Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Aim To Take Next Step Vs. Idaho State
September 10, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
1-0 Colorado plays host to Bengals in home opener
BOULDER — The question for the day for the 1-0 Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday will be a simple one.
Have they let the success of one win (albeit an important one) go to their heads, or are they ready to pick up where they left off against Colorado State and take another step forward in what they believe can be a turnaround season for the program?
Buffs fans are hoping it's the latter in today's 3:30 p.m. matchup with Idaho State in Colorado's home opener (Pac-12 Mountain).
Conventional wisdom would suggest that it would be understandable if Mike MacIntyre's Buffs were to look past — even briefly — Saturday's game. Anyone familiar with the Buffs' schedule knows what is on the horizon: back-to-back road trips against top 25 foes, beginning with Michigan next week and Oregon a week later.
It wouldn't be the first time a Power Five program played an FCS team with one eye on the field and one eye on the calendar.
But conventional wisdom in this case would be wrong.
These Buffs have no reason to overlook anyone. A team that entered the season with just 10 wins in the previous three years combined can't afford to take any game against any opponent lightly. These Buffs know that every game — no matter the opponent — is one they must treat with the utmost of importance.
"Idaho State's a good team," Buffs quarterback Sefo Liufau said. "Our mentality is to go out there and put a beating on them if we can. It's no different than any other team. If you are playing Alabama, your goal should be to go out there and put a beating on them. It's important for us to treat every game like it's the national championship."
What the Buffs will be looking to accomplish against ISU is no secret. After their 44-7 win over CSU in their opener, they want to improve while continuing their pursuit of "going 1-0 every week."
"It's really Coach Mac's philosophy, but it's the truth — you want to go 1-0 every week," said safety Afolabi Laguda, who made his first career start for the Buffs last week. "You focus on the team you are playing that week. Every week, the most important game of the season is that game. Coach Mac hasn't really talked about it this season, but he's said it in the past. What you are seeing in this team is a contagious attitude that we don't want to be average."
The Buffs certainly weren't average in their opener, but they still left room for improvement. From three fumbles and some red-zone slips offensively to some brief second-half defensive lapses, there were enough mistakes that CU's coaches and upperclassmen did their best during the week to ensure that complacency was not an issue.
"I think it's easy after any big win to get a little overconfident with yourselves and your abilities," Liufau said. "But those of us who have been here for a while know we've been in a lot of close games and haven't come out on the right side of too many of them. I think all of us, especially the older players, have been doing their best to make sure we continue to focus on the details and the things we're supposed to be doing every day."
What the Buffs would no doubt like to accomplish today is continue what they started against Colorado State: a defense that gave the offense every opportunity possible early in the game, and an offense that took advantage of those opportunities.
A week ago, Buffs defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt called a masterful game against the Rams' run-oriented attack. CU's defense throttled CSU's ground game, forcing the Rams into third-and-long situations for much of the evening.
Saturday, Leavitt's crew will take aim an ISU passing attack that produced 378 yards and three touchdowns through the air in an opening 47-3 win over Simon Fraser. The goal this week, Leavitt said, will be to disrupt ISU quarterback Tanner Gueller's rhythm and force mistakes.
Offensively, the Buffs will try to continue to move at a rapid pace and keep the Bengals' defense on its heels, something CU did very well in the opener.
"If we're able to move the ball on the opponent and keep going at that speed, then we're going to keep doing that," MacIntyre said. "We ran up-tempo last year, (but) we are more effective. We completed more balls, we had more runs that hit, and we were more precise in our blocking and our routes. We've just kept improving. If you have one bad throw, route, or block, it throws off all the timing. You've got to keep the energy going and I think our team is more precise in those areas."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
