Woelk: 10 Takeaway From Buffs' Win Over Bruins

September 29, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk

By: Neill Woelk, Contributing Editor

BOULDER — For the fourth time in as many games, Mike MacIntyre's Colorado Buffaloes did what was necessary to produce a win Friday night at Folsom Field.

For a half, they sparred with visiting UCLA, then delivered the knockout punch in the third quarter. In a matter of roughly 10 minutes, they turned a close game into a dominant performance by the home team, ultimately scoring 24 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to produce a 38-16 victory.

Now, the 4-0 Buffs will spend the week preparing for their second Pac-12 game, next Saturday's 2 p.m. visit from Arizona State (Pac-12 Networks). They will continue to work on the areas that need improvement, fine-tune the things they have been doing well, and no doubt add a few new wrinkles to show the Sun Devils.

So what did we learn from the Buffs' latest effort — and what does it mean for the future?

Our weekly 10 Takeaways:

1. Defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot is making the right calls. Twice this year, the Buffs have had to make some big halftime adjustments, and twice those adjustments have paid off. At Nebraska, Colorado gave up 21 points in the first half and just 7 in the second. Friday, Colorado yielded 13 points in the first half and just three in the second.

Eliot continues to put his playmakers in position to impact the game. Early Friday night, he brought pressure off the edge in the form of outside linebacker Drew Lewis, who notched his first two sacks of the season (and just missed his third). Eliot also continues to get Buff back Davion Taylor into the mix, with Taylor also recording his first sack of the season. That's something we will likely see more of in the future, as Lewis and Taylor give Colorado a terrific one-two speed rush from the outside.

Meanwhile, Eliot is also doing a nice job of mixing and disguising CU's secondary coverages while getting a good push up the middle from the defensive line rotation. UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson was just 17-for-35 for 138 yards and a score, and his longest completion of the night was just 23 yards. Even when Thompson-Robinson had time to throw, he didn't often have open receivers downfield.

And, the defense also did a nice job of limiting explosion moments. The Bruins had just two plays of 20 yards or more, a 23-yard completion and a 44-yard run. An interesting anomaly in the game was that neither team turned the ball over even once. CU has done a good job of producing defensive takeaways this season, but did not get one against the Bruins (and still won).

No doubt, the road will get tougher for the defense as Pac-12 play continues to unfold — but so far, Eliot has done a nice job of using his best players to limit those on the offensive side.

2. Steven Montez's athleticism is becoming more and more of a weapon. In a way, this development is a little ironic — now that the Buffs have helped Montez develop his instincts as a pure quarterback in the pocket, they are slowly again utilizing his running ability.

Montez fits the mold of the "new" college quarterback.

For several years, the trend was for programs to make quarterbacks out of great athletes who could also throw. But over the last couple of years, we've seen that dynamic do a 180-degree turn. Now, more and more elite programs have great throwers who are also excellent athletes. They need someone who can make that perfect throw with the game on the line — but still has the ability to make plays with his legs when necessary.

Montez fits that description. His passing game is better than ever (91-for-120 for 1,092 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions this season). But the Buffs are also beginning to incorporate his abilities into the run game, with great success. Montez had a 38-yard run for a touchdown in the season-opening win over Colorado State, and added touchdown runs of 10 yards and 35 yards against the Bruins.

But his athleticism may have best been displayed Friday on a scramble, not a planned run. With CU facing a third-and-5 in UCLA territory, Montez ducked out of a sack, jab-stepped a second defender and gave Colorado a first-and-goal at the UCLA 6-yard line. It was a game-defining play that set up CU's fourth touchdown of the night.

Over the last year, Montez has done an excellent job in learning the nuances of the position and improving his skills from the mental side. Now, his athletic abilities make him even more dangerous.

3. Laviska Shenault Jr. continues to amaze. Every week, we figure someone will find a way to at least contain Colorado's standout sophomore wide receiver.

We're 0-for-4 in that regard.

Shenault had another outstanding game Friday — 12 catches, 126 yards and a score — and is now averaging 145.2 yards and 9.5 catches per game, with a touchdown catch in four straight games.

The fact that Shenault continues to get open as well as catch the ball in traffic is a testament to his abilities. But what is becoming more apparent each week is that Shenault is also a violent runner after he makes a catch. It usually takes a couple of defenders to bring him down, and he invariably drags those defenders for at least a few extra yards. That takes its toll smaller defensive players.

Friday night, the Bruins finally did resort to double-teaming Shenault on occasion. That, of course, left other receivers open, which is why Tony Brown had six catches for 77 yards and three other CU receivers had at least one catch.

Against the Bruins, Shenault had 17 touches and produced seven first downs and two touchdowns (one receiving, one rushing). He is not going to catch anyone by surprise. But it will no doubt be interesting to see how teams attempt to limit his effectiveness.

4. CU's tempo offense can wear out a defense. One aspect of Colorado's "Folsom Fast" offensive attack is the ability to strike quickly. The Buffs have done that this year, with 15 of their 25 scoring drives taking less than three minutes, including three against the Bruins (and a fourth using just 3:01).

But another aspect of "Folsom Fast" is simply the capability to run plays quickly without substituting — a strategy that takes a toll on a defense.

Colorado executed the second part very well against the Bruins, putting together its two longest scoring drives of the season in terms of time off the clock.

