The Colorado Buffaloes may still have an ace up their sleeve according to Mat Smith, who covers the Buffs for 5280 Sports Network. And it’s not going to be a 70-plus yard Hail Mary pass.
“Philip Lindsay has come out and won the [No. 1 running back] job,” Smith told Nate Lundy and Shawn Drotar on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 on Friday. “He’s got four touchdowns on the season – seventh in the country so far – but there’s a name that Buffs fans should be used to by now, and that’s Michael Adkins II, who has not played at all this year. I think he’s one of the few remaining aces up the sleeve that head coach Mike MacIntyre has.”
MacIntyre will not only need a clean four-quarters from his Buffaloes on Sunday if they hope to upset the No. 4/5 Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Saturday, he’ll need some surprise players like Adkins to perform well according to Smith.
That clean play begins and ends with quarterback Sefo Liufau. Smith believes Liufau has cleaned up the turnover problems that plagued him through the early parts of his CU career and late last year when he was battling a lisfranc injury. Liufau will have a tough task on his hands against Jabrill Peppers and Michigan defense. Peppers, a safety who can also line up at cornerback and linebacker, is a top-10 NFL prospect and turnover machine. MacIntyre and Liufau must account for his whereabouts at all times or those turnovers that have cost the Buffs games in the past could rear their ugly heads.
As for Adkins, it appears he’s healthy after missing some time with a hamstring.
“He had a few hamstring issues in camp,” Smith told Lundy and Drotar, “but I think he’s back and healthy now. He should be a full ‘go’ this week, so I do expect to see him back there as well [with Lindsay], which is good news. I think when healthy he’s the Buffs’ most all-around back. He’s got a little bit more size than Lindsay does and I think a 1-2 punch does play.”
Listen to the full conversation with Smith, including his thoughts on how a solid CU secondary can stop one of the top passing offenses in the nation, in the podcast below…
Catch Nate Lundy and Shawn Drotar every weekday from 7a-9a on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7. Stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.