Woelk: After 3-0 Start, Buffs Show Plenty Of Promise

BOULDER — Now it gets serious.

After Saturday's workmanlike 45-14 win over New Hampshire, the Colorado Buffaloes have three non-conference wins and the confidence that goes with such a stretch.

But if the Buffs are indeed going to make something special out of this season, they know it all truly starts Sept. 28, when UCLA pays a visit to Boulder for a Friday night game under the Folsom Field lights.

The Buffs have been 3-0 after non-conference play before — last year, as a matter of fact. But a slow start in conference play relegated the 2017 Buff to also-ran status down the stretch.

This year, the Buffs believe they can be Pac-12 contenders when November rolls around — and to get there, they need to take all the momentum they have gathered thus far and channel it into a strong conference start.

CU head coach Mike MacIntyre made that much clear to his team in Saturday's post-game locker room. Next week, when the Buffs return to practice Wednesday for three bye-week workouts, MacIntyre told them they will head "down the hill" to their lower-field practice facility.

It is where they had perhaps their best fall camp yet in the MacIntyre era. It is where they put the foundation in place for wins over Colorado State, Nebraska and New Hampshire.

Now, it is where they will conduct a "mini-training camp" as they prepare for their second season, a nine-game Pac-12 stretch — and hopefully put in place a foundation that will produce a successful conference run.

"We'll get a preseason mentality," MacIntyre said. "We finished our preseason, now we're going for Pac-12 season so we're going to go down there and have three aggressive practice and prepare for UCLA after that.."

The Buffs will no doubt have plenty of confidence in their corner after Saturday's win. While nobody expected the Wildcats to present a serious challenge, the Buffs did exactly what good teams are supposed to do in such situations: they took care of business. Colorado made sure the Wildcats never had anything resembling a momentum boost.

CU started with a touchdown on its first possession, set up by a defensive takeaway. Then, when the offense stalled for a couple of possessions, the defense made sure New Hampshire stayed on its side of the field. The Buffs then got their offense cranked up and produced touchdowns on its next two possessions, and finished the half with their first defensive score of the year, a 14-yard Davion Taylor scoop and score on a New Hampshire fumble.

At halftime, the Buffs held a 28-0 lead and had dominated the game. One play into the third quarter, they locked it up when Travon McMillian raced 75 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the half.

It is what good teams do — and it erased any thought that the Buffs would suffer a "letdown" after their first two emotional wins. Instead, the Buffs continued to show why this team has so much potential.

These Buffs have playmakers on both sides of the ball. On Saturday, we saw what we have already come to expect from some. A 28-yard touchdown catch from sophomore wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. in traffic that he somehow made look almost too easy. A typically efficient 14-for-19, 166-yard, one-touchdown day from quarterback Steven Montez. Four tackles, a sack, and two more tackles for loss in basically two quarters of play from sophomore linebacker Nate Landman. Three tackles, a sack and another tackle for loss from defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson, Taylor's second fumble recovery in as many games, and a Rick Gamboa interception.

But there was more. We also saw a 15-carry, 162-yard effort — a career best — from running back Travon McMillian, along with a 13-carry, 94-yard day from Beau Bisharat. There were six catches from K.D. Nixon and five from Tony Brown. Defensive lineman Terrance Lang had a big-time quarterback pressure early in the game that led to Gamboa's interception.

It is what the Buffs were missing a year ago in too many instances. Playmakers who can produce game-changing, momentum-shifting moments — and these Buffs have them spread throughout the lineup.

Not to say Colorado is ready to storm through the Pac-12 with a perfect record. There is, as CU coaches remind their team, plenty of work to be done.

But there is no doubt this team has confidence — and it is a confidence they have earned. They have earned it by dominating one rival, coming from behind to beat another, and then taking care of business in the manner of a good team when they were supposed to.

Now, they have to take that confidence into their preparation for the second season — the one that matters.

MacIntyre believes it is a team ready for the challenge.

"I like the resiliency of our football team," MacIntyre said. "I like our fight and our effort, I like our closeness, I like our mental toughness, I like our physical toughness. We're going to get punched some, but we're not going to stay down. We're going to get back up and punch back. … You can't count these guys out — ever."

No doubt, the road from here gets tougher. But what we have seen thus far from these Buffs is that they are not afraid of a challenge.

The guess here is that they'll be ready when the Bruins come to Boulder.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu