Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Buffs View Cal As A Proving Ground
September 10, 2010 | Football, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Pretend Saturday is Season Opener No. 2 and you'll get no argument from the Colorado Buffaloes. Probably won't hear a whimper from the California Golden Bears, either. For both schools, Week 2 smacks of Week 1 revisited. It's d+¬j+á vu all over again, Yogi.
CU officially opened the 2010 football season last Saturday with what quickly turned into a 24-3 rout of Colorado State. Ho-hum. The Buffs won by three touchdowns but left points on the field and questions in many minds - including their own.
Cal, meanwhile, dipped into the next level down, found UC-Davis and buried the Aggies 52-3. Yawn. Lots of points scored, lots of personnel used, lots of high fives traded . . . and lots of unanswered questions in the aftermath.
Same this week in Berkeley as it was in Boulder, which promises to make CU's visit to Cal Saturday (1:30 p.m. MDT, FSN) more of an afternoon answer session than the question-fest the Buffs and the Bears produced in Week 1.
Both teams hope to establish who they are and where they're going - information not readily available following their openers.
"This is one that we can prove to everyone that we're not playing around this year . . . I think our team is very hungry for this one," CU senior cornerback Jimmy Smith said.
"No disrespect to CSU, but it's going to be our first challenge of the year," Smith's position coach, Ashley Ambrose, said. "We just have to be prepared - and that's what we've been doing all week. It's going to be a big test."
Added Smith: "We know the offense we went against last week isn't nearly as good as the offense we go up against this week, or is as experienced. I think everybody's really buying into being prepared and working hard for this game - even more than the first game."
Ambrose's group figures to be among the key elements in whatever transpires in Cal's Memorial Stadium. The Buffs secondary - corners Smith and Jalil Brown, safeties Ray Polk and Anthony Perkins, nickelback Travis Sandersfeld - will be matched against a Bears receiving corps that bears no resemblance to the Rams.
Junior Marvin Jones and freshman Keenan Allen combined for nine catches for 201 yards and a touchdown each against UCD. Jones is 6-foot-2, Allen 6-3, offering significant targets for fifth-year senior quarterback Kevin Riley, who passed for 258 yards (14-of-20) and three TDs in the non-competitive opener.
Ambrose feels comfortable enough with his group as a whole to not assign one of them to cover Allen, whose college debut produced four catches for 120 yards, including a 48-yard TD reception. He also ran 18 yards for a score.
"The freshman (Allen) is a 'baller' . . . if he does everything right, he'll be playing on Sundays," Ambrose said. "He's got a great frame, can run and is very elusive. Over the last few years, Cal has had good receivers. And they're solid this year."
But Ambrose says the same about his secondary. If Allen is split left, Brown will cover him. If he lines up on the right side, Smith takes him.
"It's whoever comes to you . . . it's not about a matchup," Ambrose said. "We feel like we've got two guys (Smith and Brown). Whoever comes outside on whatever side, we'll just cover him."
"We're going to play them straight up," Smith said. "We're physical up front and we've got DBs who can stay with their receivers. If (Allen) is on the left side, he'll get pressed on that side; if he's on the right side, he'll get pressed there. We're not going to switch sides or anything like that.
"We've seen receivers like (Allen and Jones) in the Big 12. They definitely have talent, but we're up to the challenge."
It will be the type of challenge that would allow Smith (6-3) and Brown (6-2) to justify their preseason recognition as possibly the best corner tandem in the Big 12. Ambrose believes they are, but remains mindful that proof must be offered every week.
"We've got outstanding athletes out on the edge . . . two guys who can play football and play man on anybody," Ambrose said.
CU lost promising redshirt freshman Parker Orms in the opener to a season-ending knee injury. Orms was replaced by Sandersfeld, a former walk-on who earned a scholarship in his third year. Saturday will be his first start.
Subbing for Orms in the first quarter, Sandersfeld quickly underscored his coaches' daily reminders that all backups must be ready to play. He made four tackles (two solo, one for loss), had a pair of third-down and made an acrobatic sideline interception. And he kept mistakes at a minimum.
"For a guy to step in and not have many mistakes - a couple at the most - he came in and did a great job," Ambrose said. "I want to see him play and do it again this week."
Smith wasn't surprised that Sandersfeld, a junior, responded when called upon.
"There's a little bit of a drop-off between our ones and twos, but not that much," Smith said. "I think him catching on to everything fast when he came into the game just shows that . . . he can make plays."
Early on at CU, Sandersfeld lined up wherever he was needed on the defense, playing linebacker, corner and safety. Learning those positions increased his overall knowledge and understanding of the schemes.
"He's like a backup at every position for us . . . he probably could play noseguard," Ambrose said.
At 6-2, 205, that's unlikely, but if asked he'd try. Emulating another former Limon product, quarterback-turned-safety Tom Hubbard, Sandersfeld recalled when he arrived in Boulder, "I was willing to do anything to be on the team. That's what it was all about - doing what I could do to help."
He was pleased but well short of satisfied with his play after Orms was injured. Ambrose has pinpointed the errors and Sandersfeld has taken note of what needs to be corrected before facing Cal's speedy offense.
"We've got good speed, too," Sandersfeld said. "Jimmy, Jalil, Ray, 'Perk' - we've got some guys out there. And we've got some big guys. I just feel like we have to do what we can do - stop the run, the pass and don't allow big plays. That's what killed us last year - the big, explosive plays."
Neither has the road been friendly to the Buffs; they own a 2-19 road record since 2005, with their most recent win on another campus coming in 2007 at Texas Tech. The losing streak in true road games stands at 12.
Smith, Brown and their fellow seniors contend this team is different, though, citing more experience, focus and a desire to end the streak.
"There's a lot of leaders on this team - guys who create a spark," Brown said. "We're more confident, but we all realize we've got to bring it."
BUFF BITS: CU could have one of its largest fan blocks for a road game in recent years. With the 4,000-ticket allotment taken by mid-August, officials say as many as 7,000 Buffs fans could be in Memorial Stadium . . . . CU will have a 44-member pep band in attendance . . . . Saturday's weather forecast calls for sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70s . . . . Ambrose interviewed with coach Jeff Tedford for a job at Cal in 2006, but for family reasons instead signed on as a defensive intern with the Atlanta Falcons . . . . Ragged/smooth: CU was penalized 10 times for 104 yards in its opener, Cal four times for 30 yards in its first game . . . . Short/sweet: The Buffs (60) and Rams (58) combined for 118 plays last weekend, the third-lowest total since 1965. As a result, the game required only 2:49 to play - CU's first sub-3-hour game since 2006 (2:55 vs. Iowa State) . . . . The CU-Cal series is tied 2-2, with the Bears winning the most recent meeting 31-17 on Sept. 11, 1982 in Boulder . . . . Cal is 15-20-1 against Big 12 competition, CU is 38-34-1 vs. the Pac-10 . . . . The Bears are 34-6 at home since 2003. The only teams to defeat Cal at home during that time are Oregon State and Southern California . . . . CU's roster includes 25 Californians, Cal's roster includes three Coloradans - senior offensive lineman Chris Guarnero (Mullen), redshirt freshman defensive back Alex Logan (Mullen) and freshman quarterback Austin Hinder (Steamboat Springs) . . . . CU's home opener is Sept. 18 vs. Hawaii, which plays at Army Saturday. Rather than returning to the islands before coming to Colorado, the Warriors will spend next week in Las Vegas. The two-game road trip will last 12 days and cover over 11,000 miles. Hawaii lost its opener, 49-36, to USC.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
