Colorado football had the worst rushing attack in the Pac-12 last season (68.9 yards per game).
If the Buffaloes are going to compete in the Big 12 this fall, their running game must undergo a massive transformation.
That process began in the offseason when Colorado football coach Deion Sanders completely revamped the offensive line with experienced and talented transfers. If that wasn’t enough change, each of the Buffs’ four leading rushers from last season (Dylan Edwards, Anthony Hankerson, Sy’veon Wilkerson, Alton McCaskill) hit the transfer portal.
Former walk-on running back Charlie Offerdahl survived the purge, though, and he was rewarded for his loyalty ahead of his fourth season in Boulder.
The Littleton native was put on scholarship by Sanders just hours before Colorado took the field for its spring game in April.
“Just because Charlie Offerdahl had the title of a walk-on, you guys under estimate him, you look past him; I don’t,” Sanders said during a breakout session at Big 12 media days in July. “I look at a man for who he is, not where he came from. Forget the small beginnings, he’s not a walk-on anymore, he’s a scholarship player and he’s the starter at this point.
“They have to beat him (Offerdahl) out.”
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Offerdahl worked his way up the depth chart with an impressive spring, becoming a favorite of both Sanders and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.
But the “they” who Sanders alluded to will have plenty of opportunity to help the Buffs’ rushing attack improve.
Here are the three candidates who will challenge Offerdahl to be Colorado’s starting running back in 2024.
Dallan Hayden
If Hayden is anything like the player he is on EA Sports College Football 25, the Buffs’ running game will be just fine.
The Ohio State transfer is a lead candidate to receive the bulk of the carries for Colorado this season after he spent the last two years with the Buckeyes. During that span (13 games played), Hayden totaled 663 rushing yards and six touchdowns in a backup role.
When Ohio State’s running back room was ravaged by injuries in 2022, however, Hayden proved to be more than capable of handling the workload. The 5-foot-10, 205-pound RB rushed for 100-plus yards in three games that season (vs. Toledo, Indiana, Maryland) and started in the College Football Playoff semifinals vs. Georgia, carrying nine times for a team-high 43 yards.
Hayden is an explosive ballcarrier who is capable of ripping off multiple chunk plays a game. He’s also the type of runner who will consistently keep an offense on schedule with four- and five-yard gains.
It’s what Colorado’s pass-heavy operation sorely needed a year ago.
“He’s got really good feet,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said of Hayden in October. “When the ball is in his hands, that’s when he’s at his best. He has good vision, good quickness.”
Assuming health, Hayden is the best bet to lead Colorado in rushing yards this fall.
Isaiah Augustave
After barely seeing the field in 2023 for the first two months of the season, Augustave began to break out down the stretch of his true freshman campaign at Arkansas.
The former four-star recruit earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors for his 101-yard rushing performance against FIU on Nov. 18. The following week, Augustave ran for 80 yards and a touchdown against No. 9 Missouri in the Razorbacks’ season finale.
Perhaps Colorado’s biggest loss to the transfer portal this offseason was Dylan Edwards (now at Kansas State), who led the Buffs in rushing last year (321 yards) while being a reliable pass-catching weapon (36 receptions were fourth on the team).
According to On3’s national recruiting analyst Phillip Dukes, Augustave does a lot of the things that make Edwards special.
“He can go,” Dukes said of Augustave. “He and Dylan Edwards remind me of each other a little bit. When you get those guys into space, it’s like trying to tackle a hamster in a phone booth.”
Augustave possesses the same kind of game-breaking speed that Edwards did, but in a much bigger body (6-foot-2, 208 pounds compared to Edwards’ 5-foot-9, 170-pound frame).
The Arkansas transfer will provide the lightning to Hayden’s thunder.
Micah Welch
It’s not often that a true freshman running back makes a major impact on a Power 4 college football team, but Edwards just did it for the Buffs last season.
In fact, of the 17 high school football players Colorado signed a year ago, 13 of them played as true freshmen.
Welch has turned heads and put people on notice before ever playing a snap at the college level just like Edwards did around this time last year.
The 5-foot-9, 205-pound Welch rushed for 3,759 yards and 47 touchdowns throughout his high school career. He wasted no time as an early enrollee making an impression on his teammates and coaches this spring.
“It’s good to see young Micah Welch come and do some of the things that he’s doing,” Colorado running backs coach Gary Harrell said after a spring practice in April. “He started off slow because he was trying to get acclimated to college football as far as information and the overload that was put on him. But now he’s starting to build confidence and making plays.
“He’s the guy we thought he would be as far as downhill and…
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