Fontenot taking charge of backfield

BOULDER Alex Fontenot always had the physical ability, and he understood there would be a void that needed to be filled in the Colorado backfield this season.

Yet often at the Division I level, raw talent can only take a player so far. And in order to take hold of a leading role with the Buffaloes, Fontenot believed he needed to sharpen his football IQ.

According to CU running backs coach Darian Hagan, Fontenot put his first two seasons spent largely on the sideline to good use, and it’s all that film and practice work that has turned Fontenot into one of several pleasant surprises during the Buffs’ 3- 1 start heading into Saturday’s Pac- 12 home date against Arizona ( 2: 40 p. m., Pac12 Network).

“His overall knowledge of the game. He’s picked it up,” Hagan said. “His redshirt year and last year, he didn’t really have a grasp of what we were doing fully. Now he’s taking it to a different level. He understands what we want. He understands what the defenses are trying to do to us. He’s really patient and decisive.

“In high school you just got the ball and took off and outran everybody. Where in college, everything is about angles and double- teams and things like that. If you’re too fast, you’re going to mess up the doubleteams. If you’re too slow, the hole is going to open and shut. We always tell them, ‘ slow to, fast through.’ Which is slow to the hole and once you see it, hit it and go. He’s done a pretty good job of understanding that and he has taken his game to a different level.”

Fontenot redshirted two seasons ago as a true freshman and played sparingly last year, netting all 11 of his carries ( for 43 yards and a touchdown) during the first three games of the season.