After Colorado lost all four of its scholarship running backs to the transfer portal this offseason, coach Deion Sanders and his staff restocked with new transfer additions while maintaining CU’s quest to commit to the run in 2024.
Sy’veon Wilkerson (Georgia State), Alton McCaskill (Arizona State), Anthony Hankerson (Oregon State) and Dylan Edwards (Kansas State) composed the entirety of the Buffs’ minimal run game last season as the top four rushers on the roster. However, they sought out opportunities where their skill sets would be better put to use after a season where CU finished as the worst rushing offense out of 130 FBS teams.
Colorado’s need to rebuild its run game was paramount once the season concluded, but after losing the Swiss Army knife-like talents of Edwards, the Buffs’ running back situation became even more dire. That is, until Sanders brought in former Ohio State running back Dallan Hayden, who will likely lead the CU’s ground game this fall.
As Hayden comes in with three years of eligibility remaining, the 5-foot-10, 205-pound redshirt sophomore brings solid experience with 663 rushing yards and six touchdowns from his time at Ohio State (most coming as a true freshman in 2022).
Former Arkansas running back Isaiah Augustave, three-star freshmen backs Brandon Hood (brother of Colton Hood) and Micah Welch and former walk-on Charlie Offerdahl round out a unit that is challenged this season to help salvage an element of Colorado’s offense that was overshadowed by a predominant passing attack (and general ineffectiveness when the Buffs did try to run the ball). With further investment in the offensive line this offseason, this new group and running backs coach Gary “Flea” Harrell aim to start fresh.
“We want to make sure that we dictate to the offense what we want to bring that week,” Harrell said. “We know when you aim to run the football, whether you're home or away, you have a pretty good chance to win games.”
