Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Keep Oregon WRs In Check
October 04, 2015 | Football
BOULDER — In the early Sunday morning press conference after Colorado's 41-24 loss to Oregon, a subdued Tedric Thompson repeated the theme for the Buffs' secondary, and for the game as a whole — Colorado was good, but not good enough. The Buffs put themselves in position to win, but couldn't capitalize.
"We can beat Oregon," he said. "We can beat anyone else in the Pac-12 we play against. We just have to fix the little things."
The Buffs' secondary limited Oregon's passing attack for most of the night. They held the Ducks to only 176 passing yards, barely more than half of their season average. Oregon switched between quarterbacks Jeff Lockie and Taylor Alie throughout the game, and neither established a consistent rhythm.
"We came out here to play and challenge these guys," defensive back Ken Crawley said. "We let one slip away but we're not going to let that bother us."
Ahkello Witherspoon intercepted Lockie in the end zone to snuff out Oregon's second drive, and the Ducks then switched to Alie. The Ducks then rotated the two the rest of the game — something Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said they planned to do — and for the most part, Colorado's defensive backs stuck with the Duck receivers and gave the quarterbacks nowhere to throw downfield. That was the good.
But the Ducks did fool Colorado on a pass from wide receiver Bralon Edwards to Charles Nelson for a 39-yard touchdown. The Buffs also couldn't get consistent pressure on either passer, and they were both comfortable in the pocket despite Colorado's tight coverage. Lockie and Alie repeatedly dumped off to their running backs, who caught the ball in space and turned those short checkdowns into big gains.
"Getting pressure on the quarterback has definitely improved, but there's still room for improvement," defensive end Leo Jackson III said. "We just have to keep moving"
Running backs Taj Griffin and Royce Freeman were the Ducks' leading receivers, and their production came from short passes with long runs after the catch. The Buffs could stay with Oregon's receivers, but once Oregon's backs caught the ball in space — often with no defenders around them because they were in coverage downfield — their athleticism caused problems for Colorado.
That's where the Buffs are right now, as a secondary, as a defense, as a team — good, up-and-coming, but with room to grow. A 17-point loss to a team that had beaten them by an average of 44 points four years in a row is an improvement. Playing good coverage against the Ducks' explosive receivers is a big improvement. A lack of pressure on the quarterback and a vulnerability to short throws shows the work that is yet to come.
"It's always the littlest things that beat us," Thompson said. "Like not being in the right gap, not getting the right call. So once we get that down and fixed to a hundred percent we are going to be fine."
