Colorado University Athletics
Woelk: Buffs Turn Focus To Sun Devils
October 05, 2015 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Learn, correct and move on.
The 3-2 Colorado Buffaloes, still a bit blurry-eyed after a late night and early morning 41-24 weekend loss to the Oregon Ducks, returned to practice Sunday evening with the same goals in mind they've had all season.
Learn from their mistakes and move forward. With eight Pac-12 games left to play, the Buffs know there's still plenty of opportunity to achieve their goals.
The question, of course, is whether the Buffs can correct the mistakes that turned a 17-17 game at the half into a 17-point win for the Ducks. If so, they still firmly believe there's no game left on their schedule they can't win, beginning with next Saturday's contest at Arizona State (8 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
Still, despite the pain of the loss, the Buffs believe they are making strides. In years past, the talent differential was often painfully clear against Pac-12 foes. But CU has closed the gap considerably, and the Buffs walked away from Saturday night's game believing their errors were the biggest factor in their downfall — particularly turnovers.
CU has lost the turnover battle twice this year, both losses. Saturday night, it was an early fumble that led to Oregon's first touchdown before a third-quarter fumble killed a potential game-tying drive. Meanwhile, CU's defense recorded just one takeaway in the game, the fewest the Buffs have forced in any game this season.
"The two games we lost, we definitely shot ourselves in the foot," head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "That's basically the facts of life. You can't do that. You can have a couple (turnovers), but you've got to make some on the other sides.
"But I definitely think we're gaining ground, for sure."
The lesson is simple: despite having closed the talent gap significantly, the Buffs' margin for error is still small. When they take care of the ball — and when the defense is creating opportunities for the offense — their chance of winning grows exponentially.
Other areas the Buffs will concentrate on this week in their preparation for the Sun Devils:
Rush defense. Twice this year, Colorado's defense has been gouged for big yards on the ground. Colorado State ran for 218 yards on CU, but Colorado's turnover differential in the game — plus two — made the difference.
The Ducks, though, took care of the ball, particularly in the second half, and simply wore down the Buffs' defense.
The Sun Devils don't have the same caliber of running attack as the Ducks, but they still have potent weapons. ASU ran for 192 yards in a 38-23 win over previously undefeated UCLA on Saturday, getting 79 yards from Demario Richard and 59 from Kalen Ballage. Quarterback Mike Bercovici (273 yards passing, two touchdowns) also had a 34-yard scoring run.
Running game. The Buffs were held to a season-low 77 yards rushing against the Ducks, a number slightly skewed by five quarterback sacks.
Still, it was not a good performance. If Michael Adkins is able to return from a hamstring injury this week, it should help — Adkins had 209 yards rushing and three touchdowns in CU's first two games — but the Buffs will also need more than that.
"We need to be able to execute a little bit better," MacIntyre said. "When we've been able to run the ball well, we've gotten to the second level and kind of cut off the 'backers a few times and gotten into the secondary. We'll have some nights we can run it and some nights we can't run it as well. But I definitely believe we can run the football."
Passing game. While CU quarterback Sefo Liufau insists his injured shoulder wasn't a factor against the Ducks, fact of the matter is Liufau has not been the same quarterback he was a year ago, when he spent the season rewriting Colorado's record books.
Liufau has had his moments. He finished with 231 yards and a touchdown vs. the Ducks, and on Colorado's first two scoring drives, he was 7-for-9 for 91 yards and a score. But, he also threw his first interception since the first quarter of the season opener and had a fumble in the third quarter.
Some of the problems that have been attributed to Liufau have not been his fault. For instance, in the first series of the second half Saturday, CU receivers slipped to the ground on the first two plays, leading to a three-and-out. There have been other instances when receivers have broken their routes.
Still, Liufau will be the first to admit he's still missing open receivers on occasion. If the Buffs are going to make a dent in the last eight Pac-12 games, they'll need Liufau him to be at the top of his game.
Pass rush. The Buffs did record three quarterback sacks against the Ducks, matching their high of the season. Justin Solis, Leo Jackson III and Jimmie Gilbert all had a sack vs. Oregon.
But they'll need all of that and more against ASU's Bercovici, who was sacked just once in the win over UCLA.
Third down. This was a tale of two halves against the Ducks. In the first half, Colorado converted four of nine third-down tries while Oregon was just 2-for-8.
But in the second half, the Buffs were just 3-for-8 while the Ducks were 5-for-8. Even more damaging was the fact that the Ducks hit some huge gains on those third-down tries. Oregon had five third-down gains of 10 yards or more in the second half, and four of those kept alive drives that produced touchdowns.
