Dee Hart was part of many big-time wins during his three-season stay at Alabama — but not in the ways he had hoped for, not as the Crimson Tide’s top ground gainer and game-breaker at the running back position.
Plagued by knee injuries that led to two major surgeries, he was a spectator as a redshirt in 2011 and then a special-teams player and only an occasional ball carrier when he could suit up as a redshirt freshman in 2012 and sophomore in 2013.
Now, as a junior in eligibility and a graduate student in the CSU classroom, Hart has been a major part of the Rams’ 3-1 start, including their 24-21 comeback victory over Boston College on the road Saturday.
Hart rushed for 117 yards on 10 carries against the Eagles and has 310 yards on 50 rushes for the season. The carries aren’t anything close to the old-fashioned workhorse duty for running backs, with CSU also deploying Treyous Jarrells and Jasen Oden at the position.
While it’s arguable the knee injuries have slightly diluted his straight-ahead speed, Hart has been an opportunistic, hard-nosed and usually a straight-ahead runner. He couldn’t pull away from Eagles defenders on what turned out to be his 43-yard run to the BC 12 on CSU’s game-winning drive in the final minutes Saturday and took considerable teasing about that. Yet it all was good-natured in the wake of the victory, and Hart seems to be finding varied ways to be effective, including as a willing and savvy pass blocker for quarterback Garrett Grayson when that’s called for.
Hart, the one-time much-touted recruit from Orlando, Fla., arrived in Fort Collins in late July, eager for the opportunity to play for the Rams and for Jim McElwain, the CSU head coach who recruited him for Alabama as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator.
A progress report?
“To be honest with you, it’s been better than I hoped,” Hart said Saturday at Alumni Stadium. “A lot of guys don’t get a second opportunity, and that’s what I look at it as. I feel like I’m blessed. I give all the honor and glory to God, because it’s been a long road. When you keep fighting and you don’t give up, it’s always good.”
Hart added: “I grew a lot. Coach McElwain always talks about ‘your best game is your next game.’ I was on a lot of championship teams and that was good, but right now I’m playing for Colorado State. That’s my main focus, and that’s why I wanted to come out here and give whatever I can to the team. Whatever I can do for the team, that’s what I want.”
With a barbed sense of humor, Hart already has become one of the most popular players on the team and a leader, still in his first weeks on campus. Hart is 22 years old and already has a college diploma, so he’s a relative graybeard already, with a senior season of eligibility remaining in 2015.
“We are young,” he said of the Rams, who have gotten off to slow starts in three of their four games and next face Tulsa at home Saturday. “We haven’t tapped our potential yet. We hear a lot about how we’re a second-half team. It’s all a mind-set for us. We have to come out and know we can be a first-half and a second-half team.”
Eye on …The Golden Hurricane
Tulsa at Colorado State, 1 p.m. Saturday, no TV ( and Mountain West network online)
For the record: Tulsa is 1-3 after losing 37-34 at home to Texas State in triple overtime Saturday.
Streaking: The Golden Hurricane has lost three straight after beating Tulane in its opener, also losing to Oklahoma and Florida Atlantic before the Saturday heartbreaker.
Who’s hot: Sophomore wide receiver Keevan Lucas has 37 catches for 439 yards and five touchdowns.
Who’s not: The Golden Hurricane’s defense has struggled, with Tulsa allowing 170 points in four games.
Key stat: The Golden Hurricane has averaged 429 yards of total offense per game — but has allowed 505.
FYI: The Golden Hurricane came from behind with 13 unanswered fourth-quarter points to beat the Rams 30-27 in Tulsa last season. That dropped CSU to 0-2 before the Rams got the ship righted.
