Alignments and assignments are key to any solid run defense.
Fort Lewis College football will try and get both back in top form for homecoming.
Colorado Mesa and its 179.8 rushing yards per game will face the Skyhawks at 1 p.m. Saturday at Ray Dennison Memorial Field in FLC’s annual homecoming game.
Seeing the run-heavy Mavericks (4-2, 3-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) may not be the most preferred view for FLC after the last two weeks. Colorado Mines racked up 251 rushing yards in a win last week, while CSU-Pueblo, the league’s top rushing squad and the third-ranked team in the country, compiled 281 yards on the ground against FLC two weeks ago.
Those two performances are why FLC (2-4, 1-3 RMAC) has allowed 195 rushing yards per game in four conference contests this year.
For head coach John L. Smith, the solution is about formation.
Smith said he was happier with how his defense stood up against the ThunderWolves’ more traditional, pro-style running attack, which allowed the Skyhawks to stay in their base four-man defensive front. Mines, however, runs a spread attack, which forced FLC to switch at times to a three-man defensive front.
“When we’re playing with our base front, and our guys can come downhill at linebacker, we can play the run and play it pretty decently, because we know how to step up and clear the water for the guys behind them, if that makes sense,” Smith said.
The Mavericks are more Pueblo, less Mines. Running back Jake Cimolino is third in the RMAC with 104.5 rushing yards per game, and Mesa uses he and the other running backs and quarterbacks in more of a traditional college rushing attack, mixing downhill running with some option plays.
All of this means that FLC likely will be able to spend more time in its base defense, where the Skyhawks are more comfortable, as both teams match strengths.
“A whole lot more comfortable in our base,” linebacker Ryan Ross said. “Last week, we were running our three down linemen. We don’t usually run that. ... In our base, everybody knows what they’re doing.”
Colorado Mesa ranks last in the RMAC in passing offense, with some of that attributable to the loss of starting quarterback Aric Kaiser after the opener against Menlo College until last week’s win over Western New Mexico.
The big worry for FLC against the Mavericks’ passing attack also stems a bit from the run – the play-action pass. Bite too hard on the run, and the potential for a big play exists.
“He throws the ball better than they’ve been able to do up to this point, so he brings in a little bit of a horse of a different color,” Smith said of Kaiser.
“I’m sure they’re going to come in and say, ‘We’re going to run it on these guys, and we’re going to play-action on these guys.”
At home, FLC is undefeated and has allowed just 112 net rushing yards, although one of those games came against NAIA Oklahoma Baptist. But if FLC can get back to basics and recapture some of the success that held Western N.M. to 117 yards on the ground, it may keep that perfect home record intact.
“I really think that we need to focus on our alignment and assignment,” Ross said. “Get back to the basics, our base defense, which we’ll be running this week. And just do our job, really.”
rowens@durangoherald.com
