Coach Prime, Colorado failed to address the offense’s biggest problem this offseason

The Colorado Buffaloes were the worst rushing offense in all of college football a season ago as they averaged just 65.2 yards per game. They were able to mask the issue somewhat due to the talents of Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter and the rest of the receivers in the pass game en route to a 9-4 record, but the offense won’t have the same luxuries this season.

Last season, Colorado’s offense used a plethora of running backs, but Isaiah Augustave was the main man in the backfield next to Sanders, as his 384 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground both held the top spot in the running back room in 2024. Dallas Hayden, the transfer from Ohio State, suffered an ankle injury early on that derailed his season as he finished with just 196 yards, and true freshman Micah Welch posted 184 yards.

For reference, UCF running back RJ Harvey, who played against the Buffs last season and was the Denver Broncos second-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, finished the season with 1,577 yards to lead the Knights’ offense.

Augustave, who was set to be CU’s main back again for the offense this season, entered the transfer portal just before the Black & Gold Spring Game after it was rumored that Virginia was offering him upwards of a half a million dollars. After that endeavor flamed out for him quickly, he re-opened his recruitment and landed with South Carolina.

While the offensive line didn’t do a great job of opening running lanes for the backs last season, Hayden and Welch weren’t exactly guys who were consistently breaking tackles to get up to the second and third levels. Welch had more flashes than Hayden did, but he struggled with injuries all year long that limited his availability and explosiveness.

After the spring game, Prime said that he still had his eyes locked in on the portal, and was looking into a couple of running back targets.

"One tremendous defensive tackle, another linebacker or two, two safeties, probably three corners, one receiver that's a grown man, that's a dog, couple of running backs, tight end, maybe a guard, tackle, maybe two centers." Coach Prime on his portal targets. pic.twitter.com/xHJnrWQmPk

— Nikki Edwards (@nikkiedwardsss) April 19, 2025

Almost two months later, nothing has really changed for the better in that room. Prime was right in saying that he was going after a couple of running backs to add to the offense, but the two guys he added just don’t move the needle.

The most recent addition to the offense, Simeon Price, came to Boulder from Coastal Carolina just one year after he originally transferred from Mississippi State. In his three-year career, he has just 327 rushing yards on 79 carries and zero touchdowns. Through the air, he has 17 catches for 132 yards and one touchdown. What better is a player that averaged 3.1 yards per carry last season going to do than the other guys in the room or the ones that were on the field a season ago?

The other addition that Prime and company made to the running back room this offseason was DeKalon Taylor, a three-star portal recruit from Incarnate Word, an FCS school most known for being the starting point for Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft and a finalist for the 2024 Heisman Trophy. Taylor rushed for 909 yards and nine touchdowns in 11 games last season, but a large chunk of his yardage came from a 97-yard scamper against Northern Arizona. Without that run, he averaged 5.4 yards per carry.

How will Taylor’s game translate to Power 4 competition? Is he going to be the same guy in Boulder when he’s lined up across the big boys in the trenches for Arizona State and BYU? That will be the biggest question with his arrival at Folsom Field.

This offense is not going to be the same as last year, and more of a group effort will be needed to have the same production. It’s all fun and games to debate and joke about the jersey retirements for Sanders and Hunter, but their ability to bail CU out of second and third and long time after time over their two years in Colorado will be noticed a lot more this year when the same playmaking abilities aren’t present. It’s not just the absence of those two, it’s also that of Jimmy Horn Jr., Will Sheppard and LaJohntay Wester, three guys who were easily able to make plays in the passing game and move the chains.

If Hayden and Welch are able to greatly improve from where they were a season ago, the running back situation might be slightly better in 2025. If they’re anywhere near the same as they were in 2024, and the low-level transfers don’t pan out how the coaching staff hopes they will, then Prime and his staff will have failed to address the biggest problem facing the offense this offseason.

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