Brooks: Tuesday Tidbits

ON PROTECTING THE QB: Colorado has allowed 31 sacks this season, with eight of those suffered by Cade Apsay – including five last weekend by the USC Trojans.

For senior tackle Stephane Nembot, who started the season's first five games on the right side but has opened on the left side in the last six, protecting Apsay is no different than injured Sefo Liufau.

Nembot said the Trojans successfully “read the scheme of offense we were playing” and increased their pressure on Apsay, whose inexperience in avoiding the rush was apparent at times.

Nembot played at Washington State three seasons ago (the Buffs won 35-34) and remembers Martin Stadium as “a crazy, loud place.” He said that would require a more intense focus from him and his O-line mates in protecting either Apsay or Gehrke: “Offensive linemen have one job – protecting whoever line up there (at QB).”

He's gotten better at that, according to line coach Gary Bernardi, whose weekly custom is to text deserving linemen and offer kudos on their pass-pro.

Said Nembot: “I don't usually get a text message from Bernardi saying I had done OK, but I got one last week. So I guess I'm improving.”

LONG TIME BETWEEN BIG 'W'S: The Buffs and ranked opponents haven't been a very good matchup – at least for the Buffs.

CU has lost 21 consecutive overall games to a ranked opponent and 25 straight on the road. The Buffs' last win against a ranked team was in 2009, and their last road victory over a Top 25 team was in 2002.

That record offers CU another opportunity for success in Saturday's game at Washington State (8:51 p.m. MST, ESPN2).

“It's definitely a big game for us,” senior defensive tackle Justin Solis said, noting the Buffs would like to “put another brick in the wall” of their big-win collection in their locker room.

STEPPING IN, STEPPING UP: Apsay, a redshirt freshman, will be CU's likely starting quarterback in Pullman, Wash. His elevation to that role occurred last week when Liufau, CU's three-year starter, left the USC loss at the end of the first quarter with a Lisfranc injury to his left foot.

Apsay settled in against the Trojans and completed 18-of-23 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns. He also directed a drive to a field goal.

Coach Mike MacIntyre said Apsay, whose only previous duty this season was in games against Nicholls State and Stanford, has matured since his true freshman season: “It's been a process since his freshman year and then it kind of clicked and he realized, 'Hey this is what I have to do, if I want to be successful.' He has great parents and they've been behind him all the way.

“He just kind of matured . . . it's always a process, but I think he kind of felt comfortable, got in his routines, and been doing what he needs to do; he's doing well in school and he can be a very good football player. It's good that he feels that way and realizes that the decisions and choices you make reflect on everything.”

LIUFAU'S SURGERY SET: MacIntyre said surgery to repair Liufau's foot injury likely will be on Friday. The junior's rehabilitation could take from six to eight months.

Liufau, said MacIntyre, remains upbeat, has attended the daily quarterback meetings and has offered any kind of assistance to Apsay and Jordan Gehrke.

“He's an exceptional young man,” MacIntyre said of Liufau, who looked MacIntyre in the eye after meeting with the foot specialist and said, “'I'll be back.'”

With his surgery scheduled Friday, Liufau will not travel with the Buffs to Pullman. He likely wouldn't have made the trip anyway, said MacIntyre, because of player travel limits imposed by the Pac-12 and the NCAA.

“He's been at every game I've coached here.” MacIntyre said. “It will be weird (not having him on the road).”

However, if Liufau is up to traveling, he could make the Buffs' final 2015 road trip to Utah (Nov. 28). “If he's feeling good enough,” MacIntyre said, “he'll go.”

INJURY REPORT: In addition to Liufau, MacIntyre said running back Michael Adkins II (hamstring) and safety Ryan Moeller (concussion) would not play this week. However, guard Gerrad Kough (neck, shoulder) will be back.

QUOTABLE: “We'll take anything we can get from the quarterback.” – Nembot on Apsay joking a couple of days ago that keeping him upright for an entire game might be worth a gift to his O-linemen.

NOTABLE: Now in his fourth season, Mike Leach's three-year overall record at Washington State was 12-25. MacIntyre's overall record at CU is 10-25. On the surface, the rebuilding projects have been similar, but MacIntyre still points out, “It's always different at every school. There's different demographics, different recruiting areas, different academic standards . . . . You just keep working, you set your program in place, your culture in place, and then you keep recruiting to it, you keep working and watching your team mature to it. I think (WSU) has done that in a lot of ways.” . . . . The Cougars (7-3, 5-2) are off to their best start since 2003 (8-2) and are bowl eligible for the second time in three seasons (2013) . . . . CU's Saturday night contest is the eighth night game this season – the most in school history. Six of those night contests were in the Pac-12 . . . . The 8:51 p.m. MST kickoff at Wazzu is the second-latest this season (No. 1 was the opener at Hawai'i) but the game's length could be the longest for the Buffs. Averaging 57 passes a game, only one of the Cougars' 10 games has been shorter than 3 hours – the opener against Portland State was 2:59. WSU's other nine games have averaged right at 3:30 in length . . . . In conference games, the Cougars are first in passing offense (436.6 yards a game), second in total offense (510.7 yards a game) and third in scoring (38.1 points a game).

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU