Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Prepare For High-Powered UCLA Aerial Attack
September 26, 2017 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — In the words of Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre, the numbers posted by UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen this year have been "ridiculous."
Ridiculous as in ridiculously good. Astounding. Eye-popping.
Over the first four games of the season, Rosen has thrown for 1,763 yards and 16 touchdowns, averaging averaged 50 passes, four touchdowns, one interception and 440.8 yards per game for the 2-2 Bruins. Those numbers are good enough to put him atop the national charts in total passing yards, passing yards per game, total offense and touchdown passes.
Over the last two games (both losses for the Bruins), Rosen has attempted 116 passes and completed 74 for 943 yards, seven touchdowns — and four interceptions.
The 3-1 Buffs are preparing to see that type of aerial attack Saturday when they meet the Bruins in an 8:30 p.m. game at the Rose Bowl (ESPN2).
"When I was watching the tape I was saying, 'Oh my goodness,'" MacIntyre said. "He's just so accurate right now. I mean, he's not missing anything. … He's got good weapons and I think he completely understand their passing system. That gives him confidence to go in there and do well. He's got some ridiculous numbers, there's no doubt about it. So, hopefully if we could just cut those numbers in half he'd still have pretty good numbers, but not ridiculous."
No doubt, if Rosen continues to throw the ball at his current rate, it will be the biggest test yet for Colorado's secondary. The Buffs have played well against quality quarterbacks thus far, including Colorado State's Nick Stevens and Washington's Jake Browning, but they have yet to see a quarterback who throws the ball with the frequency of Rosen.
"He's a premier quarterback," Buffs cornerback Isaiah Oliver said. "He's going to play in the NFL, I believe, for a long time. He's able to see the coverage, see what the defense is going to do and he picks where he's going to throw it before the snap happens. He knows what's going to be open."
The Buffs didn't see Rosen last year, as he missed much of UCLA's season with an injury. As a result, the Colorado-UCLA game ended up being an abnormally low-scoring game, with Colorado grinding out a 20-10 win.
But Colorado did get a big taste of Rosen two years ago, when he rallied the Bruins to a 35-31 win over the Buffs in the Rose Bowl. Rosen was an "average" 19-for-33 for 261 yards and one touchdown in that game.
Since then, he's improved exponentially.
"He does a good job getting the ball out of his hands," Buffs secondary coach ShaDon Brown said. "He knows where he's going with the ball. When the ball is snapped he sees the safeties, he knows where the rotation is and he gets the ball to that guy. He's not afraid to take the check down or the low throw. He's not a guy that tries to be the hero every snap and throw the ball down the field. He takes the throws that you give him. If there's a guy open that may be a 7-yard gain versus trying to be a hero on a 40-yard gain, he takes the 7-yard gain and moves the sticks."
Of course, great quarterbacks need quality receivers, and the Bruins are amply stocked in that department. Senior wide receiver Darren Andrews already has 32 catches for 457 yards and seven touchdowns, junior Jordan Lasley has 19 catches for 320 yards and three touchdowns and sophomore Caleb Wilson has 32 catches for 425 yards and one touchdown.
In comparison, CU's leading receiver, Shay Fields, has 24 catches for 293 yards and a pair of scores.
"It's definitely an exciting game if you play defensive back and an exciting game when you know who you are seeing at quarterback," Buffs safety Afolabi Laguda said. "He's like a surgeon back there and they have an arsenal of weapons. They get in and out of their breaks in a hurry. We just have to play disciplined and good techniques on every snap."
The Buffs know they won't shut Rosen out. As Brown said, "If they throw it 65 times, they're going to catch some."
The key will be to keep the Bruins from putting up big plays. UCLA already has 30 passes of 20 yards or more, with 11 of those for at least 30 yards.
Part of the reason for Rosen's big numbers is that the Bruins have been behind for much of the season and been forced to play catchup. They trailed Texas A&M in the opener, 44-10, before rallying for a miraculous 45-44 win. After an easy 56-23 win over Hawaii, they dropped a 48-45 decision at Memphis State, then were beaten last week by Stanford, 58-34.
Thus, while the Bruins are averaging 45 points per game, they are yielding 43.2.
"I'm pretty sure they want more balance," MacIntyre said. "They would not like to have the opponent score 40 points on them. That's why they had to keep throwing. If it's a lower scoring game, they won't throw it as much. … But when they got behind, they had to keep scoring. The Memphis game was like a pinball game, both teams just kept scoring on each other. In the Stanford game, they got up on them and Stanford came back. Then boom-boom-boom they were down 21 and they had to throw to catch up. They just threw it every down. So that skewed it a little bit. But I would imagine that they would like to be more 50-50."
Of course, the best way for the Buffs to keep Rosen from moving the offense is to keep him off the field. That means CU's offense needs to generate some long drives and points of its own at every opportunity.
"Every time I turn on the film it seems like they scored another touchdown," MacIntyre said. "We're going to have to slow them down and we're going to have to score points to be able to hang with UCLA. Playing at the Rose Bowl is always a lot of fun for our guys. We have a lot of guys from that area. We need to go there and play well."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
