Woelk: Lindsay's Durability Has Been Unmatched At Colorado

BOULDER — Colorado running back Phillip Lindsay continues to etch his name into the Buffaloes' record books — but there is one impressive number that hasn't received a lot of attention.

Among the highlights, Lindsay is CU's career leader in all-purpose yards (5,675) and yards from scrimmage (4,598), is second in career rushing yards (3,635), and is the only back in CU history to rush for at least 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons. Those are just a few of the 23 school records he has set or tied in his career.

But just as impressive has been Lindsay's durability. Heading into Saturday's regular season finale at Utah (8 p.m., FS1), Lindsay has never missed a game because of injury. Already the CU record holder for games played by a running back, he will push that number to 50 on Saturday against the Utes.

Not bad for a player who was forced to miss his entire senior season in high school with a horrific knee injury, one that doctors initially told him might prevent him from ever playing the game again.

"That was my first goal when I stepped foot on campus," Lindsay said of his playing streak. "I wrote on a piece of paper that I wanted to make sure that I played in every single game in my college career. If I can get past the rest of these practices and the game in Utah and the bowl game (it will be great). It just shows that I'm durable. People always have their doubt about small running backs but there's nothing else you can tell me, nothing else you can say."

Lindsay has gotten to this point by employing a workout regimen that has become legendary among his teammates. Along with the regular offseason conditioning drills, he has his own routine that he practices on a daily basis before regular workouts. He is also a regular in the CU training room, undergoing a daily stretching and treatment routine that keeps him limber and, he believes, helps him avoid injury.

It is something that his teammates definitely notice and admire.

"He's in the training room every single day," linebacker Rick Gamboa said. "Phil's one of the people that you'll see in this facility early. He's one of the first people in the morning. If you see him in the training room, he always has his routine of stretches that he does with his music on. Sometimes we joke about it when he's in there because he looks like he's doing aerobics. But he's always in there, he doesn't skip a beat. Playing running back and playing every single game since he's been here, I think that's been really helpful for him."

Lindsay has no doubt been the Buffs' workhorse this season. He is seventh in the nation in total rushing yards (1,402) and leads the nation in carries (283). That has resulted in a weekly pounding, yet, he continues to be available every series.

"It comes down to a mindset," Lindsay said of his routine earlier this year. "When you're out there doing it not just for yourself, but for your teammates, for your family, for your state, you have a little bit more energy. For me, the key is to continue to do what I've always done to try to stay healthy, and that's just working on my body. No matter what, I work on body throughout the week for at least six hours a day, so for me it's nothing new."

Lindsay earlier this season set the CU record for most rushing attempts in a game when he carried the ball 41 times for 281 yards against Arizona. Because he gets so many carries, the CU coaching staff does its best to help him recover during the week.

"We have ice pools, we have massage therapists, so he uses all of that," head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "In practice, we don't rep him a whole lot when you carry the ball that many times. We just get him ready. He knows everything we're doing, he's run it a million times and doesn't make very many mistakes at all. So, we keep him healthy during the week."

Tuesday afternoon, Lindsay was asked what it's been like to have such a toll taken on his body. In typical Lindsay fashion, he grinned, shrugged his shoulders and said, "For me, I'm up for any challenge ... I'm a soldier, period. I take what I have to do. I'm going to continue to do that. That's it. I just want to win for the program, for my teammates and my family. That's what it's all about. I've learned that when you play hard, good things come your way. So I'm just going to go out there and play hard and at the end of the day, if it's God's plan for me to finish out my college career in a bowl game, then that's what it comes down to. I leave it in God's hands."

UTAH A RIVAL? When Colorado and Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011, the league automatically designated the two schools as "rivals," as every other team in the league already had a natural rivalry.

While it has yet to come anywhere close to real "rivalry" status, the game does seem to be taking on a little more importance each season. In their first meeting in 2011 as Pac-12 members, a Colorado win in Utah prevented the Utes from winning the Pac-12 South. Since then, more often than not, there have been some added stakes to the end-of-year game.

"I've been asked that almost every single year," head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "I think last year when we actually won and it was an exciting game, so there was a lot riding on the line. This year, there's a lot riding on the line. … I think that it has now over the years turned into something that there's things at stake. One time, we had it at stake and another they had a Pac-12 championship at stake. Now, both of us are playing for a bowl game. People keep asking the question over and over and over and that even creates it. They have their big rival with BYU and we have our big rival with CSU, but I definitely think that this is something that has turned into a rivalry now."

FS1 CREW: Saturday's FS1 broadcast crew will have Guy Haberman on play-by-play and Petros Papadakis on color commentary.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu