Colorado's Alton McCaskill expected to play against Oregon

Former Houston transfer will see the field for the first time

CU Buffs

Colorado will add some depth in the backfield on Saturday with Alton McCaskill IV entering the lineup for the first time this year. 

The yellow non-contact jersey was removed from the Buffs sophomore running back in practice this week. McCaskill, a transfer from the University of Houston, tore his ACL with the Cougars in April of 2022 and was sidelined throughout CU's off-season conditioning. 

A long-awaited debut for McCaskill, who was named the AAC Freshman of the year in 2021. It could mean big things for CU rushing game, which has yet to see a back have 100 yards in a game. Dylan Edwards rushed for 63 yards on 10 carries at TCU to open the season, but was a monster threat as a receiver. McCaskill will be a welcome addition to a team that needs to establish a run game to be more effective on a weekly basis. Three games into the season CU has four rushing TD’s.

McCaskill ran for 981 yards and had 16 rushing touchdowns while at Houston. He brings experience to the CU backfield and is a player who' been waiting to get his opportunity to produce on the field. Edwards has shown that he is thereal deal as a freshman and leads the team with 142 yards on the season. While McCaskill is a player that Sean Lewis can put in straight away and find production. "Speed Kills" with Edwards and McCaskill having the right combo for the Buffs.  

McCaskill is a bigger back at 6’1 and has great speed. In high school he ran a 10.91 100-meter dash. He has the explosiveness that will make things difficult for defenders if he is able to get to the second level. At Houston, he showed that he was a patient runner and would wait for holes to open, but when he sees that hole, he is hitting it full throttle. He also showed the ability to break tackles and turn out big plays. He has a very similar look to CU hall of fame running back Chris Brown.

McCaskil adds another weapon for Shedeur Sanders to use when airing the ball out. With his size McCaskill could also provide protection whether that is picking up a blitz or chipping an edge rusher before finding his way into the flats. This also allows Sean Lewis to use Edwards more in the passing game out of the slot position making it harder for coordinators to game plan on if they are going to have to stop McCaskill out of the backfield or Edwards as a receiver.

No. 19 Colorado awaits a Top 25 battle with No. 10 Oregon on Saturday. Kickoff scheduled at 3:30 p.m. ET from Autzen Stadium on ABC.