Chris Wilson's full comments from after practice today are below. One exchange between he and I that I found interesting begins roughly at the 3:45-minute mark. I asked Wilson on how the players/coaches addressed how to stop some of the chunkier gains on the ground we've seen opposing teams get in recent weeks.
With as inept as CU's offense has been, defensively, I think that unit has looked increasingly mortal as the weeks have gone on.
Minnesota's Trey Potts and Mar'Keise Irving (218 combined yards on 31 carries) and USC's Keaontay Ingram (14 rushes for 135 yards) all ran the ball with impunity against CU.
The Buffs were a bit more stout against Arizona State, but Jayden Daniels still managed 75 yards on seven carries and the Sun Devils on the whole averaged 5.2 yards per rush.
In the past three games, Colorado has allowed 28 rushes of 10 or more yards. In terms of gains of five-plus yards on the ground, in the past three games, CU is allowing on average 17.
I asked Wilson about that and he had this to day, specifically I think about USC:
"Some of that was the playcalling. When you've got a racket of receivers — last week, I think they went for 400 yards of receiving — you've got to pick your poison sometimes when you've got elite skill across the field. Some of that is playcalling. I'm willing to give up a run here and there to be able to handle those shots (downfield) and explosive plays. The quickest way to score a touchdown is to throw it over your head. My deal is, we'll be able to mix and max those coverages. We've learned from that past week on some of the things that we can improve on in regards to mixing and matching our bracket coverages when we need them."
....
I've gotta say, I very much enjoy hearing that as opposed to "the little things," "we need to tackle better," etc. Wilson straight up shouldered some of the blame there and I appreciate it. I'm not sure he completely abandoned the realm of coach speak, but still, I thought he gave a good answer. Now, it didn't exactly address why Minnesota was able to run the ball with such ease but I do think it has been rare this year to hear a coach identify the root cause of some big plays being scheme-related as opposed to due to youth or lacking execution.
With as inept as CU's offense has been, defensively, I think that unit has looked increasingly mortal as the weeks have gone on.
Minnesota's Trey Potts and Mar'Keise Irving (218 combined yards on 31 carries) and USC's Keaontay Ingram (14 rushes for 135 yards) all ran the ball with impunity against CU.
The Buffs were a bit more stout against Arizona State, but Jayden Daniels still managed 75 yards on seven carries and the Sun Devils on the whole averaged 5.2 yards per rush.
In the past three games, Colorado has allowed 28 rushes of 10 or more yards. In terms of gains of five-plus yards on the ground, in the past three games, CU is allowing on average 17.
I asked Wilson about that and he had this to day, specifically I think about USC:
"Some of that was the playcalling. When you've got a racket of receivers — last week, I think they went for 400 yards of receiving — you've got to pick your poison sometimes when you've got elite skill across the field. Some of that is playcalling. I'm willing to give up a run here and there to be able to handle those shots (downfield) and explosive plays. The quickest way to score a touchdown is to throw it over your head. My deal is, we'll be able to mix and max those coverages. We've learned from that past week on some of the things that we can improve on in regards to mixing and matching our bracket coverages when we need them."
....
I've gotta say, I very much enjoy hearing that as opposed to "the little things," "we need to tackle better," etc. Wilson straight up shouldered some of the blame there and I appreciate it. I'm not sure he completely abandoned the realm of coach speak, but still, I thought he gave a good answer. Now, it didn't exactly address why Minnesota was able to run the ball with such ease but I do think it has been rare this year to hear a coach identify the root cause of some big plays being scheme-related as opposed to due to youth or lacking execution.
