Puskas: With game on line, Colts go to Boom, not bust

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Herron

It was fourth-and-1 and time was running short for the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

They had the ball in the shadow of the Cleveland Browns’ end zone, but trailed 24-19 with less than a minute to play. It was going to take another three feet to keep the drive alive.

The Colts turned to their most productive running back to get that yard.

Hint: Trent Richardson is not that guy.

With the game on the line, Richardson — a first-round draft pick (No. 3 overall) of the Browns in 2012 — was nowhere to be found.

But Daniel “Boom” Herron — the former Warren G. Harding High School and Ohio State standout — sure was.

The Browns found Herron, too. They had him cornered in the Colts’ backfield — seemingly for a game-clinching loss — but Herron slipped away and surged forward for two yards and a first down.

Colts quarterback Andrew Luck threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton on the next play and Indianapolis beat Cleveland, 25-24.

Herron’s second effort gave the Colts one more play and a chance to win the game.

“It was a huge play,” Herron said. “It wasn’t all me. We do everything as a team. I couldn’t have done it without the line. It was ugly, but it all worked out for us and we got the first down.

“The Browns’ defense was in the backfield as soon as I got the ball. I actually bounced off one of my linemen and spun into space. I got a little crease and I just dove for the first down.”

Herron was always the kind of running back who just keeps moving forward, first at Harding and then at Ohio State. Now he’s getting a chance to prove he can do the same thing in the NFL. Herron had just nine carries in two seasons entering this one, but he is averaging 5.4 yards per rush on 42 attempts this season.

Most of those numbers — 28 rushes for 179 yards and a touchdown — have come in the last three games. Richardson, who still starts, has increasingly become an afterthought.

Sometimes there is no explaining the science of scouting football players.

You probably know more about Richardson’s NFL career arc. He battled injuries and ran for 950 yards and 11 touchdowns as a rookie with the Browns, but averaged just 3.6 yards per carry. He simply was not as advertised. The burst was never there.

By September 2013, just two games into his second season, the Browns had seen enough. And when the Colts offered them a first-round pick in 2014 for Richardson, then-Browns president Joe Banner didn’t hesitate.

The Colts haven’t gotten much more from Richardson than the Browns did. He ran for 458 yards and averaged just 2.9 yards per carry for Indianapolis in 14 games in 2013. This season, in 11 games, he has 445 yards and a 3.3-yard average.

Herron is starting to flourish and the Colts have noticed. He had a 49-yard touchdown run in a 49-27 win over the Washington Redskins on Nov. 30 and has caught 11 passes out of the backfield in the last three games, including a 26-yarder against the Browns. And he still does the special-teams grunt work he’s always done.

So it’s not all that surprising Herron was on the field with the game on the line. But it speaks volumes that on a do-or-die play, the Colts took the ball out of even Luck’s hands and give it to Herron.

Fourth-and-1 became Boom time.

“That was all Boom Herron right there,” Luck said. “Great run — probably one of the best half-yard runs I’ve ever seen in my life. What a heck of a job he’s done running the ball and playing good football.”

Herron actually thought he’d picked up the first down on a third-and-1 run up the middle with — what else? — an impressive second effort.

The play was reviewed and the spot — short of the marker — stood.

“That’s for the refs to make that call,” Herron said. “We got it in fourth down, so that’s all that matters.”

TICKET REQUESTS

Herron made the play of the game with his own personal cheering section watching.

“I had to get about 20 tickets today [for family and friends],” he said. “I don’t mind doing that for my family. I’ll do anything for my family.”

Despite playing in Cleveland — an hour from home — he said his approach didn’t change.

“Any time you come back home, it’s nice, but it’s not about me,” Herron said. “It’s about this team. We were able to come out and get the win and that’s what is important.”

OSU VS. ALABAMA

The College Football Playoff selection committee announced the inaugural four-team field about 15 minutes before the Browns and Colts kicked off, so Herron didn’t find out that his Buckeyes made it as the fourth seed until after the game.

Ohio State will meet top-seeded Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in one semifinal. No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Florida State will meet in the other.

“We really haven’t talked about it,” Herron said. “I really just found out, but I’m sure we’re going to talk about it.”

Herron said the committee got it right in vaulting the Buckeyes into the fourth and final spot.

“Absolutely,” he said. “You saw the game [Ohio State’s 59-0 rout of Wisconsin] last night.”

Both players, of course, insisted their alma maters will win.

Richardson was asked if he and Herron would bet on the outcome of the Jan. 1 game in New Orleans.

“Well, it’s illegal to bet, but we might make a friendly wager,” he said. “Maybe some pushups or something.”

WELCOME BACK

Richardson and former Browns return specialist Josh Cribbs had both promised to jump into the Dawg Pound if they scored Sunday, but neither did. But both said they enjoyed being back in Cleveland.

Richardson admitted to mixed emotions.

“Sure, this is where I started my career,” he said. “There were a lot of emotions going into this game, but I have a new home and I love where I’m at now.”

Richardson ran for 30 yards on seven carries. Cribbs returned five kickoffs for 28.2-yard average. He was less effective on punt returns with three for an average of 1.3 yards.

“On a lot of them, it was too emotional for me,” Cribbs said. “I went out there in the second half with a different feeling. Coach [Chuck Pagano] was like, ‘You’ve got too much emotion into it.’”

GETTING BETTER

Cribbs signed as a free agent with the Colts in November. He feels he’s getting his legs under him.

“Definitely,” he said. “You saw in the first game I was out there stumbling around. I was able to get into the end zone, but it didn’t count. I’m still not firing on all cylinders, but I’m improving. It’s a different nuance with this team.”

WELCOME BACK II

Former Browns linebacker D’Qwell Jackson tied for the team lead with nine tackles for the Colts. He spent the first seven years of his career (2006-13) with Cleveland before he was waived after the 2013 season.

“It was different,” Jackson said. “Just being on the field, once the whistle blew, it was like I was at a home game away from home. Just to hear the fans, see the crowd and to see the guys who I have built relationships with over the years — it was a good feeling. It was like seeing a younger brother.”

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.