Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Take Aim At Breakthrough Offensive Performance
October 02, 2017 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Five weeks into the season, the Colorado offense is still waiting for that "breakthrough" game.
That's certainly not where the Buffs thought their offense would be when the season started. With returning starters at almost every position and a quarterback who played extremely well in three starts last year, the general consensus was that this offense would hit the ground scoring points and not stop.
But that isn't how things have played out thus far. While the offense has shown bursts and flashes of its potential, consistency has yet to manifest itself. Mistakes of all kinds — penalties, dropped passes, missed assignments, missed reads — have prematurely ended too many CU drives and the Buffs are now 11th in the Pac-12 in scoring offense (25.6 points per game), seventh in rushing offense (151.4 yards per game) and 10th in total offense (417.8 yards per game).
Still, every week offers a new opportunity. Now the 3-2 Buffs (0-2 Pac-12) are taking aim at ending those mistakes and putting together a complete game this weekend when Arizona (2-2, 0-1) pays a Saturday visit to Folsom Field for a 6 p.m. matchup (Pac-12 Networks).
It won't be easy. The Wildcats have played good defense this year and currently rank fifth in the conference in scoring defense (22.2 points per game) and sixth in total defense (376 yards per game).
Still, the Buffs believe there's no time like the present to find that gear they've been missing.
"I believe we're close to that breakthrough-type game," Buffs co-offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini said after Monday's practice. "But at the end of the day, you can't have drops, you can't miss reads, you can't hurt yourself with penalties. … I'm a firm believer you are what your record says you are and right now we're 3-2. We have to find ways to score points and get better."
The Buffs are coming off a particularly difficult 27-23 loss to UCLA, a game Chiaverini — and everyone else associated with the offense — believes they they had an opportunity to win.
But the mistakes Chiaverini mentioned played a major role in turning five CU trips into the red zone into three field goals, one touchdown and a failed fake field goal try. One of those red zone drives ended prematurely on a dropped pass in the end zone, another saw a Steven Montez touchdown run nullified by a penalty, and a third suffered a big setback when running back Phillip Lindsay was thrown for a loss on second down.
"I feel like we've gotten better from Week 1 to Week 5, but we have to do a better job as coaches of getting our players ready to execute in the red zone," Chiaverini said. "We were one of five in the red area on scoring touchdowns. We can't settle for field goals. That's on the group to get better."
In terms of yardage, the Buffs had a solid day against the Bruins. CU finished with 434 yards offense, including a robust 191-yard effort on the ground. CU did not commit a turnover, an area that was a big emphasis last week, and some new offensive wrinkles, including a wildcat formation, helped the Buffs move the ball effectively — until they neared the goal line.
"You just keep working at it, keep going, and eventually different things happen and you make a play here or there," head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "You get a call here or there and things happen. You just keep playing. I definitely believe our guys are playing and playing. Things bounce your way at times and then it starts mushrooming so to speak."
What has become apparent this season is that opposing defenses are concentrating on preventing CU's wide receivers from hurting them with the deep ball, and the result has been a dearth of long completions. The Buffs' longest play from scrimmage this year is a 45-yard LIndsay run; their longest pass is a 44-yard Montez completion to Shay Fields.
"We've seen a lot of drop eight, a lot of three double-cloud (defensive schemes), trying to take away the wideouts and make us run the ball," Chiaverini said. "We have to be smart and take our chances where we feel we're able to get them."
But, Chiaverini added, the biggest issue is not scheme.
"At the end of the day, it comes down to execution and we're not there," he said. "We're not executing at a high level. We have to get there, and we have to get there in a hurry."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
