Colorado University Athletics
Woelk: Buffs Must Move Past 'Close' As Identity
November 09, 2015 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre was recently asked what he would like his team's “identity” to be.
MacIntyre didn't hesitate with his answer. CU's third-year coach said he wanted the Buffs to be “physical on defense and athletic,” and balanced on offense, a team “that can be able to run and throw it.”
The Buffs aren't there. Not yet — and this isn't just a sportswriter lobbing Monday morning analysis from the press box.
Here's more from MacIntyre:
“We've made strides. We're more athletic, you've heard other teams say that. … We're getting bigger and stronger, (but) we've still got a ways to go.”
Indeed, other teams are noticing. In the wake of a 42-10 win by his Cardinal on Saturday, Stanford coach David Shaw took the opportunity to offer this unsolicited take on the Buffs:
“They're fighting everybody,” Shaw said. “They're really close. … They were very sound, fought very hard and were very physical.”
But, as MacIntyre said, the Buffs still have a ways to go.
The kind of team MacIntyre wants his Buffs to be is one that can exert its will on an opponent in make-or-break situations. MacIntyre wants a team that can produce a fourth-quarter first down with the game on the line and one that can provide a defensive stop in the same situations — and do those things against a quality opponent.
Simply, he wants his team to establish the identity of one that will take what it wants and prevent the opponent from doing the same. While the current Buffs are inching ever closer to that point, they're not there — and that might be the most frustrating part for everyone associated with the program: right now, the Buffs' identity still includes the word “close.”
Purely from a physical standpoint, the Buffs have narrowed the gap tremendously. In MacIntyre's first year, Colorado was pushed around by almost everyone in the Pac-12. The talent gap was a chasm.
That's not the case anymore. The Buffs aren't being manhandled on a weekly basis. Week in, week out they are much more competitive. Instead of being a punching bag, they're punching back.
But they still haven't established that identity of a team that will line up and take what it wants when it matters most. They're still a team mired in near misses.
Saturday, for the second week in a row, the Buffs came up empty on a first-and-goal situation. Against UCLA, it was a first-and-goal from the 5. Against Stanford, it was a first-and-goal from the 3.
Close.
Defensively, it's been the same story. While the Buffs are clearly improved from a year ago, they're still prone to giving up backbreaking plays at the most inopportune of moments. Against UCLA, it was an 82-yard touchdown run just one play after CU had narrowed a deficit. Against Stanford, it was a 43-yard touchdown pass on third-and-18 when a stop would have kept them in the game.
Close.
It's been frustrating for fans, maddening for coaches and infuriating for the players — and if there's any silver lining, it is that. The players are sick and tired of “close.” It's not what they want their identity to be. It's why CU safety Tedric Thompson had this to say after Saturday's loss:
“I'm tired of hearing people say that we're this close and if we had made this play or that play it would be different,” an obviously frustrated Thompson said. “It's happening week after week. Everybody in that locker room is their own man. We need to come together as men and really figure it out.”
Indeed. This team — this program — must find a way to exorcise itself of “close” in these last three weeks of the season.
It won't be easy. One of CU's remaining opponents, Utah, is ranked 10th in the nation; the other two, USC and Washington State, received votes in the latest AP poll. Friday, they start the stretch with a 7 p.m. home game against USC (ESPN2).
Somehow, someway, CU's coaches and players must get past “close.” They must find a way to get those 3 yards and prevent those backbreaking big plays.
Until then, until they line up and make the plays that matter when it matters most, their identity will still include the word they no longer want to hear.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
