Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Buffs Learning How To Respond In Hard Times
September 08, 2013 | Football, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - It's only been two games in the heat of early September, when the non-conference schedule allegedly is kinder than what's coming in October and November.
But the more Mike MacIntyre sees of his first Colorado football team, the more he realizes that 90-degree weather won't make it wilt. Neither will losing leads, self-inflicted mistakes or small/large shots of personal or team adversity.
The Buffaloes, MacIntyre said following Saturday night's often homely home-opening win over Central Arkansas, are learning how to keep on keeping on.
He acknowledged that CU's 38-24 win at sparsely populated Folsom Field "wasn't pretty," but let's look at it like this: The Buffs are 2-0 for the first time in six seasons and they've already doubled last season's output of 'W's.
In their 2012 home opener, another FCS opponent - Sacramento State - visited Folsom and won on a final-play field goal. The skids were greased for a 1-11 season that resulted in a coach firing and MacIntyre's hiring. Making mistakes and wallowing in the aftermath became the hallmark of the 2012 Buffs.
Two weekends into CU's 2013 season, that hasn't happened. It's gone the other way, in fact. The Buffs weren't flawless in their opening win (41-27) against Colorado State, but Saturday's win over UCA was filled with flaws by comparison.
Consider: CU quarterback Connor Wood wasn't sacked - he's not counting an intentional grounding call - by CSU and didn't have a turnover. Six days later, with UCA unleashing a nasty pair of defensive ends on him, Wood was sacked four times, lost two fumbles and threw two interceptions.
"They're definitely very talented - especially their defensive ends,"Wood said of UCA's defensive front. "They gave some trouble. They did a good job pressuring me but I give credit to the offensive line because they hung in there and fought through all the pressures . . . the reason we got the win today is because of them."
But Wood still maintained enough composure and displayed enough leadership to speak to the team at halftime and remind his teammates that when adversity struck in last weekend's opener "we stuck together, we clung together . . . last year's team would have crumpled."
With his pair of picks and fumbles, Wood acknowledged that "this wasn't a perfect game for me."But throwing to a receiver like Paul Richardson makes up for many imperfections and offers Wood what most recent CU quarterbacks have lacked - a game-changing receiver.
Richardson, out last season with an injured knee, turned in his second 200-yard plus receiving game (11 catches, 209 yards, two touchdowns). His TD catches Saturday were for 55 and 30 yards. He caught Wood passes of 82 and 75 yards for scores against CSU.
"P-Rich"and Wood have a synergy; "P-Rich"likes the way Wood scrambles and keeps his eyes downfield. Wood obviously like Richardson's blurring speed and his route-running ability. UCA coach Clint Conque said on Richardson's 54-yard reception that put the Buffs up 7-0, "he ran by us the first time, he just flat-out ran by us. He also ran a couple nice routes . . . a double move down here that was a real nice route."
Richardson's confidence buoys Wood even when Wood is getting harassed as he was by the Bears D-ends. But Richardson also says team-wide confidence has been instilled by MacIntyre and his staff: "The coaches have changed our whole attitude . . . we don't have a cave-in attitude. We rise up. But we've still got a lot of work to do."
Even with the Wood-Richardson connection accounting for another multiple TD game, the Buffs couldn't have overtaken the Bears without three stellar defensive plays. Two were interceptions run back for TDs by cornerback Greg Henderson (46 yards) and safety Jered Bell (79 yards). The third was freshman Chidobe Awuzie's ball strip of UCA freshman Jatavious Wilson after what would have been a first-down reception from Bears QB Winrick Smothers in the fourth quarter.
Two plays later, Wood hit Richardson for their 30-yard score, breaking a 24-24 tie and creating enough momentum for the Buffs to ride this one out.
The Buffs' defense couldn't muster a scoring return last season. Henderson has two in two games - he returned a CSU fumble 53 yards for a TD - and Bell's long pick and prance gives CU's defense three scoring returns already this season.
The difference in this 'D,' said Henderson, is "the experience and confidence we have this season. Everybody had to grow up fast last year and now we're just playing with confidence."
Added Bell: "At halftime, the coaches were preaching to us, 'We need a turnover, we need a turnover.' Going out into the second half, we knew we needed to make plays. We needed a turnover."
So they went out and got Bell's - which MacIntyre termed a "great play"and a turning point - and Awuzie's - which was no less vital.
Smothers completed 33 of his 55 passes for 280 yards and two TDs, but the Bears rushed for just 60 yards on 26 attempts. MacIntyre thought his defense "did decently"in holding UCA to 340 yards of total offense. The Buffs led 14-0 and MacIntyre thought they could have gone to halftime with a 21-0 lead - but a pair of Wood turnovers helped the Bears tie the score at 14-14 at intermission.
"We kind of let them back into the ball game from the way I saw it,"MacIntyre said.
By then, a night of back-and-forth was well underway. Fortunately, the Buffs were up for it and had enough answers. "I just kept going down (the sideline) saying, 'Keep fighting, keep fighting, keep making plays, keep pushing, keep working,"MacIntyre said.
His players did, and they left Folsom Field 2-0 for the first time since 2008. Now, the goal is simple. "We just want to keep it rolling,"said senior linebacker Derrick Webb.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
