Woelk: Once Again, Mistakes Doom Buffs

BOULDER — No moral victories.

The Colorado Buffaloes are no longer a team that takes any consolation in "Close, but …"

The Buffs know that sooner or later, they have to start winning some of the close games they've let slip away, particularly when it comes to Pac-12 play.

Saturday night — and Sunday morning — provided the latest example. In a game in which the Buffs had to be nearly perfect all night, they played well enough to win for a half, battling the Oregon Ducks to a 17-17 halftime standoff.

But down the stretch of a game delayed an hour by lightning, the Buffs committed too many unforced errors to make lightning strike twice and ended up on the short end of a 41-24 loss.

"In no way shape or form do we take any kind of moral victory," head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "It's on us."

The list of self-inflicted wounds was lengthy. Three turnovers, including a fumble in Oregon territory that prematurely ended a potential scoring drive and another that led to an Oregon touchdown. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a CU assistant coach that helped extend a Ducks scoring drive in the third quarter. Missed tackles and missed open receivers at the most inopportune of moments.

Simply, too many missed opportunities against a Ducks team in desperation mode.

Close? Closer than the 41-24 final might indicate, but only enough to make the end result even more frustrating.

The Buffs led twice in the first half, 14-7 on a Sefo Liufau 8-yard scoring pass to Shay Fields and again 17-14 on a Diego Gonzalez 52-yard field goal.

Even after the Ducks took a two-touchdown lead late in the third quarter, the Buffs came back to make a game of it. Just after the clock struck midnight, Liufau burst into the end zone for a 7-yard scoring run to cut the Ducks' lead to 31-24 with 10:29 remaining.

But that was the end of any Cinderella hopes. Oregon struck back quickly, driving 75 yards in less than two minutes, capping the scoring drive on a 43-yard Taylor Alie pass to Jalen Brown to bump the lead to 38-24.

From that point on, the Buffs never mounted another serious threat. Once again, they were left with another frustrating finish, another Pac-12 loss and another week of wondering what might have been.

The Buffs spent the week saying they believed they could beat Oregon, that they were a greatly improved team ready to play with the best of the Pac-12.

The Ducks, meanwhile, spent the week saying they weren't as bad as last week's 62-20 loss to Utah would indicate.

The answer? Probably somewhere in between for both squads.

The Ducks are still a talented team, capable of beating lots of folks on any given Saturday (or Sunday morning).

The Buffs are still a team trying to grow up and figure out just how good they can be.

Once again, they showed flashes of excellence. The defense forced two Oregon three-and-outs in the first quarter and picked off a pass in the end zone to thwart another scoring drive. The offense — once it shook off the early jitters — put together two long scoring drives to take the lead early in the second quarter.

But every time the Buffs made the kind of plays necessary to win a game, they seemed to follow it up with a backbreaking mistake.

Physically, they're proving they can compete. Mentally, they're still doing damage to themselves.

"I don't think we were outmatched," wide receiver Nelson Spruce said. "We just didn't seize the opportunities we had."

Now 3-2 with eight Pac-12 games remaining, the Buffs must quickly find a way to eliminate the mistakes and make the plays that matter. There are no more Nicholls States or Massachusetts on the schedule ahead. Dead ahead is a trip to suddenly rejuvenated Arizona State, followed by a home date with Arizona.

Offensively, it means correcting the inconsistencies that plagued them.

"Our offense is better than that and should be better than that," MacIntyre said. "We're not hitting on all cylinders and we've got to find a way to fix that."

Defensively, it means eliminating big plays and becoming more consistent against the run. The Ducks ran for 361 yards, averaging a robust 6.0 yards per carry.

But most of all, it means correcting the unforced errors that allowed Oregon to seize momentum.

"I definitely think we could have won the game," MacIntyre said. "But we've got to correct the mistakes."

What will be telling is how the Buffs react to the loss, their 12th straight in conference play.

Early Sunday morning, they vowed not to let the latest disappointment cloud their preparation. They promised to bounce back, correct their mistakes and be ready for Arizona State.

If they can fulfill that promise, there's still plenty of season remaining to reap some rewards. In a topsy-turvy Pac-12, no one remaining on their schedule is by any means invincible.

But, as MacIntyre said, "It's on us" — and the Buffs are no longer a team that can accept even the scent of moral victories.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu