Brooks: Buffs Talking The Talk; Is Next Step Walking The Walk?

BOULDER – So here's most of what we learned in Colorado's weekly Tuesday news conference from head football coach Mike MacIntyre and a couple of his players: The Buffs claim they're mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore.

Right now, with last weekend's 48-23 loss at Arizona State still smoldering and their record settling in at mediocre (3-3), you have to take the Buffs at their word – at least until late Saturday night when the Arizona Wildcats exit Folsom Field.

That's when a week of anger, frustration, and hopefully ramped up focus will either have carried CU to its first Pac-12 win in 14 games or reduced Tuesday's talk to, well, timely and entertaining chatter.

Previous Buffs teams have never quite managed to walk the walk after a similar week of talk, but MacIntyre sees positivity in his third CU team's anger. And that view was reinforced by a telephone call from a close friend who happens to be a prominent head coach in another sport at presumably another school.

Recalled MacIntyre: "He called and said, 'When your leaders get really angry and ticked off, it's a good thing because they now know that they have to go execute and do it. Until it really hurts them bad, really bad, then they kind of just take it.' He said, 'I think it's a good thing.' I'd rather see them angry than not feeling anything about it at all, to be honest with you."

The Buffs see the root of their anger and frustration in the mirror. In their two Pac-12 losses – 41-24 to Oregon, 48-23 to ASU – they've lost the turnover battle (five total in the two games) and seen their penalties jump to a season-high nine for 88 yards against the Sun Devils.

CU's two-game total of 15 penalties and average of 64.5 yards lost ranks eleventh in the conference. And the Buffs minus-3 turnover margin ranks them last in Pac-12 play.

In short, anytime there's been one of their feet to shoot, the Buffs' aim has been dead on.

"Obviously you are going to be a little frustrated after how we performed on Saturday," quarterback Sefo Liufau said. "But I think for the most part we're more, I guess, angry . . . it's not even about proving it to other people now, it's proving it to ourselves, and proving to ourselves that we can go out there and we can play, and we can beat these teams."

The Buffs' boiling point was reached almost immediately after the loss in Tempe, with sophomore tailback Phillip Lindsay calling for a team meeting while the traveling party was en route to DIA. Since there was no practice Sunday due to the early morning (4:30-5 a.m.) arrival, Lindsay set the team meeting for before Sunday's 6 p.m. dinner.

"I think that a lot of good things were said," Liufau noted. "It was run by players, brought up by players. The coaches can only do so much for us. They can give us all the right techniques, all the right plays but you know it's up to us to go out there and execute. And so, ultimately we came out with a better feeling and better understanding of what needs to be done."

Defensive end Derek McCartney said the meeting was constructive because it allowed the team's leaders to "step up" and voice their concern over the buffs' past two performances as well as optimism that with seven games remaining the season is by no means lost.

"I think sometimes when things start going the way you don't want, guys put their heads down," McCartney said. "Getting together was really good."

In the two practices since the players' meeting, MacIntyre said the Buffs "were more focused, there was more guys getting on each other. More initiative, we didn't have to tell somebody to pay attention, the other players did. To me, that was a real positive."

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU