When the clock read all zeroes Friday night at Folsom Field, and the Buffs had cruised to a 35-7 season-opening victory over Northern Colorado, there without question were a number of areas in which CU left something to be desired.
Decent — not particularly good, not terrible — quarterback play from Brendon Lewis comes to mind, as does the eyebrow-raising 12 penalties for 117 yards that Colorado was flagged for, however, the obvious positive worth noting was the dominant performance by the tailbacks room.
By game's end, four CU tailbacks had found their way into the endzone. The Buffaloes racked up 281 yards on the ground (compared to UNC's measly 17), good for 73% of Colorado's total offensive output.
Redshirt sophomore Jarek Broussard, fresh off winning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year honors last season, looked every part his normal self, as he finished the night with 15 carries for 94 yards and a score.
None of Brousard's five first quarter rushes went for more than three yards, but on the first play of the second quarter, he ran up the middle for 12 yards, putting the Buffs at UNC's 3-yard line.
Two plays later, he was in the endzone to open up the scoring in the game.
Later in the second quarter, Broussard took a handoff off of the left tackle and as he attempted to cut upfield near the sideline, he briefly slipped, lost his balance and appeared a sure bet to go out of bounds. But Broussard caught himself, stayed inbounds and accelerated up the field for a 30-yard gain, his longest of the game.
Later on, he had rushes of 17 and 11 yards early in the third quarter but after that, his night was over.
Broussard was far from the only CU back to find chunky holes in the Bears defense.
Redshirt junior Alex Fontenot, playing in his first game since the end of 2019, and who was listed on Colorado's depth chart as the No. 2 tailback behind Broussard, rushed eight times for 40 yards and a score, registering a long run of 11 yards on the night.
Second-year freshman Ashaad Clayton busted one out for 35 yards — the longest of his young career and the longest rush by CU on the night — finishing Friday with a healthy 6.4 yards per carry average, also a team-best.
And a round of applause deserves to go to redshirt sophomore Deion Smith, who, in his first game since tearing his ACL, rushed four times for 32 yards, with a long rush of 21, which he managed up the right sideline in the fourth quarter.
Percentage-wise, in terms of total carries, Broussard shouldered 31% of the load, while Clayton and Fontenot, with eight touches apiece, took 16%.
Brendon Lewis also ran eight times with Smith carried the ball four times. Sophomore Joe Davis was in for five carries at the end of the game, gaining 22 yards.
"It was really good to see that and I’m happy about all those backs," Karl Dorrell said postgame. "I can’t keep them all happy! It’s a challenge right now, trying to keep them all happy, when not all of them can carry the ball at the same time. But it’s a great problem to have and it’s great to have that kind of production from all those guys.”
As Dorrell alluded to, moving forward, distributing carries to his backs will continue to be a challenge, but if he and offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini can get to a good balance — as was the case against UNC — then the Buffs should be in good shape.
While in frank terms, Broussard's touches go down when his teammates' go up, that reality seems to be just fine as far as he's concerned, not only in terms of preserving his own health but being able to see those around him flourish.
“That’s what I’m always talking about in most of my interviews — I always say we’ve got a good group of guys that all can do great things," Broussard said. "It was good to see those guys come out and get to touch the endzone. It was fun to watch my peers have a good time and ball out.”
Decent — not particularly good, not terrible — quarterback play from Brendon Lewis comes to mind, as does the eyebrow-raising 12 penalties for 117 yards that Colorado was flagged for, however, the obvious positive worth noting was the dominant performance by the tailbacks room.
By game's end, four CU tailbacks had found their way into the endzone. The Buffaloes racked up 281 yards on the ground (compared to UNC's measly 17), good for 73% of Colorado's total offensive output.
Redshirt sophomore Jarek Broussard, fresh off winning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year honors last season, looked every part his normal self, as he finished the night with 15 carries for 94 yards and a score.
None of Brousard's five first quarter rushes went for more than three yards, but on the first play of the second quarter, he ran up the middle for 12 yards, putting the Buffs at UNC's 3-yard line.
Two plays later, he was in the endzone to open up the scoring in the game.
Later in the second quarter, Broussard took a handoff off of the left tackle and as he attempted to cut upfield near the sideline, he briefly slipped, lost his balance and appeared a sure bet to go out of bounds. But Broussard caught himself, stayed inbounds and accelerated up the field for a 30-yard gain, his longest of the game.
Later on, he had rushes of 17 and 11 yards early in the third quarter but after that, his night was over.
Broussard was far from the only CU back to find chunky holes in the Bears defense.
Redshirt junior Alex Fontenot, playing in his first game since the end of 2019, and who was listed on Colorado's depth chart as the No. 2 tailback behind Broussard, rushed eight times for 40 yards and a score, registering a long run of 11 yards on the night.
Second-year freshman Ashaad Clayton busted one out for 35 yards — the longest of his young career and the longest rush by CU on the night — finishing Friday with a healthy 6.4 yards per carry average, also a team-best.
And a round of applause deserves to go to redshirt sophomore Deion Smith, who, in his first game since tearing his ACL, rushed four times for 32 yards, with a long rush of 21, which he managed up the right sideline in the fourth quarter.
Percentage-wise, in terms of total carries, Broussard shouldered 31% of the load, while Clayton and Fontenot, with eight touches apiece, took 16%.
Brendon Lewis also ran eight times with Smith carried the ball four times. Sophomore Joe Davis was in for five carries at the end of the game, gaining 22 yards.
"It was really good to see that and I’m happy about all those backs," Karl Dorrell said postgame. "I can’t keep them all happy! It’s a challenge right now, trying to keep them all happy, when not all of them can carry the ball at the same time. But it’s a great problem to have and it’s great to have that kind of production from all those guys.”
As Dorrell alluded to, moving forward, distributing carries to his backs will continue to be a challenge, but if he and offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini can get to a good balance — as was the case against UNC — then the Buffs should be in good shape.
While in frank terms, Broussard's touches go down when his teammates' go up, that reality seems to be just fine as far as he's concerned, not only in terms of preserving his own health but being able to see those around him flourish.
“That’s what I’m always talking about in most of my interviews — I always say we’ve got a good group of guys that all can do great things," Broussard said. "It was good to see those guys come out and get to touch the endzone. It was fun to watch my peers have a good time and ball out.”
