Buffs Secondary Gears For CSU Passing Game
August 27, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Guaranteed, the Colorado State offense has the full attention of the Colorado Buffaloes' defense.
Forget the final score. The Rams' 43-34 loss to Hawaii in their Saturday season opener is really a secondary statistic for the Buffs. What has the Buffs' rapt attention is the Rams' second-half offensive performance, one in which CSU amassed 450 yards offense and 27 points, very nearly erasing a 37-7 deficit in the process.
The Buffs will open their season Friday against the Rams in a 7:30 p.m. game at Broncos Stadium at Mile High (CBSSN).
"They have a great quarterback, a great receiving corps and they do a good job on offense," said CU's defensive passing game coordinator ShaDon Brown, who spent his Sunday dissecting game film. "They can score points and they've put up a lot of yards, and this isn't the first time. They did the same thing last year. We have to do a good job of having our eyes in the right spot and making plays on the football."
The Rams' offense will no doubt be a test for CU's defense, in particular a secondary that will likely have at least one cornerback making his Division I debut. Colorado's first depth chart of the season lists junior college transfer Delrick Abrams Jr. as the starter at one corner, with Trey Udoffia and Dante Wigley as co-No. 1s at the other. CU's starting safeties, Nick Fisher and Evan Worthington, are both seniors.
The Rams bring a senior quarterback into the game, Washington transfer K.J. Carta-Samuels, along with three quality receivers.
"Anytime you have a senior quarterback, that really helps, just the maturity factor," Brown said. "And when you're going against receivers that are 6-foot-4, 6-5, 6-6, that poses problems — size, matchups, those things. You have to stay on top and know that there's times when a receiver is going to get a jump ball and you have to play it through his hands."
The Rams do indeed have size at the position. Junior Preston Williams, a 6-foot-4 transfer from Tennessee, finished with nine catches for 188 yards and two scores. Senior Olabisi Johnson (6-0, 203 pounds) added six catches for 157 yards and two score while 6-6 sophomore Warren Jackson added five catches for 72 yards.
But the Buffs do have one thing in their favor when it comes to matching up against big receivers — they do it every day in practice. CU boasts a pair of 6-3 receivers in seniors Juwann Winfree and Kabion Ento, plus 6-2, 225-pound sophomore Laviska Shenault Jr.
"We've worked against those types of guys all training camp," Brown said. "Our guys will not be shell-shocked by a big receiver. When you line up against 6-2, 225-pound Laviska, and Kabion and Juwann, it's a challenge in practice. We've had good matchups in practice that are going to help us on Friday night."
For most of three quarters, the Rams were dominated by Hawaii. With three minutes to go in the third period, CSU still trailed 37-7. But the Rams then caught fire, putting together scoring drives of 75, 72, 99 and 75 yards to throw a scare into the Rainbow Warriors. CSU closed to within 40-34 before Hawaii finally put the game away with a late field goal.
"Three really good receivers," CU head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "Bisi (Johnson) is a football player. They're really, really talented. No. 9 (Jackson) has gotten better and better … and of course (Williams) can fly. When he gets rolling, he can absolutely fly."
While the CU secondary will be in the spotlight, it will be up to CU's defensive line to get pressure on Carta-Samuels and force him to throw quickly after the snap.
"The misconception is that pass defense is the secondary and linebackers," Brown said. "But pass defense starts up front. If you're getting pressure on the quarterback, the quarterback has a shorter window to throw the football. As he has a shorter time to throw it, he doesn't have as much time to throw deep down the field. That obviously helps the coverage. It's all one unit, and we need the pass rush and the pressure on the quarterback to help us cover better."
MacIntyre said he was impressed with the Rams' resiliency. Instead of calling it a night when they were down by 30 points, they came just short of a miraculous comeback.
"I was really impressed with their fight and their spirit in the second half coming back because they really could have won the football game," MacIntyre said. "Pretty amazing, to be honest, how they did that in the second half."
MacIntyre is well-acquainted with Carta-Samuels, as he played high school football in San Jose, Calif., when MacIntyre was coaching at San Jose State. Carta-Samuels finished Saturday's game with 34 completions in 50 attempts for a CSU-record 537 yards passing, five touchdowns and one interception, with four of the touchdown throws coming in the second half.
"I was really impressed with his deep ball passing ability," MacIntyre said. "I feel like he started figuring it out, what they were doing. He did an excellent job."
The flip side to the late CSU rally is that the Rams' defense never really figured out how to stop Hawaii's run and shoot offense. Hawaii finished with 617 yards total offense, with 418 coming through the air and another 199 on the ground. Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald was a one-man wrecking crew, completing 26 of 37 pass attempts for 418 yards and three scores, while also running 13 times for 96 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
"That run and shoot is hard to prepare for in a couple of days," MacIntyre said. "I know they'll play a ton better on defense than they did."
STARTING ASSIGNMENT FOR ANTWINE: True freshman Israel Antwine will be the first true freshman to start on the defensive line for MacIntyre in his tenure at Colorado.
"I'm excited about what Israel's done," MacIntyre said. "He's had a phenomenal fall camp. He'll have an excellent year, but he'll have his ups and downs like a freshman does. Like I said, when he walked on campus he was physically ready to go. Could he handle everything else? So far he's showed us he could. I'm excited about Izzy. I really am."
O-LINE EXPERIENCE: After a camp when the Buffs mixed and matched a number of combinations on the offensive line, CU will start a group Friday that includes three players with starting experience, one who played a handful of snaps last year and one who will be making his Division I debut.
The starting group consists of right tackle Aaron Haigler (16 career starts), right guard Tim Lynott Jr. (24), redshirt center Colby Pursell (college debut), left guard Brett Tonz (63 snaps on the O-line last season) and left tackle Josh Kaiser (five starts).
Also expected to see some time are redshirt freshmen Jacob Moretti and William Sherman, and possibly true freshman Frank Fillip.
"I feel good about it," MacIntyre said of his line. "I feel good about the young guys who will play too. We'll see how that all pans out. Those guys will be ready to go and hopefully play well. CSU has some excellent pass rushers. they really rushed well in the game Saturday. … Our guys are going to have their hands full."
TV CREW: Friday night's CBS Sports Network crew will consist of Carter Blackburn on play by play, Aaron Taylor on color commentary and John Schriffen from the sidelines. The same crew called the CSU-Hawaii game.
Friday will be the first of three Friday night games for the Buffs this year. They will also play Friday under the lights at home against UCLA (Sept. 28) in their Pac-12 opener, along with a Nov. 2 road game at Arizona.
THE SERIES: Colorado holds a 65-22-2 edge in the all-time series, including an 11-6 mark in Denver. MacIntyre is 4-1 in the series, including all three matchups with current CSU coach Mike Bobo. CU has won four of the last five, six of the last eight and eight of the last 11. Colorado State's last win came by a 31-17 count in 2014.
CU's current three-game win streak started with a 27-24 overtime win in 2015, followed by a 44-7 victory in 2016 and a 17-3 victory last year.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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