Tuesday Buffs Bits: CU Prepares For 2 UCLA Quarterbacks
September 25, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre proved beyond a doubt Tuesday that he has a sense of humor — even when it might be a bit painful.
Asked how difficult it is to prepare for two quarterbacks — the Buffs still don't know who UCLA will start in Friday's 7 p.m. matchup at Folsom Field — MacIntyre flashed a wry smile and said, "Every time you say prepare for two quarterbacks, I kind of break out into a cold sweat from the Arizona game a year ago."
CU's coach was, of course, referring to the moment last season when Arizona starter Brandon Dawkins went down with an injury and was replaced by Khalil Tate. Before the night was over, Tate had rushed for 327 yards — an NCAA record for quarterbacks — and four touchdowns in a 45-42 Arizona win.
But it's highly unlikely the Buffs will see anything resembling Tate Part II on Friday because the appearance of either — or both — UCLA quarterbacks won't be a surprise.
The Buffs have film on both graduate transfer Wilton Speight and true freshman Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
Speight, who transferred to UCLA from Michigan (where the Buffs also faced him), started the season opener for the Bruins before suffering a back injury early in the loss to Cincinnati. Since then, Thompson-Robinson has been at the helm, starting in losses to Oklahoma and Fresno State. Speight is clearly the more experienced of the two and is more of a true pocket passer while Thompson-Robinson is more adept at making plays with his legs.
As of Tuesday, there was no hint from Westwood as to who would get the starting nod. But either way, MacIntyre said, the Buffs aren't expecting a huge deviation in the Bruins' game plan.
"I think Chip (UCLA Coach Chip Kelly) is going to run his offense," MacIntyre said. "From what I saw in their first game against Cincinnati, it was basically the same offense (with both quarterbacks). It's hard to prepare two offenses. They'll pick certain plays that a guy is better at, but that's usually hard to find out in one game, you'll hopefully get it as the quarters go along. Hopefully your defense is able to adjust to different things. We teach them that. They understand that. ... We'll be ready for either one and hopefully we can adjust."
Thus far, the Bruins haven't been overly productive on offense. UCLA is last in the Pac-12 in scoring (17.3 points per game), last in passing yardage (189 yards per game) and eighth in rushing (130.7 per game).
But, MacIntyre said, the Bruins do have capable athletes, and he said he expects a much-improved UCLA team after having almost two weeks to prepare.
"Their scheme is good, offensively and defensively," MacIntyre said. "(Kelly) knows what he is doing. It just takes a while sometimes. … I know Chip will get it turned around. I just hope it's not Friday night."
DEFENSE AIMING TO IMPROVE: After last week's bye week — which came on the heels of CU's 3-0 non-conference start — the Buffs are anxious to begin Pac-12 play.
"Pac-12 play is huge," said linebacker Nate Landman. "We want to relive that 2016 season and get back to the Pac-12 Championship. It starts now. UCLA is a great team and we're preparing hard for them. The bye week was great. We can't wait to get out there."
Landman, a sophomore, is putting together an outstanding season. Despite not playing the entire game against New Hampshire, he is still leading the Buffs with 34 tackles, including 15 solo stops. He also has one sack, five other tackles for loss, as well as a team-leading two interceptions, five third-down stops and a forced fumble.
Now, he said, CU's defense is aiming at correcting some of the mistakes it has made thus far.
"I thought against CSU, we played a pretty sound game," he said. "Football is a game where there are mistakes that are going to be made. We had one turnover that game. Going on to week two and three, our turnovers really exploded. That is one of the goals of our defense. Tackling is still there — we missed a few tackles so we have been working on that. I definitely think that cutting down on explosive plays and making turnovers has been a focus for our defense."
CU has produced seven defensive takeaways thus far, three interceptions and four fumble recoveries. The Buffs have also been relatively solid in limiting explosion plays. So far, opponents have just four scoring plays of at least 20 yards, and one of those came against CU's second unit.
MONTEZ MORE COMFORTABLE: While this is just Steven Montez's second year as CU's starting quarterback, this will actually be the third straight year he has started in Colorado's conference opener.
As a redshirt freshman in 2016, he took over for an injured Sefo Liufau and helped CU to a win in his first-ever college start, a 41-38 victory at Oregon. Last year, in his first year as the full-time starter, the Buffs dropped a 37-10 decision to Washington in their Pac-12 opener.
Now, he's more comfortable than ever as he prepares for his third conference opener.
"I think I just feel a lot more comfortable overall with the system and with understanding and seeing what I'm seeing on the defensive side of the ball," Montez said. "I think we still have to continue to work, still have to continue to get better, and I kind of feel like this game is kind of just like the season starting all over again. We got through the preseason, played pretty well, and we just have to get back to square one and just stay humble and hopefully do our thing on Friday."
Montez has had an excellent start to the season. He leads the Pac-12 in completion percentage, having completed more than 73 percent of his throws (69-for-94), and has thrown for 855 yards, eight touchdowns and just two interceptions. He has also rushed for a touchdown, a 38-yard scamper against Colorado State in the season-opening 45-13 win.
ETC. MacIntyre said punter Alex Kinney, who suffered a broken collarbone against Nebraska and underwent surgery the following week, is recovering. But, he said, there is no timetable for his return. "We'd like to have him back as soon as he is healthy enough to get back," MacIntyre said. … CU defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson is tied for ninth in the nation with six tackles for loss, which includes 3.5 sacks. … For the first time since records were kept, CU has scored on the first drive of the game and the first drive of the second half in the first three games of the year. … The 45-14 win over New Hampshire was the first time in CU history that a Buffs game ended with that score — and the 45-13 win over CSU was also a first for that score in 1,240 Colorado games. … The Buffs are currently 16th in the nation in punt return defense (opponents are averaging just 1.0 yard per return) and 16th in kick return defense (giving up just 16.0 yards per return).
BROADCAST: Friday's FS1 network crew will include Brian Custer (play by play), Ben Leber (color commentary) and Jennifer Hale (sidelines). The KOA radio crew will be Mark Johnson, Gary Barnett and Andy Lindahl.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
