"The worst rushing offense in football": CFB insider issues harsh reality check about Deion Sanders' Colorado

Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes are entering a new era in 2025. For the last two years, Shedeur Sanders was the team's quarterback who dominated the offense. However, with Shedeur now in the NFL, the Buffaloes have turned to Kaidon Salter.

The program appears to be committed to improving its run game through the hiring of NFL Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk. On Thursday, College Football insider David Pollack spoke about the Buffaloes' run game on the latest edition of the "See Ball, Get Ball" podcast.

"Since Deion's been there, they are the worst rushing offense in football," said Pollack. (Timestamp: 26:18)

Over the last two seasons, the Buffaloes' run game has been almost non-existent. During the 2024 season, the Buffaloes rushed for an average of 65.7 yards a game. In the season before that, it was only 68 yards per game. Both seasons ended with Colorado as the worst-rushing team in all of Division I.

Plenty of blame has been thrown around about the Buffs' weak run game. The poor offensive line, which was rebuilt between seasons. Another reason is offensive coordinator Pat Schmur's preference for the passing game.

This means that on nearly every play, Shedeur Sanders had to throw the ball, with his preferred target being Travis Hunter. This became a strong pairing, helping Hunter to win the Heisman Trophy and be the second pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

However, passing on every play may not have helped Shedeur. While it did put him in the constant spotlight, this exposed many of his and his team's weaknesses. This likely played a role in his massive drop in the NFL Draft, getting exposed in the Big 12 championship game, and then ultimately losing the Alamo Bowl.

Dallan Hayden gives his prediction for the Buffaloes this year

A current Colorado running back has given his verdict on where the Buffaloes will fare this season. Dallan Hayden told CBS:

"I think this Buffs team is gonna do great things," Hayden told Bean. "Last year was a really good season, and we wanna build upon that. I feel like this team, we have the pieces to do great things."

Hayden is highly optimistic about the Buffaloes' chances this year. He is expected to lead the running game this season, where he expects to exceed his measly 196-yard output for the season.

About the author

Ben Tredinnick is a journalist who covers college football and college basketball at Sportskeeda who is currently studying for a masters in Data Science. His degree in Psychology has helped him gain an in-depth understanding of the minds of coaches.

Ben has been involved in sports writing since 2022 and covered the NFL previously. His strengths include providing in-depth profiles of athletes and coaches, with a particular focus on development, and looking at which teams could be in the hunt for today's college stars.

Ben enjoys following college sports more than the NBA or NFL because there is more variation in terms of playstyles. The tournaments are often more competitive than the major leagues, and due to the constant turnover of players, there are rarely any "superteams" in college sports.

He prioritizes research, looks at multiple sources and publications to make sure he gets the full picture of the story before writing. He tries not to write from a one-sided perspective to allow the reader to be able to make their mind up on their own.

A Texas Longhorns fan, as well as a massive New York Giants fan, some of his favorite college players of all time are Arch Manning, Tim Tebow and Reggie Bush.

When he is not working, Ben enjoys watching films (especially Godzilla) and spending time with his cat.

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Edited by Gio Vergara