Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Take Aim At 3-0 Start In Home Opener Vs. New Hampshire
September 15, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — This is no time to relax.
With two wins in two weeks against two long-time rivals now in the books, the 2-0 Colorado Buffaloes finally get a chance to play on their home turf Saturday when they face 0-2 New Hampshire in a 3 p.m. game at Folsom Field (Pac-12 Mountain).
It is not a game in which the Buffs can afford to relax — not, at least, if they want to head into their bye week with some momentum ahead of their Sept. 28 Pac-12 opener with UCLA.
"If we want to be champions, we have to keep getting better," head coach Mike MacIntyre said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. "We have a saying: you're either getting better or you're getting worse, nothing stays the same."
The Buffs are understandably flying high after opening their season with wins over Colorado State in Denver and Nebraska on the Huskers' home turf. While a win is clearly their No. 1 goal, the Buffs also want to put forth a solid effort on both sides of the ball and keep their confidence level high.
"We are very excited to play at Folsom and excited to play in front of our fans," said quarterback Steven Montez, who earlier this week was named the Maxwell Award national offensive player of the week. "Hopefully we have a good showing out there. Either way, we are going to do what we do on offense and on defense. We are going to play our game just like we have been."
The Wildcats are a perennial FCS power, having advanced to the postseason playoffs in each of the last 14 seasons. But they have struggled thus far, starting the season with a 35-7 loss to rival Maine — a game in which they also lost starting quarterback Trevor Knight to a shoulder injury — followed by a 10-3 loss to Colgate.
But the Buffs have given no hint this week that they are taking the Wildcats lightly.
"We know New Hampshire has a rich history," wide receiver Jay MacIntyre said. "They've made 14 straight FCS playoffs. FCS teams beat FBS teams all the time. They're going to come in here with a chip on their shoulder, ready to go, and we have to be ready to go. We have to keep building and take this game as a stepping stone for the next one and continue to get better every single game, every single week."
Along with a win, another goal for Colorado will be to get through Saturday's game with no more injuries. The Buffs came home from Nebraska with a variety of bumps and bruises, and while they are expected to have nearly everyone available for the Wildcats — punter Alex Kinney is definitely out with a broken collarbone — the bye week will also come at a good time in that regard. The Buffs have been practicing now for six straight weeks, and a few days off should help them heal some of those minor ailments as well as regain their "legs" for the conference run.
"The bye weeks are always good, especially to kind of get us ready right before we start the Pac-12 season," MacIntyre said. "That's a good spot to have one."
But to get there with the necessary confidence and momentum, they would like a strong showing Saturday, and that means another fast start on both sides of the ball. Colorado has scored on its first two possessions in both games thus far, while the defense has produced three first-half turnovers — each of which has led to a Colorado score.
They also don't want to give the Wildcats any early momentum or confidence.
"We're going to treat (UNH) just like anybody else," said Buffs linebacker Nate Landman, this week's Nagurski Award national player of the week. "This game is the most important game on our schedule right now, because it's this week. We're going to focus on being Colorado and playing Colorado football."
But Landman and his cohorts may be a puzzle the Wildcats aren't prepared to solve.  After losing Knight — the CAA preseason Offensive Player of the year — UNH will give sophomore Christian Lupoli his second career start, and he won't be expecting a lot of support from the run game. The Wildcats are averaging just 33 yards per game on the ground after finishing the Main contest with a minus-7 yards rushing. Head coach Sean McDonnell said earlier this week he may try two new starters on his offensive line to see if he can give the run game a boost.
McDonnell, the Wildcats' head coach since 1999, had plenty of praise for the Buffs.
"This is the best football team we've played — and I'm not just talking about playing this year," McDonnell said. "This is the best, physical football team that we've played at the University of New Hampshire. … As a program, this is gonna be one the top challenges, if not the top challenge, we've faced on a football field in a long, long time."
BUFFS VS. FCS: This will be Colorado's eighth game against an FCS foe, with CU holding a 5-2 record in those games, including victories in the last four. CU's last FCS opponent was Northern Colorado last season, a 41-21 CU win.
MATCHUP TO WATCH: Colorado's passing game against the New Hampshire defense. After a rough opener, the Wildcats improved significantly on the defensive side of the ball last week. UNH has a pair of solid pass rushers in Jae'Wua Horton and Ryan Sosnak, both with a pair of sacks this year. The Buffs gave up seven sacks last week at Nebraska, a number they would like to dramatically reduce this week.
KEEP AN EYE ON: Colorado's pass rush. The Buffs have five sacks this year; UNH has yielded nine.
THE SERIES: This is the first meeting ever between the two programs.
NUTS AND BOLTS:
Kickoff: 3 p.m., Folsom Field (50,183).
Broadcast: The game will be televised by the Pac-12 Network with Jim Watson and former CU and NFL standout Chad Brown.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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