Casey Roddick has big goals for Colorado in 2021

BOULDER — Sophomore guard Casey Roddick has big goals for 2021. He wants to be first-team All-Pac-12. He wants to win the Pac-12. He wants to win the Rose Bowl.

And for the offensive line as a whole, there’s more.

“We want to go above and beyond the goals that we set last year,” Roddick told DNVR on Tuesday. “As an offensive line, what we want is two 1,000-yard rushers in that backfield.”

But that isn’t the dream scenario.

“If we can get that third 1,000-yard rusher in the backfield that would be essential,” Roddick said. “You can’t forget about Ashaad Clayton. That three-headed monster is going to be crucial for this season.”

Dozens of duos have reached 1,000 rushing yards each in the same season. Three 1,000-yard backs is rare.

Nevada became the first team in NCAA history to have three players run for 1,000 yards or more in the same season back in 2009… but there was a catch: one of the rushers was quarterback Colin Kaepernick. If Roddick’s dream comes true, Colorado will be the first team in college football history to have three running backs each pick up 1,000 yards on the ground in the same season.

“I think that’d be sick,” junior center Colby Pursell told DNVR. “That’s a room full of monsters.”

The wide receivers room could be full of monsters, too, but they didn’t excite Roddick like the running backs do.

“I have a love-hate relationship with the receivers,” Roddick said. “If we’re throwing to them, we’re not running the ball.”

Roddick admitted that it’s satisfying to see them picking up chunk yardage, but for offensive linemen, the joy comes from run-blocking.

“Being able to push another 300-pound man against his will is the best part of this game,” Roddick said. “To punish somebody for free is the best thing.”

Colorado has the horses to push around some big guys. Roddick, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 335 pounds is one of them. So is the likely new starting tackle Max Wray, who is 6-7 and 310 pounds. Chance Lytle is 6-7 and 340. Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan is 6-foot-10 and 330 pounds.

All of those guys are getting bigger and stronger thanks to new strength coach Shannon Turley.

“I love him,” Roddick said. “It’s a drastic change from Coach (Drew) Wilson. Respect for both of them but it’s more movement-oriented with Coach Turley.”

Roddick has only worked with Turley for a couple of weeks. He was out because of Covid-19 starting during spring ball and all the way through the summer. He was cleared the day before camp started to practice and immediately began working with Turley. He’ll be fully cleared in about two weeks.

He appreciates Turley’s ability to structure workouts around players’ individual injury histories.

“I like that,” Roddick said. “It’s not more of spending time on other things that we shouldn’t be worried about.”

Despite returning four starters from a season ago, Colorado’s offensive line isn’t set in stone. The Buffs are deep and figuring out who the best five are could take some time.

Tuesday, the sixth day of fall camp, was the first day that the Buffs wore pads. For the guys in the trenches, that’s when the work really begins.

“We can do more things because it’s more physical,” Pursell said. “We can work on things better when we can get after it a little more.”

They’ll be getting after it over the next 19 practices, and at some point we’ll find out who gets to start.