Brooks: Buffs Can Test Their Legs Saturday - For Real
September 28, 2010 | Football, B.G. Brooks
A word of advice: Stay grounded, guys.
Lest they get carried away by their success against Hawai'i - not exactly a run-proof defense in 2010 - this factoid should sober up the Buffs: The strength of Georgia's defense is stopping the run. And at last check, SEC defenses carried a bit more overall cred than most of those in the WAC.
Although they'll drag an uncharacteristic three-game losing streak to Boulder on Saturday (5 p.m., FSN), the Bulldogs are ranked No. 30 among 120 FBS teams in run defense, allowing 108.7 yards a game. In total defense, UGA is No. 32, with the bulk of its total yards allowed (307.2) gained by opponents through the air (198.5, or No. 59 in the FBS in pass defense).
Through four games, CU is averaging 147.3 rushing yards a game, a nice surge from last season's meager 87.9. Even though the Warriors came to Boulder two weekends ago allowing almost 250 ground yards a game, Buffs players and coaches left Folsom Field believing the second half of CU's 31-13 win might have been a mile marker for the run game.
"It showed that our big guys can get on some people, move some people out of the way, and we don't have to rely heavily on the pass," running backs coach Darian Hagan said. "It gave our guys confidence that they can move people around."
"We set the bar; now we've got to keep raising it every week," right guard Ryan Miller said. "It's always great when you come out and have a good practice and run the ball, but it's better when you do it in a game. You look at the great teams, and they're the ones that can really pound the rock - no matter the down and distance, whether it's fourth-and-inches or first-and-10. If you can run the ball, you generally win."
Against Hawai'i, CU got 106 yards from Rodney "Speedy" Stewart and 109 from Brian Lockridge. They were the first two Buffs backs to go over 100 yards in the same game since Chris Brown (127) and Bobby Purify (174) did it in 2002 against Iowa State. CU gained 183 of its 252 ground yards in the second half against Hawai'i.
Since the season began, Miller said the running game has "been a pretty big part of practice and what our mindset needs to be, where we want it to be." The line of scrimmage, he added, "is where the battle has to be won."
Georgia's defensive line lost three senior tackles - all taken in the NFL Draft - and a change in defensive coordinators brought a schematic change (4-3 to 3-4) as well. The biggest question in the Bulldogs' new alignment was how well the nose tackle could control double teams, and it still appears to be a concern. The starter has been DeAngelo Tyson (6-foot-2, 295 pounds), with Kwame Geathers (6-5, 326) as his backup.
Hagan called UGA's defensive ends "prototypical SEC guys." UGA's game-week depth chart lists Abry Jones (6-3, 297) and DeMarcus Dobbs (6-2, 285) as the DE starters.
CU's O-line and running backs gained "some confidence, some validation" from the Hawai'i second half, said Hagan, adding, "If they do what they've been coached to do, we can have success. Now, I think everybody's believing, everybody's on the same page."
Well, almost everybody.
Stewart is the Buffs' leading rusher (84.3 yards a game), but Hagan isn't happy with Stewart lapsing into a bad habit believed to resolved when the season started. Once again, said Hagan, Stewart is frequently and randomly darting away from his blockers, bouncing away from intended holes.
"He's out there guessing 100 percent of the time," Hagan said. "In practice he'll get it right; in the game he just freelances. Brian may miss a read or two, but the dude ain't messing around. He's making the defense play and be honest, whereas 'Speedy' will get the ball and just cut it back for no reason.
"Or he'll get the ball and bounce it back toward the edge; that's the frustrating part, especially with it being our third year together. He's still out there not being comfortable; that's a difficult deal. Brian is doing it better and, quite frankly, playing ahead of him."
Hagan said Stewart is "not trusting the scheme . . . he's trying to make big plays every time he gets the ball. I understand you're a big-play guy and you want to be exciting out there, but you got to take what you get. You're going to get big plays if you just do what's in the foundation of our offense. He tries to make big plays, but I showed him last game that he probably left seven big runs out there - probably more than that, and I'm talking huge runs because he's just guessing and cutting back, running into the defense."
To the contrary, Hagan said he was "extremely happy" with Lockridge, who is averaging 36.7 rushing yards a game: "That dude plays fast. He don't mess around in the backfield, and that's what you need - a guy to be decisive in his approach, decisive with his reads, because when our line gets on guys and my guys are decisive we can run. We're not the tallest (backs) back there, so we can get lost (among the big bodies) if a back is hitting the hole like he's supposed to. If he reads it right, he gets lost and can get in the secondary pretty fast."
Stewart, pound-for-pound CU's strongest back, has visions of playing in the NFL. Hagan knows it but says, "He wants to go to that next level, he thinks he can go to the next level. But with his unpredictability he'd never play."
Regardless of who runs behind them, Miller believes he and his O-line compatriots have become a more physical group over the last month - a theory sure to be tested by UGA.
"We started off a little soft against Hawai'i and we kind of got down in a little valley," Miller said. "We peaked in the second half, but we have to continue to be on the rise."
As for producing a second game with a pair of 100-yard rushers, Miller said, "That's something we look forward to keep on doing"
Do it against the Dawgs and the Buffs can say their ground game has arrived.
DON'T BE FOOLED: UGA (1-3) has lost three consecutive games and is being dogged by some in its fan base. Miller isn't buying into the "Bulldogs are buried" theme.
"That kind of mindset will get you beat faster than you can think," he said. "No. This is a very good Georgia team that has a lot of speed, a very good secondary and their D-line matches up very well. They've got some quick guys inside and strong guys as well. They're a powerhouse team and we need to come out and play like a powerhouse team if we're going to have a shot."
CU coach Dan Hawkins said he "respects (UGA coach) Mark Richt as much as anyone in the profession. Don't take stock in the fact that they've dropped (three). They were great against Arkansas (losing on a late TD) and you see how good Arkansas was against Alabama. They didn't have things go their way against Mississippi State.
"They've got a great program, he's a great coach. They'll be ready to go when they get here."
BUFF BITS: Hagan said freshman Justin "JT" Torres will continue to play a part in his tailback rotation - usually in short yardage situations . . . . Allowing 312.6 yards a game, CU is No. 40 in total defense . . . . The Buffs are No. 7 in rushing defense (71.6 yards a game) . . . . Hawkins said the bye week allowed CU "to get a few guys healed up" and the Buffs to get more fundamentally sound for the Bulldogs. He added, "It'll be nice to have a game to point to this week." . . . . CU's 1990 national championship team will be honored Saturday, and Miller said it will be meaningful for the current Buffs - particularly those from in-state: "I think it is to the Colorado kids. This national championship team, those guys are the ones we looked up to. Those were the guys, the tough guys, with Hagan, Alfred (Williams) - all of them. Just tough, tough guys."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
