Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Familiar With Pettis' Punt Return Talents
September 18, 2017 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Nobody has to tell Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre about the punt return skills of Washington's Dante Pettis.
Pettis last weekend tied the NCAA career record for punt return touchdowns when he returned a kick 77 yards for a score against Fresno State. It was Pettis' eighth career punt return touchdown and his third this season, with one in each of Washington's first three games.
But MacIntyre didn't need to look at this year's film to see Pettis' talents. MacIntyre can go back to 2014, when Pettis — then a sophomore — returned a punt 87 yards for a score against the Buffs in Boulder, a play that gave the Huskies their final touchdown in a 38-23 win.
It was Pettis' first career return for a touchdown.
"He's a really good player," said MacIntyre, whose Buffs will get another look at Pettis on Saturday when the Huskies visit Folsom Field for an 8 p.m. contest (FS1). "They do a great job of blocking for him, too. He's made a lot of plays."
Thus far this season, the Buffs' punt coverage team hasn't been tested much. CU's Alex Kinney has punted 15 times and opponents have returned just two for a total of nine yards. The Huskies will no doubt do their best to get Pettis an opportunity.
"He's a guy we have to know where he is on the field, offensively and punt returns," MacIntyre said. "We're working hard at that and hopefully we can corral him."
Pettis is also a talented receiver. He leads the Huskies this year in receiving with 12 catches for 209 yards and three touchdowns — including a 73-yarder — but he is just one cog in an overall very impressive Washington team that is currently ranked No. 7 in the AP poll and No. 6 in the coaches' poll.
"Washington is extremely talented," said MacIntyre, whose Buffs spent the morning looking at film from last year's 41-10 loss to the Huskies in the 2016 Pac-12 championship game. "To me they look better than they did last year when we played them. They're a really good football team."
FILM REVIEW: After reviewing film of Saturday's 41-21 win over Northern Colorado, MacIntyre said he thought the Buffs "played extremely hard."
"We were very very physical in the football game," MacIntyre said. "We just gave up two deep balls (for touchdowns) where we screwed it up. … we were definitely physical and came ready to play and played hard."
MacIntyre did lament a pair of red zone turnovers — one fumble and one interception. Touchdowns on either possession could have put the game out of reach a little sooner. And, he said, CU coaches will continue to work with defensive players on "targeting." The Buffs had two players ejected last weekend and one, defensive lineman Chris Mulumba, will have to miss the first half of Saturday's game as a result.
"You just keep teaching them," MacIntyre said. "We have to keep targeting lower. It's something that happens from time to time. You don't want it to, but it happens."
OL WORK: Buffs O-line coach Klayton Adams said he thought CU sophomore Tim Lynott Jr. "played well" in his first start at center. Lynott started all 14 games last year and the first two this year at guard before stepping in at center last week in place of injured Jonathan Huckins.
"He's probably not 100 percent comfortable with it yet, but he's growing more and more comfortable with it," Adams said. "He gives us something at guard and center and having the flexibility to do both is probably a good thing for our offense in the long run."
The Buffs also switched up their offensive line last week with the return of Jeromy Irwin to left tackle, Aaron Haigler from right tackle to right guard and Josh Kaiser to right tackle.
Adams also said he will continue to search for the best five players up front.
"We've had the same mantra here for couple of weeks in a row," Adams said. "Five guys are going to earn a starting job."
LB LEWIS' HOT START: Colorado inside linebacker Drew Lewis has recorded at least 10 tackles in his first three career starts this season, making him the first known Buff to put up those kind of numbers since former Colorado great Greg Biekert managed the feat in 1990.
Lewis opened with 12 tackles against Colorado State, followed up with 13 against Texas State and was credited with 10 after coaches film review of last weekend's win over Northern Colorado.
Biekert actually opened his career with four straight double-digit tackle games: 13 against Tennessee, 14 against Stanford, 20 against Illinois and 13 against Texas.
Lewis is also proving adept at putting pressure on the quarterback. After three games, he has four quarterback hurries, tying him with true freshman Jacob Callier for the team lead in that category.
300-100-100 GAMES: Saturday's win over Northern Colorado was just the 11th time in CU history that the Buffs have had a 300 yard passer (Steven Montez with 357), a 100-yard rusher (Phillip Lindsay with 151) and a 100-yard receiver (Devin Ross with 143).
It was the second time Montez has been involved in such a game (he did it last year vs. Oregon) and he joined Sefo Liufau and Mike Moschetti as the only Buffalo quarterbacks to be involved in multiple 300/100/100 games.
Also of note: the last four times the Buffs have hit the 300-100-100 mark, Ross has been involved as the 100-yard receiver. They are the only four 100-yard receiving games of his career.
CU's 300/100/100 Games
Date, Opponent — Passer Rusher Receiver
10/12/96 Oklahoma St. — Detmer (402) Henry (101) Carruth (166)
9/11/99 San Jose St. — Moschetti (465) C. Johnson (104) Stiggers (174)
11/26/99 Nebraska — Moschetti (317) C. Johnson (135) Green (100)
10/23/04 Texas A&M — Klatt (346) Purify (130) Sprague (101)
11/6/10 Kansas — Hawkins (322) Stewart (175) Richardson (141)
9/22/12 Washington St. — Webb (345) Jones (105) Spruce (103)
11/1/14 Washington — Liufau (314) Adkins (109) Spruce (138)
10/31/15 UCLA — Liufau (312) Carr (100) Ross (101)
9/24/16 Oregon — Montez (333) Montez (135) Ross (153)
11/19/16 Washington St. — Liufau (345) Lindsay (144) and Liufau (108), Ross (121)
9/16/17 Northern Colorado — Montez (357) Lindsay (151) Ross (143)
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
