From the start, Utah had no trouble running the ball against Colorado on Saturday.
No. 3 running back Daniel Bray had a 12-yard run on the first play of the game. Backup quarterback Byrd Ficklin, making his first start, had a 63-yard touchdown run on the second play.
Throughout the game, leading rusher Wayshawn Parker added a 58-yard touchdown run, and Nate Johnson scored on a 56-yard run.
Utah embarrassed the Buffs with 422 rushing yards – the fourth-most allowed by CU in the last 40 years – in a 53-7 rout. Ficklin had 151 yards, Parker had 145 and Johnson 58.
“We just didn’t play fast,” CU linebacker Jeremiah Brown said. “We didn’t show up. That’s as simple as it is. We didn’t come to play. We had a great week of practice, was physical all week at practice, and I guess we got complacent. When it came to game time, we didn’t show up.”
While the Utes exposed the Buffs, and their rushing total was a figure not often touched, it was the latest example of CU’s struggles against the run. And, it’s an area that will remain a concern as the Buffs (3-5, 1-4 Big 12) prepare to host Arizona (4-3, 1-3) on Saturday (5 p.m., FS1).
CU ranks 134th out of 136 FBS teams in run defense, allowing 217.25 yards per game. Only five teams allow more per rush than the Buffs (5.27).
Utah was the fifth team this season to finish with more rushing yards against the Buffs than their season average. And, the Utes were the fifth team to top the 200-yard mark against CU.
The Buffs felt they made some progress against TCU on Oct. 4, holding the Horned Frogs to 94 yards on 35 carries. TCU is the worst rushing team in the Big 12, however.
Since the TCU game, the Buffs have allowed 658 rushing yards on 88 attempts (a whopping 7.48 yards per carry), in two games.
As Brown said, maybe the Buffs didn’t show up against the Utes, but injuries and inconsistency in the front seven have plagued the Buffs all year.
Coming into the season, the Buffs’ defensive line seemed to be one of the most experienced and deep groups on the team. Of the nine players in the room, six are seniors and another is a fourth-year junior.
One of those seniors, Gavriel Lightfoot, hasn’t played all year because of injury and he won’t return. Another, Tavian Coleman, had surgery before the TCU game it’s unclear if he’ll return.
Another senior, Tawfiq Thomas, missed four straight games before returning against Utah. And, another, Taurean Carter II, has played just 23 snaps all season.
Junior Jehiem Oatis came to CU as a transfer from Alabama and brought a lot of hype with him. His performance hasn’t matched that hype, though. He’s made just one start and his two most impactful plays came during a three-play stretch in the second quarter of the season opener against Georgia Tech.
For the most part, CU has leaned heavily on seniors Anquin Barnes Jr. and Amari McNeill and redshirt freshman Brandon Davis-Swain. That trio has accounted for 15 of the 16 starts on the line, but they also have just 3.5 tackles for loss among them.
At inside linebacker, the Buffs still haven’t figured out the best combination.
“We got to be much more consistent at the linebacker position,” head coach Deion Sanders said last week before the Utah game.
Brown, who played just two snaps in the opener, has become CU’s most reliable linebacker. Martavius French and Reginald Hughes have played a lot, too. All three have had struggles and been benched at one point this season, though.
Among the regular players in the front seven, Hughes are French are CU’s two lowest-rated defenders this year, per Pro Football Focus.
As the Buffs look ahead, they’ll have more challenges on the ground.
Arizona is just 85th nationally in rushing (142.14 per game), but its top three running backs all average at least 4.9 yards per carry. After that, the next two opponents – West Virginia and Arizona State – are both top-50 in rushing. Kansas State, CU’s opponent in the finale, is 82nd.
Game time
On Monday, the Big 12 announced that CU’s trip to West Virginia on Nov. 8 will be the first morning game of the season for the Buffs.
The game in Morgantown, West Virginia, is slated for a 10 a.m. MT kickoff and will broadcast on TNT. It will be CU’s first-ever appearance on TNT.
CU has appeared on national network TV or the flagship ESPN every game the last two years, but that streak could end with this week’s game against Arizona, if it remains on FS1. If the World Series does not go to seven games, the Buffs vs. Arizona would be on Fox. The streak would end for sure next week, however, with an appearance on TNT.