Adversity has taxed Colorado's football program these past weeks, but the Buffs’ performance on the ground against Arizona generated some optimism.
No one had a spectacular 100-yard game, but freshman quarterback Owen McCown and the running backs spread the ball around and were able to finish in the red zone. Colorado had its best rushing performance of the season with 154 yards, not including Deion Smith’s 41 and Charlie Offerdahl’s 36 receiving yards.
Moving forward, utilizing multiple ball-carriers is the plan for running backs coach Darian Hagan, as all of his guys showed last game they’re capable of taking advantage of their opportunities.
“We just say roll out with anybody depending on the first 15 [minutes],” Hagan said “We will roll out with whoever we feel has done the best at that first play and then we just roll from there.”
True freshman Anthony Hankerson worked his way back into the rotation after missing fall camp and the first three games due to a soft tissue injury, and he has quickly asserted himself as one of Colorado's most intriguing backs, turning 12 carries into 68 yards (5.7 per carry) and a touchdown vs. Arizona.
“Despite how the day turned out, the experience was great, but as a football player it’s kind of hard,” Hankerson said. “I kind of dried some tears that night being that we couldn’t get the win that we wanted, that we played for. But we were able to fix things up for the last couple of weeks, especially for the Arizona game and now we really moving forward.”
The dismissal of former head coach Karl Dorrell came shortly after that game. The sudden news shocked both players and coaches.
Since athletic director Rick George appointed Mike Sanford as the interim head coach, an energy shift has been apparent during this week’s practices.
“I feel like it's dramatic day at night, and the biggest thing I noticed is energy,” Smith said. “We got a lot of high intensity people just coming out to practice, practices are more intense. It takes a lot out of you, but it's kind of hard for me to make that analysis right now, just because I felt like we had good energy before this.
"Talking to you guys, I feel like we had good energy in the weeks prior to this and even fall camp, but for some reason, we just couldn't make it happen on Saturday. The biggest thing for me is just trying to figure out if this difference is going to make a difference on Saturday, which I truly believe deep down in my heart it will. But, the only thing we can do is get [to] Saturday and see what happens.”
Smith had his longest play of the season on his 41-yard reception against Arizona as he bobbed through various tackles and put the Buffs in scoring position, leading to a 14-yard touchdown from McCown to Daniel Arias the next play.
Before Smith’s catch-and-run, Offerdahl also put Colorado in scoring position with his 36-yard reception down to the 1 in the first quarter and McCown finished the Buffs’ first drive with a score.
Hagan’s active rotation showed to be effective against the Wildcats. The group fed off each other's successes and produced an overall positive performance that provided some light in this trying season.
“That room in and of itself has bought into, ‘They’re better together,” interim coach Mike Sanford said. “They’re better when they’re fresher and they’re pulling for each other. The energy on the sideline in that group at Arizona, I wasn’t down there [on the field], but I heard was phenomenal, taking shared interest in the success of the unit.”
The program’s beginning to see some progress in the run game and the pass game. There's real intrigue now to see what Sanford and interim OC Clay Patterson can concoct to bring the offense further to life.
