FORT COLLINS — During his formative years, Colorado State coach Jim McElwain must have been one of those kids who walked on top of fences and stood on a teeter-totter.
He loves balance. Particularly in reference to offensive football.
“If you become one-dimensional in life, and they shut down that dimension, where do you go?” McElwain said.
Perhaps that’s a reason why McElwain can’t quit smiling about the production — and balance — of his offense during the past five weeks.
Colorado State (6-5, 4-2 Mountain West) has won four of its past five games entering Saturday’s matchup with Utah State (6-4, 5-1), and the CSU offense deserves much of the credit.
Beginning with the 52-22 win at Wyoming on Oct. 19, the Rams are averaging 553 yards per game. But what really impresses McElwain is the balance between rushing and passing. During that five-game span, CSU averaged 286 yards on the ground and 267 through the air.
“Their offense is very dynamic,” Utah State linebacker Zach Vigil said.
For McElwain, an ideal offensive effort would have a 50-50 split between rushing yardage and passing yardage. Balance is a philosophy he lives by.
“Growing up, I was told that you had better be complete in everything you do,” McElwain said. “Really, where I saw (balance) from a football standpoint was when I was at Alabama with Coach (Nick) Saban.”
Saban has never been concerned about his team putting up gaudy passing numbers, for example.
“He doesn’t worry about statistics,” said McElwain, Alabama’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2008-11. “The statistic is the win.
“How you get to the win? It might be, you may have to step back and take your ego and put it somewhere else because that day you may have to help your defense be successful. That could be taking the air out of the ball.”
A balanced attack can force the defense into a guessing game.
“One thing we try to do with our offense,” CSU quarterback Garrett Grayson said, “is show the defense as many different formations as we possibly can. That’s why you see us in all these funky looks. During the week, it’s hard for a defense to prepare for all that.”
Tom Kensler: tkensler@denverpost.com or
