Colorado State University Athletics
Run Game Takes a Step Forward
11/14/2023 2:00:00 PM | Football
Final drive a confidence booster for offense
The key was how the game finished.
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Sure, Justin Marshall's 119-yard debut was eye-opening. The Rams had had two explosive runs all season entering the game with San Diego State and added three more to the total. Not earth-shattering, but definitely a positive development, and Marshall, a true freshman, had two of them.
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He wasn't on the field with 2:04 remaining in the game with Colorado State having the chance to run out the clock – and the win – a situation they'd similarly been in earlier this year against Colorado and then a week later at Middle Tennessee State.
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In both of those instances, the time on the clock was more than 5 minutes, yet the goal was the same – to be able to run the ball against a defense which knew the Rams wanted to run. Colorado got a stop, then drove to tie the game and eventually win in overtime. Middle Tennessee State got a stop, but the CSU defense responded in kind.
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Against the Aztecs, the Rams' final two plays came in victory formation, taking a knee after Avery Morrow ran the ball three times and was able to move the chains and force SDSU to burn its final two timeouts.
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"That was huge for us. We had tried to do that in a few other games and weren't able to pull it off, so to finally actually be able to put it on the ground, finish the game, get that last first down was really big for us," offensive lineman Andrew Cannon said. "Our heavy package that we put in running it … yeah, we kind of dominated."
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An Air Raid team is never going to live and die by the run, but it needs to be able to rush effectively at times to hold down a pass rush, to remove time off a clock, to keep a defense honest.
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The Rams don't have to run it often, but when they do, something needs to come from the effort.
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"It's very, very important for us to be able to run the ball well situationally and run the ball when we have to run the ball to win games," coach Jay Norvell said, who happens to be calling the plays.
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The 184 yards the Rams rushed for in the game was the best total of the season, just the fourth time this season the offense has surpassed the century mark on the ground. It was bolstered by Marshall's first appearance, his first attempt going for 12 yards. He had two other big runs, the best going for 21 yards.
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Moving forward, he'll be more involved, naturally, it just took time to get him ready. The Rams still have Vann Schield on hand, who moved into the conference's list of top-10 rushers this week, and Morrow, as crucial as his late carries were, is still working his way toward healthy.
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"We have a couple of good, young freshman we've been trying to incorporate into our run game, and we just felt like it was time for Justin. I thought he played really well," Norvell said. "Coach (Jeremy) Moses did a good job preparing him for his game and he played well. He gave us a shot in the arm, had a couple of explosive runs we've been missing from our offense. I mentioned this before, I just felt like we're going to improve in the running game as we go on and it's going to be an important part to us winning games. It was an important part last year when we played Nevada. It will be important this year as well."
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Marshall did not have a reception or a target, something the offense requires from backs, and his pass protection will dictate the amount of time he receives. In both areas, Norvell said he's improving.
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Cannon sees him as shifty and agile, and his ability to roll off first contact helped Marshall's production.
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"It was awesome watching him. We got some practice reps with him, we didn't really get to see what he could do," Cannon said. "So, when he came out on the field and just exploded, it was so cool to see how much of a dog he was."
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In last year's win over Nevada, the Rams rushed for 177 yards, and that was with Morrow rushing for 169 yards. It gave Colorado State a chance on a night when the only offensive points were a game-winning field goal at the end, thanks to the defense scoring twice.
Â
After last week, the Rams have renewed hope the running game will give the offense what it needs, a chance to ice a game at the end, but doing it like last week – in the victory formation.
Â
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Sure, Justin Marshall's 119-yard debut was eye-opening. The Rams had had two explosive runs all season entering the game with San Diego State and added three more to the total. Not earth-shattering, but definitely a positive development, and Marshall, a true freshman, had two of them.
Â
He wasn't on the field with 2:04 remaining in the game with Colorado State having the chance to run out the clock – and the win – a situation they'd similarly been in earlier this year against Colorado and then a week later at Middle Tennessee State.
Â
In both of those instances, the time on the clock was more than 5 minutes, yet the goal was the same – to be able to run the ball against a defense which knew the Rams wanted to run. Colorado got a stop, then drove to tie the game and eventually win in overtime. Middle Tennessee State got a stop, but the CSU defense responded in kind.
Â
Against the Aztecs, the Rams' final two plays came in victory formation, taking a knee after Avery Morrow ran the ball three times and was able to move the chains and force SDSU to burn its final two timeouts.
Â
"That was huge for us. We had tried to do that in a few other games and weren't able to pull it off, so to finally actually be able to put it on the ground, finish the game, get that last first down was really big for us," offensive lineman Andrew Cannon said. "Our heavy package that we put in running it … yeah, we kind of dominated."
Â
An Air Raid team is never going to live and die by the run, but it needs to be able to rush effectively at times to hold down a pass rush, to remove time off a clock, to keep a defense honest.
Â
The Rams don't have to run it often, but when they do, something needs to come from the effort.
Â
"It's very, very important for us to be able to run the ball well situationally and run the ball when we have to run the ball to win games," coach Jay Norvell said, who happens to be calling the plays.
Â
The 184 yards the Rams rushed for in the game was the best total of the season, just the fourth time this season the offense has surpassed the century mark on the ground. It was bolstered by Marshall's first appearance, his first attempt going for 12 yards. He had two other big runs, the best going for 21 yards.
Â
Moving forward, he'll be more involved, naturally, it just took time to get him ready. The Rams still have Vann Schield on hand, who moved into the conference's list of top-10 rushers this week, and Morrow, as crucial as his late carries were, is still working his way toward healthy.
Â
"We have a couple of good, young freshman we've been trying to incorporate into our run game, and we just felt like it was time for Justin. I thought he played really well," Norvell said. "Coach (Jeremy) Moses did a good job preparing him for his game and he played well. He gave us a shot in the arm, had a couple of explosive runs we've been missing from our offense. I mentioned this before, I just felt like we're going to improve in the running game as we go on and it's going to be an important part to us winning games. It was an important part last year when we played Nevada. It will be important this year as well."
Â
Marshall did not have a reception or a target, something the offense requires from backs, and his pass protection will dictate the amount of time he receives. In both areas, Norvell said he's improving.
Â
Cannon sees him as shifty and agile, and his ability to roll off first contact helped Marshall's production.
Â
"It was awesome watching him. We got some practice reps with him, we didn't really get to see what he could do," Cannon said. "So, when he came out on the field and just exploded, it was so cool to see how much of a dog he was."
Â
In last year's win over Nevada, the Rams rushed for 177 yards, and that was with Morrow rushing for 169 yards. It gave Colorado State a chance on a night when the only offensive points were a game-winning field goal at the end, thanks to the defense scoring twice.
Â
After last week, the Rams have renewed hope the running game will give the offense what it needs, a chance to ice a game at the end, but doing it like last week – in the victory formation.
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