Junior tailback Brian Lockridge breaks through into the Hawaii secondary during the third quarter of CU's 31-13 win over the Warriors on Saturday, Sept. 18 at Folsom Field. Lockridge rushed for 109 yards on 14 carries against the Warriors' defense. (CU Independent/Patrick Ghidossi)
Even CU coach Dan Hawkins got into the action prior to the game when he head-butted someone on his helmet, football players said.
“We got a little hyped up before the game,” said Coach Hawkins, following his team’s win. “But I’m an old fullback so I’m used to playing with a broken nose.”
In the days leading up to the Hawaii game, the old UC-Davis player, Coach Hawkins said his offensive line needed to “work on” getting some techniques down.
Against CSU and Cal combined, the team ran it 77 times for only 190 yards, ranking near last in the FBS. After earning 252 yards on Saturday, the backs more than doubled their total season output and bolstered themselves into the middle of the pack (they are now 68th in the nation).
“Our O-line was moving the line of scrimmage,” Hawkins said. “I thought our offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau did a good job of being patient with it and staying in there. And our O-line did a good job of answering.
The top two running backs on the depth chart, junior Rodney Stewart and junior Brian Lockridge, both clinched the century mark in rushing. Like a fine wine, tackle senior Nate Solder said he believes the rushing game will get better with time.
“I was extremely proud of that,” Solder said. “We can do that every week, we have the guys that can do that, because we have great players.”
The 109 yards for Lockridge was a team best against Hawaii and a career best. He said after the game that his much-criticized offensive line did a good job in giving him space to operate.
“I came in with high hopes of what we can do as a team, which you saw in the second half,” Lockridge said. “They gave me the opportunity to run the ball and that’s what I did.”
He and Stewart can potentially be a two-headed monster behind the improving offensive line, as they proved against Hawaii. This weekend they get to rest their legs before Southeastern Conference power Georgia comes to Boulder.
The Bulldogs are 1-2 this year after close losses to No. 10 Arkansas and No. 12 South Carolina. But they do own the nation’s 20th ranked run defense, allowing 85 yards per game. If the Buffs don’t manage to run the ball effectively against Georgia, it could be Berkeley all over again – where the running game averaged 1.8 yards per carry.
Colorado has not seen a pair of one hundred yard rushers in a game since Chris Brown and Bobby Purify ran for a combined 301 yards against Iowa State eight years ago.
Contact Staff Writer Michael Krumholtz at Michael.krumholtz@colorado.edu
