Marshall Faulk working to revitalize Colorado's run game
Amid his first spring in Boulder, new Colorado running backs coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk has his sights on revitalizing the Buffs' famished rushing attack.
Although Colorado understandably leaned on its passing game, the Buffs averaged only 65.2 rushing yards per contest last season with Isaiah Augustave, Micah Welch and Dallan Hayden leading the charge. Those three and others are back in the fold this spring and now learning under one of the best running backs in NFL history.
"If you're not trying to improve, then you're getting worse," Faulk said Thursday. "Even if I came in here and we were coming off being top 10, top five, I'm still looking at where can we improve? That's the idea, and that's the mindset that we have to have. That's what we want to instill in the football players that we bring in here and that we coach."
Faulk later gave his own guarantee that Colorado will have more success on the ground in 2025.
"I gotta take your weakness and turn it into a strength," Faulk said. "I believe I'm here, and that's what I'm going to try to do. I can't change what you thought about the run game last year, but we're going to be better. I can guarantee you we are going to be better."
Former walk-on Charlie Offerdahl and freshman Brandon Hood are other returning running backs to watch this spring.
Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
2 minutes ago
- USA Today
Kaidon Salter eyes starting quarterback role in new era of Colorado football
Presumed starting quarterback and Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter, along with fellow Colorado signal-callers Ryan Staub and Julian Lewis, talked to reporters at the school's fall media day last week to answer questions on a range of topics. When asked about the transition from Liberty to Colorado, Salter spoke about the differences he's seen in the Buffaloes' offensive system compared to what he ran previously. "From my previous school we were more of a triple option type of team," Salter explained. "Coming here, these coaches have seen my old film. They are putting in these little plays designed from where I previously came from. And of course with me being in, they will call maybe two passes and two runs with me. And then 'JuJu' will go in and it'll probably be all passes. He [offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur] is just putting us in different situations that he knows we're comfortable in. He's doing a good job of it." Salter went on to highlight some of the key differences between Liberty and Colorado, not just in terms of football, but also in the overall environment and the constant spotlight that comes with playing for Deion Sanders. He spoke about the elevated stage, the intensity of the program, and the national attention surrounding the team. He also shared what pulled him to Boulder and why he ultimately decided to make the move. "It is tremendously different. Of course, at Liberty, where it was more of the smaller Division 1 schools playing in Conference USA, with away games not fully sold out," Slater continued. "They brought the fire at home games. But just being here, it has been a lot of different things going on, just being here with Coach Prime, being here under the lights, with the players and coaching staff that we have have a lot of coaches who have been to where I am trying to go [NFL]. So I am just taking in everything that I can from the coaching staff before I head off next year to hopefully make it to the NFL." Salter is a unique talent with a wealth of experience, eager to bring it all together this fall in Boulder and help the Buffaloes build momentum in the Deion Sanders era. The Buffs open the season on August 29 at 6 p.m. MT against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and all eyes will be on Salter as he steps in to succeed Shedeur Sanders as the next Buffaloes quarterback. Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Watch Jonathan Smith provide a MSU update following team's first fall scrimmage
Michigan State football is halfway through fall preseason camp, with the team holding their first scrimmage this past weekend. That scrimmage provided head coach Jonathan Smith, with some interesting insight on the team -- which he shared on Monday. Smith met with the local media on Monday to talk about the first few weeks of fall preseason camp as the Spartans enter week three of practice. This was also the first time for media availability following the Spartans' first preseason scrimmage, which was a hot topic during Smith's press conference. Check out what Smith had to say about the team's first scrimmage and how practice has gone the first two weeks of fall camp in the highlights and full video sections below: Highlights Some of the notable topics covered during Smith's media session on Monday were... Full Video This video is courtesy of SpartanMag. Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Jonathan Smith provides interesting update on MSU O-Line depth
Depth within the offensive line was a concern last season for the Spartans, but that doesn't appear to be the case anymore. Michigan State is in the midst of fall preseason camp, with the Spartans kicking off week three of practice earlier on Monday. As part of progressing into week three, Spartans head coach Jonathan Smith met with the media on Monday to discuss a number of topics surrounding his team. One of those was the depth he's seeing at offensive line. According to a post from Emmett Matasovsky of Spartan Shadows, Smith said there's a battle for the starting five spots on the offensive line, with "close to 10 guys" still in the mix. This quote is particularly interesting because, to me, this suggests they feel pretty good about essentially their entire two deep at offensive line. Michigan State's offensive line has been a weakness for the Spartans for what feels like a decade at this point. Sure, there have been bright spots along the way, but it hasn't been a unit that has given the fan base much faith over at least the last few seasons at a minimum. If Michigan State can put together an average Big Ten offensive line, I feel very confident in what they can achieve this season on that side of the ball. The skilled position groups all seem to be upper-tier in the league, with the offensive line being the biggest question mark. However, it's starting to sound like we should be putting more faith and expectations into that unit as we inch closer and close to the start of the 2025 season. Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
