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Brooks: Liufau Stays Humble, Expects Much Of Himself
October 15, 2013 | Football, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - After the obligatory break-in period of two or three plays, Sefo Liufau settled in, settled down and experienced a bit of d+¬j+á vu last Saturday night in Tempe, Ariz.
"It felt like high school football to me . . . it felt like the game I love to play," said Liufau -he prefers a pronunciation of "Loo-fow -of his first taste of college football as Colorado's quarterback. "It was just football. It was really fun to play and didn't feel any different. Of course, guys were faster (but) I didn't feel like something way out of my league or way out of control."
That's more of a testament to Liufau's maturity and budding athleticism than a critique of the offense he will be expected to direct for the next seven games or the league he now plays in.
The Pac-12 Conference, as he discovered in his 31/2 quarters against Arizona State, is slightly more competitive and populated by bigger, stronger, faster types than the Narrows League in the Tacoma, Wash. area.
Yet for Liufau, high school football at Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, was played at a pretty high level. Bellarmine won the Narrows League 4A championship in 2011 and 2012, advancing to the state championship game last season before losing to Skyline (49-24). In the last game of his high school career, Liufau passed for a career-high 373 yards (33-of-45, three TDs, two interceptions).
Against ASU, in relief of four-game starter Connor Wood, Liufau led CU on its only two scoring drives in a 54-13 loss. His debut stat line: 18-of-26 passing for 169 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions; four carries for 10 yards.
Liufau was excited to shed his redshirt and play, but not too thrilled about the pair of picks or a handful of misreads or missteps in his first crack at operating CU's offense. At his weekly Tuesday media conference, coach Mike MacIntyre acknowledged that Liufau's expected first-game blend of talent and inexperience was evident before he detailed the characteristics he believes will bring Liufau success.
MacIntyre called Liufau, who will make his first college start on Saturday against Charleston Southern (noon, Folsom Field) "very athletic, cerebral, calm, mature, puts others first and is extremely tough." A comparison was made to former Stanford QB/Heisman Trophy runnerup Andrew Luck in this context: Luck developed into a stellar pocket passer who also can run. Liufau has that potential.
Throw in a strong accurate arm, good pocket sense, the ability to determine the correct places to deliver the ball (good field sense), and the general "it" factor that all good QBs have and it's not difficult to see why MacIntyre is happy that CU's former staff made the recruitment of Liufau a priority.
Of course, it was up to MacIntyre and his guys to hold on to Liufau when several other Pac-12 schools came sniffing after last winter's coaching change. But Liufau remained undeterred and solidly committed, mainly because "Colorado felt like home to me," he said. "I felt like I was back home with my family, and family is a key aspect in my life . . . I didn't feel like I needed to go around fishing for more offers."
It ended up being pretty close to a Liufau love fest: "I loved the old staff, then I met the new staff and fell in love again."
Liufau's family is all-important to him. He credits some of his maturity and leadership ability to his father, Joe, taking him to Fort Lewis-Madigan, an Army base outside Tacoma, as a fourth- or fifth-grader and allowing him to play football with "the Army guys . . . it helped me grow a lot. A lot of leadership came from that, just learning from those guys. They all took me under their wing. It's just been with me my whole life; it's not something that I'm faking . . . I'm just trying to show it."
He talks to his parents at least once or twice a week and says their weekly advice from long distance is just as it was when he was under their roof: "Stay humble, stay grounded, don't take anyone (or team) for granted."
And he's following that advice as he prepares for a rare mid-season, out-of-conference game on Saturday against Charleston Southern. Liufau's (and MacIntyre's) hope is that mistakes made against the Sun Devils were held onto briefly for learning purposes then discarded.
That, said Liufau, is how he normally rolls: "I forgot the mistakes during the game (but) I remembered them as a teaching point for myself, things I could have done better. But I have a short memory."
One of MacIntyre's points of emphasis during August camp and every week since has been ball security. This is how he likes to emphasize it: "When you're carrying the football, you're carrying our hopes and dreams."
For quarterbacks, it's the same with their passes -don't throw our hopes and dreams to the other guys. Liufau did it twice, as well as fumbling a snap. Among his goal for his first start is taking better care of the ball, and if carelessness persists he won't cut himself any slack because he is a freshman.
"It's just how I am," he said. "I hold myself to high standards, even being a freshman. There's just simple reads I could have (made) to take away those interceptions that I threw. The fumble (snap) hit me in the hands. I'm going to be hard on myself being a freshman . . . I just need to do a better job of taking care of the ball. I'll always be hard on myself."
CU's offense is in great need of consistency, with the running game having accounted for one touchdown in five games and the passing game's productivity slipping over 100 yards a game since conference play began. Liufau believes his work with the first unit as a backup already has established some chemistry among his receiving corps, but adds, "The chemistry is definitely not perfect."
Synching up with Paul Richardson, he said, "is difficult on some of the deeper routes . . . trying to gauge his speed because sometimes I don't think I know actually how fast he is, the way he turns it into another gear."
Liufau's pedigree includes an uncle -Jack Thompson, the "Throwin' Samoan" at Washington State -who was a quarterback in the Pac-10. But his parents' advice on staying humble obviously has registered with Liufau.
Asked Tuesday about playing his position in a conference that has become famous for its QBs, Liufau said he was "very honored. It means a lot to me. I don't want to compare myself with other quarterbacks though. I want to compare myself to my best self and continue to grow and get better every week, every practice I get.
"I always look at (mistakes) as my fault, but if we do very well it's not just me. I'm not the one out there catching the ball, I'm not the one out there blocking 300-pound guys. It's a team sport. If I wanted to be all by myself I'd go play tennis or golf or something. I love the camaraderie, the teamwork that football has."
NOTABLE: MacIntyre said Liufau's athleticism and running ability could mean more designed runs for his new starting QB, particularly on zone-read option plays: "If he sees it and reads it" he can run it. CU's ground game is at 108.0 yards a game -No. 10 in the conference . . . . Unbeaten (7-0) Charleston Southern is ranked No. 24 in the weekly FCS poll. MacIntyre called the Buccaneers "better than Central Arkansas," the No. 20-ranked FCS team that CU defeated 38-24 in week two. He said CSU (not the in-state team) ran an option offense out of the pistol formation that features "a lot of detail" and is a "Navy-Nevada mixture." . . . . MacIntyre said his defense, which is ahead of only California in the four major categories (scoring, total, pass/rush), victimized itself with dropped interceptions in the Pac-12 opener at Oregon State, then simply didn't play well against Oregon and ASU. "We've learned a lot about what we can and can't do," he said. "It helps us reevaluate ourselves." He said there would be no defensive lineup changes this week . . . . CU has been outscored 155-46 in its first three Pac-12 games. MacIntyre's pitch to recruits: "We tell them to come and help us get better." He said San Jose State was No. 120 out of 120 FBS schools when he took that job. The Spartans were a Top 25 program (No. 20) last season when he was hired by CU. "It didn't happen overnight," MacIntyre said. "You just have to keep going." . . . . The Buffs haven't quit, MacIntyre said, noting he would detect that in his players during practice instead of on game day. "To me, they're investing . . . right now I have great hope." . . . . The scoreboard says times are tough, but MacIntyre and his staff haven't turned up their volume in practice. He used this analogy: "If I went home and my wife yelled at me, I wouldn't want to come home at night." He said it was the same with his players and daily practice. "I think they trust us."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
