CU's Lindsay Runs For Career-High 219 Vs. Sun Devils
October 15, 2016 | Football
BOULDER — Junior running back Phillip Lindsay reached a number of milestones in Colorado's 40-16 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday night. The most dynamic? Lindsay rushed for 219 yards on 26 carries — his first time over 200 — against a team that had held opponents to an average of just 89 yards rushing per game.
The last CU running back to surpass 200 yards in a single game was Chris Brown in 2002, who had 211 in an overtime win at Missouri. The last Buff to hit 200 at Folsom was Marlon Barnes in 1998 against Iowa State.
Lindsay, who became the 14th player in CU history to join the "500-500" club (500 career yards receiving and rushing), brought his entire offensive line to his postgame press conference.
"These guys right here made me," Lindsay said.
The junior found the end zone three times for the Buffaloes. His first touchdown came on a 13-yard run in the second quarter. Despite a stumble just before the end zone, Lindsay managed to break the plane with the help of teammate Sam Kronshage.
"I just kept pushing toward the goal line, but Sam threw me in," Lindsay said.
Lindsay's career-high 75-yard touchdown run on the first offensive snap of the second half wasn't any less of a team effort. Again, he gave full credit to the offensive line for the open field.
"As a running back, you can get through the line fine without getting touched – that's a running back's dream," he said. "Our offensive line made it happen for me, all I had to do was run…to get that long touchdown."
Lindsay added a 4-yard scoring run with 40 seconds remaining in the game to cap his night.
There's something to be said about the positive energy among Colorado's offense, from its linemen to Lindsay to the return of senior quarterback Sefo Liufau.
"He's the man," Lindsay said. "(Sefo) has been through a lot now…a lot of criticism, people loving him, people hating him. At the end of the day, he leads his men, us, down the field no matter what."
Lindsay now has 3,204 yards all-purpose yards, becoming the 13th player in Colorado football history to reach 3,000. And that's a stat that defines him: all-purpose.
"At the end of the day it's all about the team. As long as I'm helping the team, I'm happy."
