FORT COLLINS – There’s been no shortage of terrific running backs that the Colorado State Rams have had to deal with on Saturdays this season. Go ahead and take your pick, from Phillip Lindsay and Brian Hill to Tim McVey and Teriyon Gipson.
However, the regular season finale in San Diego poses the most talented of them all in Donnel Pumphrey. The Aztecs’ lead ball carrier ranks second in the FBS, averaging nearly 169 yards per game to go with 14 touchdowns.
“We’ve got to make sure we fit things right, make sure that we close off gaps and try to slow him down before he gets started,” said coach Mike Bobo. “When he gets started, he’s very dangerous.”
Pumphrey doesn’t only do damage to defenses when taking a handoff, though. Linebacker Evan Colorito explained that his unique blend of size and speed allows the Heisman candidate to be versatile, meaning he can line up as a receiver to get even more touches.
Look for an emphasis on gang tackling Saturday night as the Rams try to limit Pumphrey, who stands as the only player in FBS history to record 5,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in a collegiate career.
“We’ve got to try to get the extra hat down there and that extra hat does not always guarantee that you’re going to make the tackle with this guy,” Bobo said.
The accolades don’t stop there. Entering the week, Pumphrey leads all active players with 6,127 rushing yards, 7,203 all-purpose yards, as well as going over the 100-yard rushing mark 32 times.
“They do a great job of getting him the ball,” said Bobo. “He’s very durable, I mean he’s going to carry it 30-plus times, they’re going to target him in the pass game five to ten times. He is a complete back and sometimes people look at a guy’s size and say ‘he’s this or he’s that,’ but this guy could play really at any level, in my opinion.”
The Mountain West features a handful of some of the more game-changing running backs in the country, particularly Wyoming’s Hill and Boise State’s McNichols. So how does Pumphrey compare to them?
“Everyone’s a different back,” explained safety Jake Schlager. “Hill and McNichols are kind of bigger, are going to ground and pound you. Pumphrey is just one of those backs that’s an athlete. I’d just say he’s more quick and has better feet I think. It makes him a tough player to defend against.”
Schlager mentioned how excited he is to match up against one of the best.
“I look forward to it just because it’s another challenge and task that’s at hand,” Schlager said. “I like it when you’re going up against someone that’s really good. You looked at McNichols, that was fun. You went against Air Force who was at the top of the nation in rushing, you go up against New Mexico who is at the top of the nation rushing and you hold them to 100 and some yards to the middle of the third-beginning of the fourth quarter. And now you have Pumphrey, a Heisman candidate. So it’s really fun, I like going against it just because the challenge allows you to see where you’re at and how far you need to go.”
Will CSU’s gameplan be to completely stop Pumphrey? No. One, because he’s a great player and two, the Aztecs will force-feed him touches if they have to.
“He’s a scary guy that we’ve got to try to limit,” said Bobo. “They do a great job of getting him his touches and he makes that offense go.”
