Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Aim To Get Back On Track Vs. Cal
October 28, 2017 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado running back Phillip Lindsay believes CU's seniors will play with a "sense of urgency" down the home stretch of the season.
That four-game stretch begins Saturday, when the Buffs play host to Cal in a noon homecoming game at Folsom Field. Both teams enter the game with 4-4 overall records and 1-4 Pac-12 marks. The winner will be one step closer to bowl eligibility; the loser will see the postseason become even more difficult to reach.
The Buffs would like this year's team to become the first CU group to play in back-to-back bowls since the 2004-05 teams.
"We still have a lot left to accomplish," said Lindsay, whose production at running back has been one of the Buffs' few constants on offense. "For a lot of us, it is the last four or five games left in our college careers, so the sense of urgency is we'll never play another down in black and gold after these five games. We want to go out with a bang. We want to leave everything out there."
CU fans will be watching closely when Colorado's offense trots onto the field. In the wake of a disappointing performance by the offense in last week's 28-0 loss at Washington State, head coach Mike MacIntyre opened up the quarterback competition this week. Incumbent starter Steven Montez, benched at halftime last week, and redshirt freshman backup Sam Noyer spent the week splitting repetitions in practice, with MacIntyre saying he wouldn't make his decision until Saturday morning.
But it will take more than a quarterback competition to inject life into the Buffs' offense against an improved Cal defense. The Buffs were ineffective in just about every department against the Cougars last week, and Saturday they will face a much-improved Cal defense. After giving up more than 42 points per game a year ago, the Bears are yielding just 28.4 per game this season under first-year head coach Justin Wilcox.
"Cal's s bringing a good football team in here," MacIntyre said. "Coach Wilcox has done a great job with them getting them better and better. … Defensively, their talent has upgraded. They're playing well defensively."
Indeed, while the Bears are just 1-4 in conference play, there is a sense of optimism in Berkeley. Cal beat North Carolina and Ole Miss in nonconference play, took USC into the fourth quarter before losing, and finally broke through with a big 37-3 win over then-unbeaten Washington State. The Bears defense, which has produced a nation-leading 21 takeaways, had seven against WSU.
"Cal is a physical defense," Lindsay said. "They're hungry. Last year they were in a boat where they were struggling, and this year they're trying to make a name for themselves. They're out there playing ball. They're physical, the defense is flying around, and they make plays."
The Buffs are aiming for their first "complete" game in Pac-12 play. In five conference games, Colorado has produced some solid defensive efforts and some high-powered offensive performances — but never at the same time.
"I'm definitely surprised we haven't played a full game on both sides of the ball," said Buffs senior George Frazier, who can speak from a unique perspective — he plays defensive end and tight end. "I can't put my finger on the cause. I feel like as a team we just have to make sure everybody is locked in for the game, not where one side of the ball is more excited than the other. We have to fly around as a unit and understand that the offense is playing for the defense and the defense is playing for the offense and the special teams plays everybody. We have to make sure everybody's out there doing their job and making sure we're all working toward the same goal."
While on offense, the Buffs must contend with linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk, who earned national defensive player of the week honors two weeks ago after recording 11 tackles, 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception against Washington State. The Bears are 4-0 when winning the turnover battle this year (0-1 when even and 0-3 when losing it), and 13 of their 21 takeaways are interceptions — tied for second-best in the nation.
The Buffs must also improve on their third-down conversion percentage. After successfully converting just one of 17 tries last week against WSU, Colorado is ninth in the Pac-12 in that category (50-for-124).
While on defense, CU must contain Cal quarterback Ross Bowers, who threw for 301 yards and two scores last week in a double-overtime loss to Arizona, as well as running backs Patrick Laird and Victor Enwere. Laird ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns last week.
But more than anything, the Buffs simply want to live up to the potential they believed they had when the season began. With four games remaining, it is a season that can go either way.
"I'm seeing hard work, good leadership and positive attitude," MacIntyre said. "Nobody's gone to back-to-back bowl games since 2004, 2005. That's been a long, long time. That's something that these guys can do. We're excited about these last four, especially this one coming up for Cal. Hopefully we can do what we want to do there and make that a special deal."
MATCHUP TO WATCH: Colorado's starting quarterback — whoever it might be — against Cal's secondary. The Bears, with a league-leading 13 interceptions, will likely stack the box in an effort to stop CU's Lindsay and force the Buffs to throw. Colorado needs to complete some throws early to loosen up the Bears defense.
KEEP AN EYE ON: CU's wide receivers. There's been a level of frustrating building with CU's wideouts, and they would no doubt like to have a big game Saturday if the Bears do indeed focus first on the run.
THE SERIES: Cal leads the all-time series 5-3, including a wild 59-56 double-overtime win in their last meeting (2014 in Berkeley). The Buffs won the last meeting in Boulder, 41-24, in 2013.
SALAAM CEREMONY SATURDAY: Along with celebrating homecoming, Colorado will officially retire Rashaan Salaam's No. 19.
Salaam, who passed away last December, is CU's only Heisman Trophy winner, collecting the award in 1994 after a spectacular season that saw him rush for 2,055 yards and score 24 touchdowns.
His number will be just the fourth ever retired by Colorado, joining Byron "Whizzer" White's No. 24, Joe Romig's No. 67 and Bobby Anderson's No. 11. Members of White's family will be in attendance at Saturday's ceremony, as will Anderson and Romig.
A number of Salaam's former teammates will also be present.
BLUEBONNET MEMORIES: Also being honored Saturday will be the 1967 Bluebonnet Bowl champion team. That Eddie Crowder-coached team finished 9-2 (5-2 Big Eight) and climbed as high as the No. 3 ranking in the nation.
The Buffs finished ranked No. 14 after a convincing 31-21 win over Miami in the Bluebonnet Bowl. Safety Dick Anderson earned first-team All-American honors that year, leading a defense that allowed just 92 points in 10 regular season games.
50TH FOR RALPHIE V: Barring weather issues, Saturday will be the 50th time CU's current mascot, Ralphie V, has led the Buffs onto Folsom Field.
NUTS AND BOLTS:
Kickoff: 12:01 p.m., Folsom Field.
Broadcast: The game will be televised nationally by the Pac-12 Networks with Ted Robinson, Chad Brown and Cindy Brunson. The radio broadcast will be carried by AM 850 KOA with Mark Johnson, Gary Barnett and Andy Lindahl.
In-game live blog, stats: A live in-game blog as well as continually updated statistics will be available on www.CUBuffs.com
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
