Boulder – They were outlined against the Flatirons under a cloudless September sky, and they were sort of reminiscent of the Four Horsemen.
The Four Buffaloes rushed for 317 yards. Their names are Charles, Sumler, Ellis and Lockridge.
They ran in muck for three games. They ran amuck in the fourth.
CU’s total on the ground Saturday was 359 yards, 386 yards better than the week before – and the most for the Buffs since 2002.
That wasn’t the same attack the Buffs trotted out (literally) against Arizona State and Florida State. Where did this Rushmore Four come from? They were no longer missing in inaction.
“All we have heard about is execution and playing smart for the full game. We got that message in our heads,” Hugh Charles said after CU felt the rush of a 42-0 victory.
One man attended the game at Folsom Field on Saturday because he “wanted to see CU play against two straight big-time teams from Florida – Florida State and Miami.”
Wrong Miami, clown. Not even close.
This was not Miami of Florida, but Miami of Ohio.
Miami of Ohio played like Mutual of Omaha.
But the way the CU Buffs played, they might have beaten Miami of Florida or, in a rematch, Florida State of Florida or Jacksonville of Florida (which will be in Denver today).
The Buffaloes delivered their most lopsided, imposing victory of the Dan Hawkins era.
It should be remembered, however, that the Buffs had only three previous victories in the Dan Hawkins era.
What must be remembered is that Colorado ran the football, and ran it over and over 63 times, and ran it over Miami of O., not to be confused with Miami of FL.
Miami did beat Ball State in the Mid-American Conference opener. So what? On Saturday, Ball State led Nebraska in Lincoln before the Cornhuskers rallied and held on, 41-40.
Be very afraid of the Buffs, Huskers.
Opponents should suddenly become scared of the Buffs’ running game. It had been nonexistent. In the Buffs’ first three games, the average rush per play was 1.7 yards.
That famous fifth down they got in Missouri wouldn’t have been enough. At 1.7 per, CU would need six downs (10.2) to pick up a first down.
The Buffs were moaning about their lack of running and lack of an elite running back emerging. Assistant Darian Hagan, an old CU quarterback, did everything last week but put himself in at tailback.
Charles was injured during the first series of the CSU game, but was no factor when he returned last week (four carries, 9 yards). Demetrius Sumler had 85 yards in the first game, but just 34 and 14 the past two weeks.
Senior Byron Ellis has been a ceremonial starter at tailback – 17 yards in four games. And freshman Brian Lockridge was 2-for-4 yards before Saturday.
“You can’t be 219th in the country (running the football) going into this conference. You’ve gotta be able to move the football on the ground. You just can’t drop back and throw the football every time,” Hawkins said.
“People outside the program said we couldn’t run the football, but we knew we could,” quarterback Cody Hawkins said.
Hawkins & Son might have had belief in the running game, but it was difficult for anyone else to make that leap of faith after the Florida State debacle.
Against the RedHawks, the Buffs did the Bolder Boulder, a long run.
Charles finished with 123 yards, one for 28, and a touchdown on 17 carries.
Sumler had 91 yards, including a 30-yarder, and a touchdown on 14 runs.
Ellis carried five times for 13 yards.
And Lockridge – the future as we’ve now seen it – got 90 yards on 14 attempts and had a nifty 43-yard sprint for a touchdown. He also had another burst for a score called back because of a penalty.
Lockridge, who is from Trabuco Canyon, Calif., has a name that could be a college – University of California at Lockridge. He is the fastest, most elusive of the bunch. He could go all the way at Colorado.
Charles, Sumler and Lockridge averaged 6.8 yards per carry.
“Defensively, we wore down,” Miami coach Shane Montgomery said.
Try “wore out.”
“We were worried they would line up and pound us, and they did,” he said.
Hawkins, the coach, said CU tailbacks “did some nice things again.”
Again?
“… there are some yards that were left on the table today.”
Where was he eating?
The Buffs did run, and the RedHawks couldn’t hide.
But Miami of Ohio is one thing, and Oklahoma of Oklahoma is quite another.
Staff writer Woody Paige can be reached at 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com.
