Nov. 16—PULLMAN — Here is what to watch for when Washington State hosts Colorado on Friday night.
When Colorado has the ball …
It might feel tempting to think of the Buffaloes’ offense through the lens of its stars, from quarterback Shedeur Sanders to receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter, but Colorado has leaned on others to produce its offense this year.
Among those names are receivers Xavier Weaver and Jimmy Horn Jr., two wideouts who have combined for roughly 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns. Also dangerous is running back Dylan Edwards, a true freshman who has added three touchdowns through the air. Toss in Hunter and you get a solid offense.
That’s assuming Sanders has time to throw, though. Colorado has a new offensive coordinator, Pat Shurmur, who is set to call his third game, but he hasn’t shored up the biggest issue facing the Buffaloes’ offense: their offensive line.
This season, that unit — left tackle Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, left guard Landon Bebee, center Van Wells, right guard Jack Wilty and right tackle Savion Washington — has yielded 48 sacks, by far the most in the country. During halftime of two games this year, Sanders has had to get pain-numbing injections to stay in the game for the second half.
As talented as Sanders is, he’s had to make a lot of plays on the run this year, and he has rarely had a clean pocket with which to work. Shurmur, who is set to call his third game this weekend after being elevated to the position a few weeks ago, will try to help Sanders on that front.
“It’s not just the Hunter kid at receiver,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said. “They’ve got (Weaver) and (Horn) and there’s a bunch of guys that can really make plays. So you gotta neutralize them, try at the line of scrimmage. The other thing that’s offensively is a different play-caller. So you see similar things yet…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/two-minute-drill-washington-states-030200742.html
Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Publish date : 2023-11-17 03:02:00
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