Buffs Notes: Liufau Shoulders Blame For Offensive Struggles

BOULDER — For the second game in a row, the Colorado offense struggled to put points on the board — but still came away with a win.

Thursday night, CU's offense managed just 13 points in a 20-10 win over UCLA, getting a boost from a 68-yard punt return for a touchdown to provide the final difference. The game came on the heels of a 10-5 win over Stanford, making it the second game in a row that CU's offense managed just one touchdown.

"That starts with me," Buffs quarterback Sefo Liufau said. "I will be the first one to say that and the first one to take the blame because the quarterback touches the ball on every play. … Tonight was just sloppy."

It was certainly not one of Liufau's best performances of the year. He saw his streak of consecutive passes without an interception come to a halt at 152 when he threw his first interception of the year on CU's first possession, then threw another one early in the second quarter. He also gave up a fumble when he was hit from behind, and finished with a pedestrian 160 yards passing on a 20-for-33 night, and he was forced to leave the game with what he called a "stinger" after the hit that caused the fumble.

"There's nothing that UCLA did that was mind-blowing (on defense)," Liufau said. "Against Stanford, we really moved the ball up and down the field; it was just a matter of punching the ball in. … Like I keep saying, it starts with me. I will take all the blame, all the fire. It's not the coaches' fault. It's not the O-line's fault."

Still, while Liufau did miss some open throws, he was also under pressure for much of the night. The Bruins sacked him four times — defensive end Takkarist McKinley had two — and harassed him for most of the night.

But, as Liufau noted, CU's defense came through when necessary again. Now, he said, it's time for the offense to rev its engines back up to where it was earlier in the season.

"They're doing really well with carrying the team right now, which is great," Liufau said. "But I think if we can get the offense firing on all cylinders it would make it a lot easier on ourselves."

Liufau left the game briefly after his injury and went to the locker room, leaving the last possession of the first half to backup Steven Montez. The CU freshman drove the Buffs into UCLA territory, but the Bruins then recorded their third interception of the night.

Liufau returned in the second half and finished the game.

"It was just a little stinger, nothing serious," Liufau said. "We just wanted to make sure that I would be able to play."

BIG NIGHT FOR AWUZIE: Buffs cornerback Chidobe Awuzie recorded CU's first blocked kick of the year when he blocked a UCLA field goal try in the second quarter.

It was the first blocked kick since Tedric Thompson blocked a field goal try in overtime last year vs. Colorado State.

Awuzie also added his eighth career sack, adding to his career-leading total for CU defensive backs.

LINDSAY ALL-PURPOSE: Running back Phillip Lindsay scored CU's only offensive touchdown of the night, a 1-yard run in the first quarter.

Lindsay has now scored in seven of CU's nine games this year, and he's the first CU running back to score 10 or more rushing touchdowns in a season since Rodney Stewart had 10 in 2010.

Lindsay, who also has a receiving touchdown, caught 11 passes Thursday, the most ever by a CU running back, eclipsing the nine by Lawrence Vickers against Oklahoma State in 2004.

DEFENSE NOTES: CU's defense has yielded just one second-half touchdown in the last five games, that coming by USC. The Buffs have also allowed just two touchdowns overall in their last three games.

UCLA managed just 210 yards total offense Thursday, the fourth time the Buff have held an opponent to under 250 this year. The 58 points allowed by CU in the last five games is the fewest in a five-game stretch since the middle of the 1991 season, when CU allowed 55 points in a five-game stretch.

CU also held UCLA to just 4-for-15 on third-down conversions, including just 1 for its last 11.

Colorado also managed to keep alive its streak of forcing at least one turnover when Kenneth Olugbode intercepted a pass in the first quarter. The Buffs now have at least one takeaway in a nation-leading 22 straight games.

UNDER-20 WINS: CU has now won back-to-back games scoring less than 20 points for the first time since the 1969 season, when the Buffs won back-to-back 17-14 games.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu