Just two games into the season, the Colorado football team is already facing some of the same questions it faced a year ago, especially up front on offense.
CU (1-1) will visit in-state rival Colorado State (1-1) in Fort Collins on Saturday (5:30 p.m., CBS) and the offensive line will be in the spotlight again.
In the wake a 28-10 loss at Nebraska last Saturday, head coach Deion Sanders expressed his belief in the offensive line unit on Tuesday, saying, “I feel like we got the right guys.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be the same guys that have played the first two games, though, as he quickly added, “You may see us shake something up a little bit.”
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So far, the starting five – left tackle Jordan Seaton, left guard Justin Mayers, center Hank Zilinskas, right guard Kahlil Benson and right tackle Tyler Brown – has played all 123 offensive snaps this season together, with one exception. Benson was shaken up for a play last week at Nebraska and replaced by Kareem Harden.
How the Buffs shake things up on Saturday night remains to be seen, but in videos posted by Well Off Media, it appears that Phillip Houston could get an opportunity. Sanders called the starting offensive line up to the front of the team on Tuesday, and it was Benson, Brown, Houston, Seaton and Zilinskas stepping forward.
Houston was the starting right tackle at Florida International last year and in one clip this week appears to be with the first team at right tackle, with Brown playing left guard.
The Buffs also have a veteran option in Tyler Johnson. A two-year starter at Houston before coming to CU this offseason, Johnson has battled some injuries with the Buffs, but has seen time on special teams in both games. Johnson started all 12 of Houston’s games in 2023 at left guard and started 10 games in 2022 at right guard.
“Tyler’s coming. He’s coming,” Sanders said on Tuesday. “Great kid, works his butt off, does a phenomenal job with his effort, maybe the consistency thereof. But the kid, you can’t fault his effort on a daily basis, and I’m a fan of the kid, I like him. I like him. Good kid. Works his butt off.”
Colorado offensive lineman Phillip Houston during preseason football camp on Aug. 1, 2024, in Boulder, Colo. (CU Athletics)
CU has other experienced options in Harden, who was with CU last year; and transfers Yakiri Walker (Connecticut), Kardell Thomas (Florida A&M) and Wyatt Hummel (Villanova).
Regardless of who starts and plays, the Buffs are looking to the line to have a better game in Fort Collins than it had in Lincoln. The Buffs gave up six sacks and rushed for only 16 yards during the 28-10 loss to Nebraska last week.
The lack of a run game has been a glaring issue throughout Coach Prime’s 14-game tenure. CU is last in the nation in rushing (37.5 yards per game) and has called just 27 designed runs in the first two games combined.
“Sometimes the game dictates certain things you must do,” Sanders said. “I think you guys see that we, on those third-and-shorts, fourth-and-shorts, we tried to do that. We try to run the football. It’s an attitude. It’s a straight attitude (by the line). You gotta whoop your guy on that particular play. And I think we’ve committed to it on certain plays. We just got to do a better job in getting to first down.
“It just depends on the flow of the game, but we got to do a better job of running the football. That takes a lot of pressure off your quarterback and makes things easier for (offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur).”
Asked if calling more run plays early in the game could get the line going with an aggressive mindset – rather than on their heels pass blocking – Sanders said, “Well, that’s the approach, but you got to understand when you’re looking at certain fronts, you got to check out of certain things, because it’s not beneficial. You got to play the game that tells you how to play it.
“I tell you, if it’s a heavy box, you’re not going to be successful in running the football in that aspect.”
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