Buffs QB Liufau Ready For Challenge At Michigan
September 15, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
CU senior confident in offense as Colorado readies for No. 4 Wolverines
BOULDER — When it comes to Colorado quarterbacks playing in Michigan Stadium, the Buffs have seen both ends of a very broad spectrum.
Of course, CU fans fondly remember the 1994 game made famous by "The Catch" (aka the Miracle in Michigan), the 64-yard touchdown pass from Kordell Stewart to Michael Westbrook on the last play of the game of a 27-26 Colorado win.
But that wasn't Stewart's only big play that day. The CU senior also had a 27-yard touchdown pass to Westbrook in the second quarter and finished the day 21-of-32 for 294 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Stewart also added 85 yards rushing on 20 carries to his passing total.
But three years later, the Buffs returned to Michigan Stadium and endured a very different result. Facing a Michigan team led by Brian Griese and Charles Woodson, the Buffs suffered a 27-3 setback. CU quarterback John Hessler struggled from the outset, finishing just 15-for-40 for 141 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions.
That Michigan team, by the way, ended up splitting the national title with Nebraska in 1997, making Colorado one of the few teams in college football history to play two national champions in the same year.
Saturday, the Buffs will return to Michigan Stadium for the fourth time in school history (the Buffs also dropped a 31-0 decision to the Wolverines in 1974) for a 1:30 p.m. matchup with the Wolverines (Big Ten Network).
This time, the quarterback in the spotlight will be CU senior Sefo Liufau, who has already set or tied 78 CU records.
Buffs fans, naturally, would like a repeat of 1994 — right down to the Hail Mary finish. Liufau was even asked in a press conference earlier this week if he thought he could complete such a pass if necessary.
"Hopefully it doesn't come down to a Hail Mary," Liufau said, "and if it does come down to a Hail Mary, I'll get the ball in the end zone."
Understand that Liufau and his teammates have all the respect in the world for "The Catch." They've heard about it, seen it and know its importance to not just program history, but to legions of Buffs fans.
But also understand that Liufau and his teammates haven't spent the week reminiscing about a moment that occurred before the vast majority of the players on the current team were even born.
"It was a great play 22 years ago, but we're mainly focused on ourselves and trying to turn a program around," Liufau said. "When you struggle so much, like we have the first three years that I've been here, we just want to be consistent and win games this year, and that's really our main goal. I don't think we're really looking to create a moment or moments in the season because we try to treat every game like a championship game. Every game that's left, I don't care who we play or line up against, I just want to win that game. That's all we're focusing on as a team."
It's the perfect attitude for a team that knows its history, but is bent on leaving its own mark on the program — and if the 2-0 Buffs are to be successful Saturday, they'll need a solid game from Liufau.
Thus far, Liufau has been everything the Buffs need him to be. In two blowout wins, he's completed 38 of his 51 attempts for 522 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He has already completed eight passes of 22 yards or longer, has been sacked just once, and is currently CU's second-leading rusher with 120 yards on 20 carries for a team-leading 6.0 yards per carry average.
"If anything, the first two weeks has shown us the potential that we have," Liufau said. "We did make some mistakes during the first two weeks, but that's bound to happen and we've learned from those mistakes. And it's just built our confidence and we've seen what we can do as an offense, both in the running and passing games. We want to build off of that and continue to do that. Even if you play a great team, with a great defense like Michigan, the goal doesn't change. We want to go out there and execute and score points and touchdowns."
Throughout the summer and in fall camp, CU head coach Mike MacIntyre said repeatedly that "the rest of the team has caught up with Sefo." What MacIntyre meant was that the quarterback who spent three years trying to do it on his own now has a team around him.
No doubt, this is the best team Liufau has been a part of since he arrived. He has an outstanding set of receivers, a solid offensive line and an established run game. And, he has a defense on his side that has the ability to give the offense the ball with good field position on a regular basis.
This week, though, the Buffs will be facing by far their toughest test yet — and quite possibly one of their toughest opponents of the season in the No. 4 Wolverines. Michigan boasts an experienced, deep defense, peppered with all-Big Ten and All-American players. Throw in the crowd advantage — expected to be near 110,000, the largest crowd ever to see CU play in any venue — and Saturday's task is a tall order.
But Liufau has never shied away from a challenge or been intimidated by an opponent. He's taken every sack, every hit — and there have been a multitude of those over his career — and never complained. He's shrugged off injuries, taken the blame for mistakes that weren't his, and come back every time.
Now, 10 months after suffering an injury that some orginally believed could sideline him for a year or more, he's ready to play in one of the biggest games of his career. He's approaching it, he says, like every other game in which he's played — as if a championship were on the line.
"They're a great defense, and what they run, they run really well," Liufau said. "It's what kind of separates them from the first two teams that we've played in this season. Being a competitor you want to play against the best. They're going to make some plays, which is the nature of the game. But we'll make some plays, too, and our goal is to be consistent and make more plays then they do this week."
CONFIDENCE IN LIUFAU: There's no doubt Liufau's teammates have confidence in his abilities. Asked what the Buffs' defense will be concentrating on against Michigan, CU safety Tedric Thompson said, "The main thing we have to focus on is to keep creating turnovers and getting the ball back to Sefo and the offense. That's our main goal. We have so many great players on offense with a great offensive line and in my opinion, the best quarterback in the nation. If we keep creating turnovers and getting Sefo and the offense the ball, then we're going to be fine. We're not going to put up points and just have to hold up our side of the deal."
COIN FLIP ATTENDEES: Saturday's coin flip will have some big names representing both teams. For Colorado, former CU head coach (and former Michigan assistant) Bill McCartney is scheduled to be on the field with the Buffs. Representing Michigan will be former Michigan and current New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who is currently serving a four-game NFL suspension.
SATURDAY BROADCAST: The game will be televised by the Big Ten Network with Kevin Kugler, Matt Millen and Lisa Byington. KOA radio will broadcast the game with Mark Johnson and Gary Barnett.
CONFERENCE OF QBS: While CU's Liufau is currently eighth in the nation in completion percentage (74.5), but that's still good enough for only fifth in the Pac-12. Heading into the weekend, the conference has the fourth- through eighth-ranked quarterbacks in the nation in that category.
CU COACHES VS. RANKED TEAMS: This will be Mike MacIntyre's 12th game against a ranked opponent as CU's head coach, and he's 0-11 in those games thus far. But to put that into perspective, figure this: McCartney was 0-13 against ranked teams before he finally had a breakthrough, a 20-10 win over No. 3 Nebraska in 1986.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
