Colorado’s offense puts major emphasis on run game through Week 1 of fall camp

Colorado running back Dallan Hayden rushed for 196 yards in 2024, the most among returning players in 2025. (Photo by Madison Kerest/Sko Buffs Sports)

In 2024, the Colorado Buffaloes' feature attraction was their offense. Behind the likes of Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter and three other wide receivers you can now find on NFL rosters, there was no shortage of scoring through the air. 

“Last year, let’s just call it what it was, we struggled up front, and we had four wideouts that are now on NFL rosters,” said Buffs’ offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. “So get them lined up and let’s go, that’s one way to approach it.”

One key weakness for the Buffs was their inability to run the football. Isaiah Agustave led the team with just 384 rushing yards and four touchdowns. He transferred to South Carolina during the offseason, leaving an even larger question mark at the position. 

But with the additions of known dual-threat transfer quarterback Kaidon Salter and two additional transfers at the running back position, the team intends to make the running game a significant factor in their offense this season.

“Ideally, we’ll put them in there and do the things that they’re best at,” Shurmur continued. “No matter how good your starter is, I start to feel like it takes a village. I think every team needs to use more than one [running] back, so you’ve got to develop them.”

Through the course of fall camp, this focus on the run game has stretched beyond just the skill positions. Colorado’s new-look offensive line will play a major role as well. 

The Buffaloes return just one starter from the 2024 season, being former five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton. But the personnel department made a point to aggressively build that unit via the transfer portal and recruiting trail during the offseason. 

One of their biggest acquisitions in the portal was Illinois transfer Zy Crisler. 

The two-time All-Big 10 Honorable Mention shared his thoughts on the current state of the run game.

“We’re just trying to pound the ball, trying to score,” Crisler said. “No sugar coating anything, we just want to score the ball and do our thing… we got a big o-line now so it should be fun to see.”

Salter’s contribution to the run game will be largely determined by the result of his position battle with former five-star recruit and current true freshman Julian Lewis.

Lewis’s play style is centered around his presence in the pocket and standing in to make throws down the field. If he ends up as the starter, this offense will likely continue to look like more of what we’ve been seeing for the past two seasons with Sanders under center. 

Salter is a former 1,000-yard rusher at the quarterback position, and the coaching staff has made it clear that as long as he’s taking snaps, they plan to lean into that skillset. 

CU’s two running back additions this offseason were Simeon Price by way of Coastal Carolina and DeKalon Taylor from Incarnate Word. In 2024, those two combined for 1,045 yards on their respective teams, with Taylor falling just under the 1,000-yard mark on his own with 909. 

Alongside a returning Dallan Hayden and Micah Welch, who finished second and third on the team in rushing yards last season, Colorado’s backs will look to turn this offense’s biggest question mark of the last two years into a major exclamation point.