Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders knows that a strong running game could only help him out.
He was sacked six times this past weekend in the Buffaloes’ 28-10 loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Not coincidentally, Colorado was only able to rush the ball for 16 total yards on 22 carries.
The Cornhuskers knew they could pin their ears back against Colorado’s offensive line, and Sanders suffered as a result. Had Colorado found more success with the run, perhaps that could have opened some things up for Sanders through the air.
“Of course whenever you’re able to run the ball consistently, whenever you’re able to that opens up the pass,” Sanders said after the loss, according to On3.
In the same breath, Sanders stated that running the football is just not a strength of his team,
“You’ve got to understand what your team’s good at,” he said. “So why would we keep running the ball if we out there and we get into a situation where it’s a must-get-it and we don’t get it?”
Sanders may have been thinking about a fourth-and-one early in the game when Colorado handed the ball off to Charlie Offerdahl, who was unceremoniously stuffed for a loss on downs. It was only 7-0 in favor of Nebraska at that point, but it was a massive inflection point in the game.
Sanders thinks that in those instances, ultimately, the head coach (and his father), should choose to keep the ball in his hands.
“If we’re going to go down I’d rather go down swinging, honestly,” the quarterback said. “Because I know I can throw the best punch.”
Shedeur may believe he can throw the best punch, but he threw a pick-six on an awful decision on Colorado’s very next possession which put the Huskers up 14-0.
