FORT COLLINS — Red is not a popular color for a Colorado State football player, especially one that likes the physical nature of the game.
But the red practice jersey — signifying a player out of contact — was the standard wardrobe during the final weeks of the season for tailback Jasen Oden Jr., who after a steady workload the first eight weeks was feeling the effects with a variety of ailments.
His most serious setback came against San Diego State, forcing him to miss the Wyoming game, and he’s had only 16 carries since.
He wasn’t alone, not even in his own group. Fellow running backs Dalyn Dawkins and Izzy Matthews were also sporting red in practices. But with a few weeks off after the regular season, the road to recovery has started.
Good news for the Arizona Bowl-bound Rams: Oden is feeling better all the time.
“I’m real banged up, but today was the first day I took off my red jersey,” he said after practice Friday. “I felt real good. I did a lot of team-on-team periods, which I haven’t done in five weeks. I’ll be close to 100 (percent); I don’t think I’ll be a full hundred, but other than that, I feel I’ll be 100 percent running-wise.
“I’ll continue to rehab, get it back little by little.”
Taking away some hits from the trio was a necessity, as the CSU run game has relied heavily upon the group the latter part of the season. The three backs have provided punch behind an offensive line that grew more comfortable with the tweaks made to the zone-blocking scheme and the development of quarterback Nick Stevens to call the checks to get them out of bad plays and into good ones.
Despite the ailments the backs have had, coach Mike Bobo has been impressed with what they’ve provided down the stretch — a streak of four games with more than 200 yards on the ground. It’s progress Bobo thinks was cultivated by position coach Bryan Applewhite in having the next guy in line ready to go when called upon.
“Coach Applewhite does a nice job with those guys of setting the expectations of how we want to practice, and I believe it paid off at the end of the year, because they practiced hard,” Bobo said. “They didn’t just go through the motions in practice. They were not just prepared physically, but prepared mentally for a long season. We knew there were going to be injuries. I feel like that’s why you’ve got to have more than one back.”
The brunt of Oden’s 695 yards came early, including his 30 carries for 143 yards against Texas-San Antonio. Dawkins was a constant contributor while dealing with a hamstring ailment — leading the team with 805 yards, posting a trio of 100-yard games. Matthews was sprinkled throughout, but the true freshman gained more traction as the season went along, concluding with his 140 yards in the finale at Fresno State.
