him well, we've got to tackle him well. That's easier said than done. You've got to understand they're in the formation and understand what they're trying to do out of it.
"I feel like our guys do. I think they'll have some new wrinkles in it this week if they feel like they're not going to have their main quarterback. We've got to be prepared for that and handle that. They do a really good job with it. The main thing is No. 7, he's pretty wicked."
CU defensive back Afolabi Laguda called the 6-2, 227-pound Ballage "a great athlete so we just have to contain them. Everyone has to fit their gaps right. We have to play stout up front as well as fly around in the secondary and control the edges and we should be fine."
Ballage, who prepped at Falcon High School, was one that got away from the Buffs. There was even a CU family tie: an uncle, Howard Ballage, played for the Buffs in the mid-70s. Nonetheless, MacIntyre said CU "recruited him hard and got to know his family really well. His uncle even played here and was a good player. I'm happy for him doing well at Arizona State. That's where he decided to go. We'll have to line up and play against him. I don't cry over spilled milk, we just move on. I love the kids that we have."
WILL HE OR WON'T HE? The Buffs don't know if they'll see ASU starting QB Manny Wilkins. If they do see him it will compound their defensive challenge. Wilkins, who has averaged 50.8 rushing yards a game, is nursing an ankle sprain.
His status for Saturday is unknown but MacIntyre says, "We're preparing for the whole arsenal and we're preparing for isolated areas."
The question about Wilkins' ankle sprain is whether it's high (harder to heal) or low. Rather than guessing about that, MacIntyre is preparing to see him: "I don't know where it is with Manny, but we'll let them decide. If he walks out there, we've got to be able to beat them with him. That's what we'll plan to try to do."
Laguda said whether Wilkins plays or not isn't the Buffs' main concern: "We don't really worry about that. We worry about us. Football is football. They're going to line up 11 guys on the field on Saturday just like us. We have to come out there and worry about filling our gaps right, covering the right people and making plays."
HOME SWEET FOLSOM: The Buffs love their home field, said MacIntyre. They also love playing at Folsom at night, according to receiver Bryce Bobo: "I love night games, and I think most of the guys on the team love night games, and that kind of atmosphere, especially at Folsom Field." Bobo said he was expecting a large attendance for an opponent that the Buffs haven't beaten (0-7).
TROJANS HAD HORSES: No one in college football can say USC suffers in recruiting. MacIntyre certainly won't say it. "USC's the most talented team we've played except for Michigan, no doubt in my mind," he said. "They're probably the most talented team we'll play all year. We had our opportunities and we still feel like we should have won the game.
"We still feel like if we played them again we'd win the game. We didn't make a few plays that we needed to make in the first half there. If you watch the film, we do a couple things that we didn't take advantage of that were there. It'd be 14-10, 14-14 at halftime, it's a whole different game."
COMING IN HOT: The Sun Devils have MacIntyre's respect, as does coach Todd Graham and his defensive philosophy. Said MacIntyre: "They'll be blitzing when they walk off the bus, that's what he likes to do. It's always fun going up against him and what they do there."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
CU will see him Saturday night at Folsom Field (6 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) when Arizona State visits.
Ballage, a former Colorado prep star, is ASU's second-leading rusher. He's averaging 51.7 yards a game (a team-best 5.1 a carry) to Demario Richard's 72.7 yards a game. CU coach Mike MacIntyre on the two ASU TBs: "They have two excellent – not good – running backs and they have a very big, powerful offensive line."
To successfully defend "Sparky," MacIntyre laid out a simple strategy: "Tackle No. 7 (Ballage). They get him in situations where he just runs over guys, they get him in one-on-one spots. People aren't tackling him well, we've got to tackle him well. That's easier said than done. You've got to understand they're in the formation and understand what they're trying to do out of it.
"I feel like our guys do. I think they'll have some new wrinkles in it this week if they feel like they're not going to have their main quarterback. We've got to be prepared for that and handle that. They do a really good job with it. The main thing is No. 7, he's pretty wicked."
CU defensive back Afolabi Laguda called the 6-2, 227-pound Ballage "a great athlete so we just have to contain them. Everyone has to fit their gaps right. We have to play stout up front as well as fly around in the secondary and control the edges and we should be fine."
Ballage, who prepped at Falcon High School, was one that got away from the Buffs. There was even a CU family tie: an uncle, Howard Ballage, played for the Buffs in the mid-70s. Nonetheless, MacIntyre said CU "recruited him hard and got to know his family really well. His uncle even played here and was a good player. I'm happy for him doing well at Arizona State. That's where he decided to go. We'll have to line up and play against him. I don't cry over spilled milk, we just move on. I love the kids that we have."
WILL HE OR WON'T HE? The Buffs don't know if they'll see ASU starting QB Manny Wilkins. If they do see him it will compound their defensive challenge. Wilkins, who has averaged 50.8 rushing yards a game, is nursing an ankle sprain.
His status for Saturday is unknown but MacIntyre says, "We're preparing for the whole arsenal and we're preparing for isolated areas."
The question about Wilkins' ankle sprain is whether it's high (harder to heal) or low. Rather than guessing about that, MacIntyre is preparing to see him: "I don't know where it is with Manny, but we'll let them decide. If he walks out there, we've got to be able to beat them with him. That's what we'll plan to try to do."
Laguda said whether Wilkins plays or not isn't the Buffs' main concern: "We don't really worry about that. We worry about us. Football is football. They're going to line up 11 guys on the field on Saturday just like us. We have to come out there and worry about filling our gaps right, covering the right people and making plays."
HOME SWEET FOLSOM: The Buffs love their home field, said MacIntyre. They also love playing at Folsom at night, according to receiver Bryce Bobo: "I love night games, and I think most of the guys on the team love night games, and that kind of atmosphere, especially at Folsom Field." Bobo said he was expecting a large attendance for an opponent that the Buffs haven't beaten (0-7).
TROJANS HAD HORSES: No one in college football can say USC suffers in recruiting. MacIntyre certainly won't say it. "USC's the most talented team we've played except for Michigan, no doubt in my mind," he said. "They're probably the most talented team we'll play all year. We had our opportunities and we still feel like we should have won the game.
"We still feel like if we played them again we'd win the game. We didn't make a few plays that we needed to make in the first half there. If you watch the film, we do a couple things that we didn't take advantage of that were there. It'd be 14-10, 14-14 at halftime, it's a whole different game."
COMING IN HOT: The Sun Devils have MacIntyre's respect, as does coach Todd Graham and his defensive philosophy. Said MacIntyre: "They'll be blitzing when they walk off the bus, that's what he likes to do. It's always fun going up against him and what they do there."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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