BOULDER — Watching a Deion Sanders team try to run the ball is akin to watching a Ford Mustang try to plow snow. The engine screams like a banshee while the wheels spin furiously to nowhere.
“I don’t think we’re in a car just running aimlessly the wrong way,” the CU Buffs’ third-year coach said during his weekly news conference Tuesday. “I don’t feel that way. I feel like we could be better. And we are better. We just had a hiccup here and a hiccup there that disarmed us in its totality.”
The Houston Cougars just hiccupped CU for 209 rushing yards and three touchdowns last Friday. The Buffs, meanwhile, ran for 96 on 23 tries — having to give up early in the fourth quarter when the Cougars forged a 33-14 lead.
Coach Prime vowed his Buffs (1-2) would run the ball with more consistency and authority in Year 3. Those were two admittedly low bars to clear, especially after quarterback Shedeur Sanders and all-world receiver Travis Hunter ran the show in ’23 and ’24.
A few days out from a redemption matchup against Wyoming (2-1) on Saturday night at Folsom Field, Coach Prime’s been proven right. Sort of. CU ranks 105th out of 136 FBS programs in rush yards per game (124), which is the Big 12’s version of a golf clap.
To be fair, if that pace holds, the Buffs are on course for a sizeable improvement on the ground over ’24 (65.2 yards per game) and ’23 (68.9).
But to be frank, when paired with a passing game that’s got an NFL play-caller (offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur) and no-NFL-ready arms (Kaidon Salter, Ryan Staub, Julian Lewis), it’s … well…
Let’s put it this way: Thank Heaven for punter Damon Greaves, who heads into the weekend ranked second in the Big 12 in punts (16).
It’s better, just not better enough. Not better enough to lean on as a base while Coach Prime cycles through quarterbacks.
In one sense, Sanders is the perfect coach for the Instant Gratification Generation. He’s watched his kids, as well as their friends and teammates, grow up on their phones. Everything’s instant. News. Games. Music. Apps. Dating. Fame. If you ain’t downloading, you ain’t trying.
But some verities remain eternal. College football teams can grab three receivers or three “free-agent” running backs from the transfer portal, plug them into a system after only limited time on campus, and watch the sparks fly.
Consistently good offensive lines, though, can’t be microwaved.
They have to bake slowly — building relationships over time, continuity and execution over repetition.
In anticipation of finding more balance, Sanders and his personnel staff put together Coach Prime’s biggest offensive line ever, and almost entirely via transfers.
While the talent upgrade is apparent, consistency waxes and wanes. To wit: On its opening 10 first-down runs at Houston, CU managed to grind out 12 net rush yards, or only 1.2 per carry.
“I’m not a patient man. I’m not a patient man on anything,” Sanders said. “I’m a fixer, man. I want to fix the problems. I’m not a guy that wants to linger and just have that kind of stuff going on.”
The game is moving to meet Coach Prime’s methods, not the other way around. But until Sanders is willing to cut down the turnover with his offensive line, it’s hard to picture the Buffs ever running the ball with the type of certainty — or finding the balance — that their coach espouses.
The top five rushing teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision so far this season have at least two things in common: a strong offensive line, and continuity along said line.
Navy’s starting five features zero blockers who weren’t on the Middies’ roster a year ago. BYU’s line has one import who wasn’t there in 2024. Same with Indiana. Washington and Missouri have one apiece.
The Buffs are breaking in four.
Among 2024’s top rushing teams, you’ll find a similar refrain. Army had zero entirely new faces from ’23; UCF also had none; Liberty featured one; Jacksonville State had two; New Mexico, under then-first-year coach Bronco Mendenhall, used five imported starters.
Over the last two seasons, the top five rushing teams in the FBS averaged 1.4 primary starters along their offensive lines who weren’t on that team a year earlier. CU’s averaging 3.5 fresh faces per season.
Left tackle Jordan Seaton is a five-star talent, stand-up guy and future NFL draft pick. But if he’s your only holdover, year after year, it’s going to be ambitious for the Buffs to habitually impose their will at the line of scrimmage.
“First of all, I don’t know coaches that seek identity. I think coaches seek wins,” Sanders said. “You can call it what you want, but it looks the way it looks. I don’t care what kind of car we pull up in. As long as we pull out of here with a ‘W,’ I’m good.”
Fewer Mustangs.
More snowplows.
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