Woelk: 10 Takeaways From Buffs Opening Win

BOULDER — For openers? Not bad.

No one — at least no one inside the Colorado locker room — expected the Buffs to play perfect football in their season opener Friday night.

But in a game against a quality opponent that had the benefit of a game already under its belt, the Buffs played well enough to win and did more than enough in all three phases of the game to provide optimism for the future.

Again — not that the Buffs were anywhere close to perfect. If there was any one overriding theme in the postgame locker room, it was one of happiness with the win accompanied by an acknowledgement that there was plenty of room for improvement.

Still, the Buffs did lots of things well. Thus, in the wake of Colorado's 17-3 opening win over Colorado State, welcome to our first weekly installment of "10 Takeaways:"

1. Solid debut. If you know a little bit about football, you know enough to like what you saw from Colorado defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot in his first game with the Buffs. Eliot constructed an outstanding game plan for Colorado State. The Buffs not only brought pressure on CSU quarterback Nick Stevens from a variety of angles, they did it with a variety of players from a variety of formations. The Buffs had two sacks and five quarterback hurries, with five different players in on those plays, as well as multiple other instances when Stevens hurried his throws when he sensed pressure.

Meanwhile, CU bottled up a strong CSU run game, holding the Rams to 88 yards on 33 carries. Colorado's front seven — the biggest "unknown" heading into camp — played well all night.

Overall, Eliot put his best players in position to make plays, which is exactly what you want from your defensive coordinator.

2. Isaiah Oliver is as good as advertised. CU's latest standout cornerback might be the best the Buffs have seen in a long, long time, and he had an outstanding night against an outstanding receiver, CSU's Michael Gallup. He gives the Buffs the luxury of knowing they have a weapon to combat the other team's best receiver, and his presence allows Eliot and secondary coach ShaDon Brown to mix and disguise coverages everywhere else.

3. There are some standout youngsters on board. Buffs fans with an eye on the future received a great glimpse Friday night, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. True freshmen linebackers Jacob Callier and Dante Sparaco both made plays, and redshirt freshman cornerback Trey Udoffia showed signs of being the guy who will be ready to assume the reins of CU's next standout corner. Callier and Sparaco made plays in pass rush situations; Udoffia grew up in the span of a game and made some big-time plays down the stretch.

Offensively, it was good to see the Buffs go to a double tight end set on occasion, utilizing sophomore Chris Bounds and true freshman Jared Poplawski, both of whom will likely continue to grow in their importance to the offense.

4. There's work to do on offense. First, give some credit to CSU defensive coordinator Marty English, who dialed up a very nice game plan for the Buffs, then made some solid halftime adjustments. But, the biggest takeaway for the Buffs offense might be that one mistake from one player can kill a drive.

Colorado seemed ready for a big night with scores on three straight possessions early — but then proceeded to endure too many self-inflicted wounds the rest of the game. Missed assignments, penalties and poor decisions all figured into the mix.

Some of those can be expected in the season opener, but there were far more mistakes than co-offensive coordinators Darrin Chiaverini and Brian Lindgren were comfortable with. If anything, it might have served as a little wake-up call to an offense that went into the game with big expectations — and now knows it must fix the little things to realize that potential.

5. Phillip Lindsay has improved. Watching Phillip Lindsay grow over his career at Colorado has been a treat for everyone associated with the Buffs.

But Lindsay seems to have added another level to his game, both from a speed and strength perspective as well as an even better understanding of the nuances associated with playing his position. While there were some bumps with CU's offensive consistency, they weren't associated with Lindsay's play.

6. QB Steven Montez gives CU another dimension on offense. Yes, the offense struggled after its early 17-point run. But also evident throughout the night was the added dimension Montez provides. His 31-yard scoring toss to Shay Fields was a great example of what he brings to the table. Flushed quickly from the pocket, Montez simply spun to his left, looked downfield and motioned Fields into the end zone. Montez then delivered a perfect strike for a score.

It's something for which defenses simply can't plan because there's no scheme for such impromptu plays. Montez's ability to throw on the run not only provided some scoring punch, but also bailed the Buffs out of some trouble deep in their own territory a couple of times.

Montez finished with some rather pedestrian numbers: 21-for-29 for 202 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He was also sacked five times. One of the interceptions was a dicey throw he shouldn't have attempted; and he could have avoided a couple of the sacks.

But those are mistakes he will correct — and his athleticism and ability to make plays is something that will be far, far more important to CU in the long run.

7. Special teams are clearly better. Even with a missed field goal and a penalty on punt coverage, Colorado looked much better overall on special teams. Davis Price kicked off four times and none were returned and Alex Kinney punted five times for a 41-yard average and landed four inside the 20. CU's coverage teams weren't tested, but they were on the spot.

8. Opponents are going to test CU's secondary. With three long completions against Colorado negated by offensive pass interference penalties, you can bet teams are going to test the Buffs again deep.

The opinion here is the Buffs will be ready. There are some excellent players throughout CU's secondary — we haven't mentioned Evan Worthington yet, but the junior is going to be a standout player — and as the secondary continues to gel, it will be a very solid unit.

9. CU's pass rush has some potential. One of the questions heading into the season was how CU would replace the sacks posted last season by graduated senior Jimmie Gilbert.

The early guess was that it would be a "committee" approach, and Friday night's game did nothing to dispel that notion. The Buffs don't have a pure pass rush specialist (at least not until Sparaco, Callier, etc. get another year or two under their belts). But Eliot seems to be prepared to bring pressure from a variety of places and a variety of players — something tht worked well in the opener.

10. What's the red zone? While I'm sure it's happened before, it can't be too common: the Buffs won a game in which they penetrated an opponent's red zone just once the entire game (and failed to score on that opportunity).

CU's three scores all came from outside the CSU 20-yard line: a 45-yard Lindsay run, a 31-yard Montez pass to Fields and a 38-yard James Stefanou field goal. Colorado didn't snap the ball inside the CSU 20 until just 8:19 remained in the game, and that drive ended up empty when Stefanou missed a field goal try. The Rams, by the way, weren't much better, reaching inside CU's 20 only twice all night and coming away with only a field goal to show for the efforts.

While it's an interesting stat, the thought here is it's something the Buffs shouldn't try to replicate too often.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu