Brooks: As Trojans Loom, Apsay Knows His Place In Buffs QB Order

BOULDER – In a backup quarterback's best-case game-day scenario, the guy in front of him pushes his offense to an untouchable lead. The No. 2 QB leaves the sideline, soaks up game experience and exits the stadium feeling very good about his role, if not life in general.

On Sept. 26 at Folsom Field, Cade Apsay savored that kind of afternoon. Although he hadn't yet moved into the backup spot behind Sefo Liufau – that would happen last month – both Apsay and Jordan Gehrke took snaps in Colorado's 48-0 rout of Nicholls State.

Apsay didn't play again until last Saturday. That's nearly an eternity between snaps and he quickly learned, in his words, that “Nicholls State is definitely not Stanford.”

Indeed, it was a blanket acknowledgement for the rest of the Buffaloes as well. The Cardinal cruised 42-10, dealing the Buffs their most lopsided loss of the season before Friday night's home finale against vastly improved USC (7:06 p.m., ESPN2).

Of course, Apsay, a redshirt freshman, has no idea whether he will play against the Trojans (6-3, 4-2 Pac-12). Liufau is the starter and likely finisher, and any thought of a Nicholls State-type night is overshadowed by last weekend's 32-point defeat and the realization that USC, which has won three straight and still is contending for the South Division title, might have more talent across the board than any team in the Pac-12.

Before its coaching turmoil in mid-October USC was close to a consensus choice to win the conference. Being 16.5-point favorites Friday night might seem generous to the Buffs (4-6, 1-5), who must win their final three games to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2007 and reward these 15 departing seniors: OL Vincent Arvia, S Jered Bell, OL Ed Caldwell, CB Ken Crawley, FB John Finch, WR Colin Johnson, S Marques Mosley, FB Jordan Murphy, T Stephane Nembot, TB Christian Powell, LB Hunter Shaw, LS Wyatt Tucker Smith, NT Justin Solis, WR Nelson Spruce, DL John Paul Tuso.

Promised nothing in terms of field time for the season's final three regular-season games or even if he'll remain Liufau's backup, Apsay merely wants to be more prepared, more at ease than he was last weekend should the call come Friday night on national TV.

“It was definitely a faster game (last week) than against Nicholls State,” said Apsay, who completed four of six passes (48 yards) in his debut and three of five (23 yards) against the Cardinal. But Stanford sacked him three times and intercepted him once.

Continued Apsay: “I made mistakes on certain checks, audibles, and missed a few of those. On the pick I had, they tricked me a little bit and I didn't recognize the coverage.”

APSAY'S POSITION COACH, BRIAN LINDGREN, said subbing Liufau for Apsay last week was because “the game was a little out of reach and we wanted to get a look at Cade, get him some experience and see if he could give us a spark.

“He'd done well the last time, but it had been a while since he'd gotten some action. He wasn't as efficient as the last time we saw him (and) made a couple of mistakes. That will happen when you haven't played in that type of atmosphere, at that speed on game day for a while.”

Facing the Cardinal defense, said Lindgren, “was a little bit of a wakeup call” for Apsay. “He has to know he's got to be ready to go in and we can't miss a beat. He did some good things but at the same time he made some critical mistakes. That's something we have to reduce from him; he's got to be sharper when he goes in there.”

Apsay's backup status, expedited last month by a back ailment that slowed Gehrke, isn't rock solid, according to Lindgren. Apsay acknowledged as much but added, “Assuming I stay healthy, I think I'll stay at No. 2. But I haven't gotten any indication about more playing time. I haven't been told anything.”

Lindgren is not likely to pull Liufau Friday night unless it's due to an injury or the game unfolds/unravels as it did last weekend. Liufau has completed 61.7 percent of his passes (208-of-337; 2,324 yards, nine TDs, six interceptions) and needs 107 yards Friday night become CU's all-time leading passer. Also, he needs 27 yards to become the school's career leader in total offense.

Liufau threw 15 interceptions last season and entered his junior year cognizant of making better decisions. That has paid off, said Lindgren: “We're pretty pleased with a lot of his decision making . . . he's been taking care of the football with the exception of a couple of interceptions here and there.

“The biggest thing with him is he's been going to the right place, he's just been missing some throws. I think it's been less since his shoulder was injured and he wasn't taking a lot of throws (in practice). His shoulder is back and healthy. With him it's consistently being an accurate passer. The tough part, in my mind, for the quarterback is making the right decision of where to throw it. The easy part for a lot of these guys is concentrating on making the throw.

“That's what we've got to get him to do – when it's there being able to make the pass. The other side is, he's taken some shots and we've got to protect him better. I don't know that you can put all that stuff on the QB. We've got to do a better job in all areas to make the QB look better.”

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE, SAID LINDGREN, is as confident in Liufau now as it was on opening day in Hawai'i. Liufau's leadership ability is unquestionably beyond anyone else's at the position. “He competes every day in practice and the guys really respond to him,” Lindgren said.

Apsay has taken notice. He said Lindgren's critique begins with “being more assertive, more vocal on the field. Off the field I'm a quiet guy, pretty reserved. But if I need to be more vocal on the field, that's it; I'll do it and get my job done. If (Lindgren) tells me I've got to do it, I've got to do it.”

Meanwhile whoever is directing the offense for the final three games – and it's clear that will be Liufau, barring injury – needs to push the Buffs toward better red zone efficiency. In six Pac-12 games they are last in the conference at 78.3 percent, scoring on 18 of 23 trips (12 TDs, 6-of-9 field goals).

“Teams that are efficient are able to run the ball down there,” said Lindgren, CU's offensive coordinator. “The last couple of weeks we've struggled to run it down there. We've got to find ways to be able to run it, then we've got to find some creative ways when we get into throwing situations in the red zone to execute those passes.”

Regardless of CU's current red zone difficulties and its uphill climb since joining the Pac-12 (5-37 league record in four-plus seasons), USC interim coach Clay Helton said he sees “a good football team . . . improving by the year.”

Helton, who succeeded Steve Sarkisian on Oct. 12, said third-year CU coach Mike MacIntyre “is doing a terrific job” in recruiting and developing players. He called CU “a different team than we've faced the last couple of years. I just look at them and know the wins aren't coming like they'd like, but if you look at the way they are competing against some real quality teams, it seems like they are in every game.”

The Trojans, he said, need to “take a championship attitude into their place, or just like any game in the Pac-12 you'll get beat if you don't bring your 'A' game."

The Buffs have never beaten the Trojans (0-9) and have allowed an average of 48.6 points in four losses to USC since becoming Pac-12 members in 2011.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU