BOULDER — Much of the attention surrounding the Colorado Buffaloes’ offense has recently focused on CU’s change of quarterbacks.
That’s understandable. When CU head coach Karl Dorrell made the decision last week to go with true freshman Owen McCown, it meant the Buffs were starting their third different quarterback in four games.
But as the Buffaloes (0-4 overall, 0-1 Pac-12) head to Arizona this weekend for Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. (MT) matchup with the Wildcats, you can bet Dorrell and offensive coordinator Mike Sanford are taking a close look at UA’s run defense.
Simply, if the Buffs are going to rev up their offense this week, finding a way to put some juice in the run game might be the best answer.
Saturday’s game will match the nation’s 131st ranked rushing defense (Colorado) against the nation’s 125th unit (Arizona). CU is giving up an average of 323 yards per game and 7.0 per rush while the Wildcats are yielding 228 and 6.1.
But the Buffs’ rush defense statistics are skewed at least somewhat by their matchups against Air Force and Minnesota — currently the No. 1 and No. 2 running teams in the nation.
(In case you were wondering, Colorado’s pass defense is currently No. 7 in the nation, allowing just 144.5 yards per game in the air.)
The Wildcats, meanwhile, were gashed last week by Cal for 354 yards on the ground in a 49-31 loss — nearly triple what the Bears had been averaging on the ground heading into the game. That total included 274 yards on just 19 carries from Cal’s Jaydn Ott, who had touchdown runs of 73, 72 and 18 yards.
Saturday’s matchup appears to be a good opportunity for Colorado to inject some life into what has been an inconsistent rushing attack thus far.
In four games, CU’s best effort on the ground has been 136 yards against Minnesota. Last week against UCLA, Colorado managed just 51 on the ground.
“Our runners ran hard … but we need more consistency there, more productivity,” Dorrell said. “Our execution and efficiency was limited because we weren’t running the ball as effectively as we should have.”
Deion Smith leads CU in rushing this season with 175 yards on 30 attempts — a respectable 5.83 yards per carry — followed by Charlie Offerdahl (24-113).
The Buffs entered the year with designs of a one-two punch from Smith and senior Alex Fontenot, but Fontenot was…
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