The Buffs' second touchdown of the night covered 80 yards in 12 plays and used 5:51; their fourth score of the evening was a 13-play 67-yard march that lasted 5:45.

It was the fourth score — which gave Colorado a 28-13 lead late in the third quarter — that took the heart out of the Bruins. By the end of the drive, UCLA defenders were, to be blunt, gassed. Even the television commentators noticed. Colorado ran the ball 10 times on the drive as the offensive line imposed its will and kept the sticks moving.

Those kinds of drives are a nice combination of good play calling (tip of the hat to co-offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini) and good conditioning (ditto for strength coach Drew Wilson).

The Buffs have proven they can strike in a hurry — they did it on their first touchdown drive of the night. But they are also proving they can grind out long, time-consuming drives, the kind that punish a defense.

Both should should serve the Buffs well in close games in the future.

5. Penalties were costly for the first time. Maybe it's just the Bruins who bring out the worst in the Buffs in that regard.

While Friday night's six flags for 60 yards only matched a season high for Colorado, it was the timing and severity of the penalties that hurt. UCLA's only touchdown drive was helped by a Colorado personal foul, and a potential CU scoring drive just before halftime was wiped out by another personal foul.

Given that the flags came in a 22-point win, it would be easy to say "no harm, no foul." But the Buffs can't afford those types of penalties in a close game — something we're betting MacIntyre will "gently" remind his players of on Monday.

6. Third-down improvement. Heading into Friday night's game, the Buffs were just 5-for-10 on third-down plays of 5 yards or less (and weirdly, 5-for-10 on third-and-11 or longer). Coming up empty on third-and-short plays not only kills momentum, it also provides a little adrenaline bump to the defense.

But Friday night, the Buffs were 7-for-10 on third-and-5 or less, with five of those coming on their three second-half touchdown drives. Overall, the Buffs were 8-for-14 on third down, a success rate they would no doubt like to continue the rest of the season.

Defensively, CU also had a nice night on third down. While the Bruins converted four of their first seven, the Buffs then limited them to just one of their last nine, a stretch that included three three-and-outs in the second half.

7. Red zone effectiveness. The Buffs drove inside the UCLA 20-yard line three times and came away with three touchdowns. You can't do any better than that.

Headed into the game, the Buffs had produced 11 scores in 13 red zone trips — eight touchdowns and three field goals. Adding three touchdowns in three tries to those totals is a nice trend.

8. The O-line shuffle continues. Colorado utilized its third different starting offensive line combination in four games against the Bruins, one that included two redshirt freshmen — Will Sherman at left tackle and Colby Pursell at center.

Also notable was the fact that they moved Aaron Haigler, a starter at right tackle, to right guard and bumped Josh Kaiser from left tackle to right. Also getting some significant playing time was true freshman Frank Fillip at right tackle. (Haigler, by the way, pulled and had a key block on Shenault's touchdown run out of the wildcat formation.)

Overall, it might have been the best overall performance by the line this year, especially in the second half. CU gave up just two sacks — both in the first half — and by the second half, the line began to impose its will on UCLA's defensive front. The Buffs ran for 209 yards and averaged a respectable 4.4 yards per carry, and also gave Montez time to throw.

It is, no doubt, still a work in progress. Regular starter Tim Lynott has struggled early, and it could be that he is not yet fully recovered from last year's Achilles injury that forced him to miss all of spring ball. Meanwhile, there is some young talent up front, but it won't develop overnight. But overall, the line showed solid progress Friday night — and that continued development and improvement will be needed.

9. Colorado's kicking game continues to be steady. One very pleasing performance here has been that of backup punter Davis Price, who is filling in for injured regular Alex Kinney.

Price — who came to Colorado as a kicker, not a punter — punted four times Friday for a very respectable 41.8-yard average, including a long of 58, and he dropped two inside the UCLA 20-yard line with no touchbacks. Price also kicked off seven times and none were returned. Those are numbers that will work.

Kicker James Stefanou, meanwhile, cleanly hit a 41-yard field goal and is now 5-for-7 this year in that department while improving to 20-for-20 on PAT tries (he is now 55-for-55 for PATs in his career).

As for returns, the Buffs reduced those dicey returns and produced some decent numbers.

Overall, CU's special teams have been consistent and productive, with relatively few mistakes. If they can keep traveling along that path, it will serve them well as conference season continues.

10. These are not the 2016 Buffs. Yes, I understand the urge to make the comparison to the team that won the 2016 Pac-12 South. I have been guilty of it myself.

But this team is forging its own identity, and it deserves to be acknowledged. It is a different group with a different style of leadership — but one that still works.

This is not a team composed of a few iron-willed leaders and a host of followers. Instead, these Buffs have stressed brotherhood and accountability from every player. They are determined as a group to "own it." They have developed a strong bond on both sides of the ball, and the result has been a resilient bunch.

No doubt, there are plenty more tests to come. The Buffs have yet to face the "meat" of their Pac-12 schedule, and the road gets exponentially tougher from here on out. How they respond as those situations become more and more difficult is anyone's guess.

Nothing — other than four wins — is guaranteed.

Still, we also know these Buffs have already developed their own character and their own personality. That identity and cast of characters will be something fun to watch evolve and grow as the season progresses.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu.