Buffs Offense Faces Much-Improved Cal Defense
November 22, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — When the 5-6 Colorado Buffaloes line up against the Cal defense Saturday, many of the faces and names will be familiar.
A majority of Cal's starting defenders, including leading tacklers Jordan Kunaszyk and Evan Weaver, were on the field a year ago in Boulder, when Colorado had perhaps its best overall effort of the year in a 44-28 win. The game featured CU's highest yardage total in conference play (553) as well as a season-high in points.
But while the faces on the Cal defense are the same, the results they have produced this year under second-year head coach Justin Wilcox and second-year defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter have been much improved. The Bears are among the Pac-12's top defensive teams in virtually every statistical category, and over their last four games, have been playing defense as well as anyone in the league.
Saturday's kickoff is set for 5:10 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks).
"When you watch them play defense, there's 11 guys tied together knowing exactly what the other guy is supposed to be doing," CU interim head coach Kurt Roper said. "They do it through a lot of repetition so they know where they're supposed to fit on any call, on any pressure, on any coverage. Then, you can't past their talent. They've got some guys up front that can anchor and make it hard on a guard to get push. They've got two inside linebackers that are absolute playmakers, both of them are physical guys that can run, pressure the quarterback or be in coverage down the field. … They're a talented group, but I think they have a really good system and understand that system, you look at now two years of doing that, they're pretty good at it."
The Bears (6-4 overall, 3-4 Pac-12) have been outstanding on defense over the last month. In a 3-1 stretch that included wins over Washington and USC — two teams that beat Colorado — they have held opponents to an average of 12.5 points per game and have not given up more than 100 yards rushing. In the air, they lead the league in interceptions with 14, and have at least one interception in each of their last four contests.
"What they have done really well is they've built a system," Roper said. "All the players on the field know exactly what they're trying to accomplish per call. They know their issues in each defense. Because of that they play really fast and they play really well together."
A year ago, the Buffs managed to find plenty of holes in that defense. CU quarterback Steven Montez threw for 353 yards and three touchdowns in Colorado's win and the Buffs rushed for 200 in the game.
But finding those same holes this year won't be as easy, as the Bears have obviously become much more comfortable in their second year in DeRuyter's system.
"They look good," Montez said. "They're a good team, a good defense. They're going to play some single high,  they play more single high than they do two-high, and they play a four-down nickel defense. … (But) we see a lot of things that we can execute against their defense. I think we'll have some stuff specifically for them they we can get some positive stuff out of."
The Buffs (5-6, 2-6) will need those positive plays on first down to end their current six-game losing streak. They have struggled in that area recently, which has led to too many second- and third-and-long situations. In situations in which the Buffs have faced third-and-5 or longer, they have converted just 31 of 118 tries (26 percent). On third-and-4 or shorter, they are 26-for-46 (56.5 percent).
"The key to that is shortening first and second down," Montez said. "it's tough to get third and longs, especially third and 10, third and 12. Those are difficult plays to convert. If we can shorten the down and distance on first and second down, get some more positive plays, we'll be in good shape. If we get in those intermediate, third and five, third and three, third and short, we'll be in good shape."
BROADCAST: The Pac-12 broadcast crew will consist of Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Ryan Leaf (color commentary) and Cindy Brunson (sidelines). The KOA radio crew will have Mark Johnson on play-by-play, with Gary Barnett (color) and Mark MacIntosh on the sidelines.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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