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\nYes, Deion Sanders lost CU’s 17th straight game to USC. But Buffs might have found run game, identity, in the process.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nLed by running back Anthony Hankerson, the Buffs finished with a season-high 193 yards on 45 carries against the Trojans.<\/p>\n
CU had 223 rushing yards all season \u2013 55.8 per game \u2013 going into the USC contest.<\/p>\n
\u201cRunning game showed its face and you see how better the offense flowed with the running game,\u201d head coach Deion Sanders said.<\/p>\n
It was an important development for an offense that has been prolific through the air all season, but not on the ground. The Buffs (3-2, 0-2 Pac-12) will look to keep it going at Arizona State (1-4, 0-2) on Saturday in Tempe, Ariz. (4:30 p.m. MT, Pac-12 Network).<\/p>\n
Against USC, it started with Hankerson, a sophomore and one of only nine scholarship players back from last year\u2019s team. Hankerson had career highs of 16 carries and 74 yards and he scored his first touchdown of the year on a 2-yard run that cut CU\u2019s deficit to 41-21 late in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe ran the ball hard,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cHe ran good. He\u2019s been consistent every game. We try to let everyone touch it to see, how are they going? I think we had maybe four or five tailbacks that had opportunity to touch the ball today. That\u2019s a good thing because all of them want to play because all of them deserve to play because they\u2019re really really good.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Hankerson stood out. He hit it. \u2026 Hank is resilient, man. He\u2019s been doing a good job. All these guys came in (as transfers) and tried to come in and force him out and he wouldn\u2019t relinquish his position. So I\u2019m proud of him as well, as a man.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freshman Dylan Edwards, CU\u2019s leading rusher with 201 yards this season, had 44 yards on 12 carries against USC. \u00a0Alton McCaskill and Sy\u2019Veon Wilkerson each had one carry, while receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. contributed with a 19-yard run on a reverse.<\/p>\n
Of course, the other key to the run game was quarterback Shedeur Sanders. He finished 50 yards on 14 carries, but that includes sacks. Take out his three sacks and he posted 76 positive yards on 11 carries \u2013 including a 25-yard touchdown run. Several of his big runs came on timely scrambles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have predetermined, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m gonna take off,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s not what it is. We\u2019ve got to understand how they\u2019re playing us, how they\u2019re gonna contain me and stuff like that and understand OK, basically the rush lane. \u201c<\/p>\n
The Buffs still have work to do in the run game, including proving they can repeat the performance. They also have running backs they haven\u2019t really unleashed yet with McCaskill (six carries this season), Wilkerson (20 carries) and Kavosiey Smoke (one carry).<\/p>\n
McCaskill, a transfer from Houston, was the AAC freshman of the year in 2021; Wilkerson rushed for 1,152 yards last season for Coach Prime at Jackson State; and Smoke racked up 1,552 yards during his career at Kentucky before coming to CU.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s Hankerson, Edwards or the transfers, the Buffs will aim to keep it going in the run game this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the same plays we\u2019ve been running forever,\u201d Shedeur Sanders said. \u201cEverybody runs power, everybody runs zone. That\u2019s what it is. It\u2019s about just the players executing it, so I feel like (against USC) we had a better mindset and understanding OK, we\u2019ve got to execute these plays for them to be able to work and that\u2019s what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
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