Buffs Aim To Get Back On Track As Beavers Visit For Homecoming
October 27, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Homecoming has a little more meaning this week for Mike MacIntyre's Colorado Buffaloes.
After two straight games on the road against the last two Pac-12 champs, 5-2 Colorado  (2-2 Pac-12) finally returns to the friendly confines of Folsom Field on Saturday, where the Buffs will host Oregon State (1-6, 0-4) in a 1 p.m. nationally televised game.
At stake immediately for Colorado is the chance to become bowl eligible with a win. But with five regular season games remaining — and a chance to be in the hunt for a Pac-12 South title down the stretch — Colorado hopes Saturday's matchup with the Beavers is the beginning of something much bigger.
"What we call the 'gold games' happen in November, but we made this a gold game," MacIntyre said earlier this week. "We've moved November up a week. We've got to basically run the table. We're excited about having this opportunity Saturday to get going and we do feel like we have a chance. Almost everybody in the Pac-12 South thinks they have a chance. We've got some really good home games ahead of us here and we need to take care of home (field) and then play better on the road."
Beginning with Saturday's game, the Buffs play three of their final five contests at Folsom. They head to Arizona next week, followed by back-to-back home games with Washington State and Utah before the regular season finale at Cal.
But in order for those games to increase in importance, CU needs to take care of business Saturday against an Oregon State team that has lost five straight games. In order to do that, the Buffs need to rediscover the offensive consistency that has evaded them the last couple of weeks, while continuing to play solid defense.
Most of all, according to CU quarterback Steven Montez, the Buffs need to have a little edge to their attitude in the wake of two consecutive losses.
"It's kind of like being backed into a corner and the only way you are getting out of there is to come out swinging," Montez said. "That is what we plan on doing Saturday."
Colorado's offense should have that opportunity against the Beavers. OSU is ranked last in the Pac-12 and 127th in the nation in scoring defense, yielding 47.3 points per game, and 128th in total defense, giving up 541 yards per game.
But Colorado's offense has been firing on all cylinders on a consistent basis the last two weeks. After averaging almost 38 points per game while starting the season with five straight wins, the Buffs hit a rough patch, scoring just 20 and 13 points in their last two games.
They would love to turn that trend back in the other direction against a team that is giving up 276 yards per game on the ground and 266 in the air.
"It will be huge for us this week to get some positive things going on offense," Montez said. "We have a good offense here. Oregon State is going to be a good team so we just have to see who brings their A-game on Saturday."
Defensively, Colorado will face an offense headed by former Buffs offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren — but unlike many of Lindgren's teams in the past, his current offense leans heavily on the run. The Beavers have the Pac-12's leading rusher in freshman Jermar Jefferson (899 yards, 12 touchdowns) and another talented back in junior Artavis Pierce (343 yards).
"We've been going back looking at stuff he used to do in practice, everything, all of his old trick plays and all the stuff he's ran before," MacIntyre said of playing against a Lindgren offense. "I know he'll pull some of those out. ... I was very impressed with their running game."
Both teams have injury issues coming in at several positions. That, MacIntyre said, is just part of the game, especially at this point in the season.
"It's a physical man's game," MacIntyre said. "You have to be tough, you have to be physical, you have to bounce back from injury and the guys behind him have to be ready to step up and play, and not just step up and play, they better play well. That's what we're counting on. I believe our guys understand that so hopefully they'll take that mentality."
MATCHUP TO WATCH: CU's receivers against Oregon State secondary. The Beavers have had trouble in one-on-one situations and the Buffs have been good when they get receivers and running backs in space. If Colorado can force some of those matchups, the Buffs will be in good shape.
KEEP AN EYE ON: Colorado's defensive line. If the Buffs can stop OSU's run game, it will force the Beavers to throw — and they have allowed 30 quarterback sacks this season.
THE SERIES: Colorado has won three straight in the series, which now tied at 5-5. In their last meeting in Boulder (2016), the Buffs rolled to a 47-6 win.
NUTS AND BOLTS:
Kickoff: 1:10 p.m., Folsom Field (50,183).
Broadcast: The game will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks with Roxy Bernstein, Anthony Herron and Lewis Johnson. The radio broadcast will be carried by AM 850 KOA with Mark Johnson and Gary Barnett in the booth and Andy Lindahl on the sidelines.
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
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