Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Aim To Take Advantage Of Apsay's Accuracy
November 18, 2015 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — When Colorado coaches began recruiting quarterback Cade Apsay, one attribute that continually drew their attention was his accuracy.
“He threw for a ton of yards in high school, he was extremely accurate and he could move in the pocket,” head coach Mike MacIntyre said. “The main thing is he can make every throw and throw it into a tight window, he can throw it deep, and he has a good feel for that in the pocket and has good balance on what he does.”
Said offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Lindgren: “He's one of the more accurate guys that I've been around as far as a passer. … He's really comfortable in the gun, he's really efficient with it, and he throws a lot of completions.”
Apsay displayed that accuracy in last weekend's 27-24 loss to Southern California when he came in for injured starter Sefo Liufau. In his first significant playing time as a Buff, Apsay completed 18 of 23 attempts for 128 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. While the yardage total was by no means eye-popping — just 5.6 yards per attempt — his .783 completion percentage was certainly impressive.
But not until CU sports information director Dave Plati started doing some digging did anyone realize just how impressive Apsay's completion percentage proved to be.
In the history of Buffs football, only one other quarterback — ever — has had a better percentage in a game when attempting at least 20 throws. That came in 2004, when Joel Klatt completed 26 of 33 attempts (.788 completion percentage) for 371 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. After the game, CU coach Gary Barnett remarked that such a completion percentage would have been difficult “against air, let alone a defense.”
Apsay's accuracy was by no means a fluke. In a brief appearance against Stanford, he was 3-for-5 with one interception, and earlier this season he was 4-for-6 vs. Nicholls State. For the year, he's 25-for-34 (.735).
“He's a real natural passer, a real accurate passer,” Lindgren said. “He gets the ball out of his hands quick. He's a talented guy. When it clicked for him, we were real excited because I think he's got a big upside and can do a lot of different things.”
Apsay will get the first start of his college career Saturday at Washington State (8:30 p.m., ESPN2). Lindgren said the game plan will be to play to Apsay's strengths.
“We'll try to get him some stuff that he's comfortable with and try to get him off to a good start get him some confidence and get him rolling,” Lindgren said.
Apsay's strength thus far has been his "short game." His 25 completions have produced 199 yards this season, a respectable but by no means eye-popping 8 yards per completion (by comparison, Liufau's average per completion is 11.3 yards).
"That's something that he does, that he has a handle on," Lindgren said. "He's pretty efficient throwing those thort passes."
Apsay moved past Mike Moschetti on the all-time single-game completion percentage list. Moschetti is now third (25-for-32, .781, vs. San Jose State, 1999). Klatt holds the fourth and fifth spots, both .778, vs. Iowa State in 2003 and Texas A&M in 2005.
Not surprisingly, there's only one interception among all five top games, with 12 touchdowns.
PINPOINT PUNTING: With two games still left to go in the season, CU freshman punter Alex Kinney has already tied the Buffs freshman record for most punts inside the 20 (21) and most inside the 10 (8). Both records were set by Darragh O'Neill — the punter Kinney replaced — in 2011.
After a rough start — his first attempt as a collegian was blocked in the Hawai'i game — Kinney has steadily improved.
He's been particularly effective in Pac-12 games. The Buffs are currently third in net punting in conference games (39.7 yards per attempt) and Kinney is fifth in the conference in average (42.9 per punt). He's also had zero touchbacks in Pac-12 games and has landed 15 punts inside the 20 in conference games, including three against Arizona, UCLA and USC.
WITHERSPOON LIKELY: MacIntyre said cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon passed his concussion protocol this week and will likely play vs. Washington State. MacIntyre said Witherspoon practiced Wednesday, and unless there are complications, he'll be ready for the Cougars. True freshman Isaiah Oliver played in Witherspoon's place after he suffered the injury against USC. Oliver was credited with a pair of tackles against the Trojans.
