Tuesday Buffs Bits: UA Offense A Challenge; Mr. Consistent For Buffs; Tops At Takeaways

BOULDER — While the Colorado Buffaloes spend their week preparing for two Arizona quarterbacks, the CU defense is making sure not to lose focus on the rest of the UA offense.

The quarterback question simply makes the equation that much more difficult.

As of Tuesday, CU coaches could only guess which quarterback they will see Saturday when the Wildcats (3-1 overall, 1-0 Pac-12) pay a visit to Folsom Field for a 2:30 p.m. matchup (Pac-12 Network). It will be either UA senior Khalil Tate, with whom the Buffs (3-1 1-0) are quite familiar, or true freshman Grant Gunnell, who replaced an injured Tate in the starting lineup last week and led the Wildcats to a 20-17 win over UCLA.

Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin is certainly not providing any hints.

"One of them's going to run out there Saturday," Sumlin told the media.

But no matter who is taking the snaps for the Wildcats, the Buffs will be contending with an offense that leads the Pac-12 in overall yardage (551.3 yards per game) and rushing (255.5 yards per game), and one that features a host of weapons at running back and wide receiver. UA has four backs with at least 180 yards rushing, led by Gary Brightwell (33 carries, 259 yards, 4 touchdowns); and four receivers with at least 10 catches, led by Tayvian Cunningham (16 catches, 177 yards, 2 touchdowns).

"They get spread out, get a lot of one on ones, a lot of run after the catch," CU head coach Mel Tucker said. "They also do a good job running the football in terms of they keep you honest, and they're not afraid to take shots down the field. Their quarterbacks are mobile and can make plays with their feet. We'll certainly have to be at our best."

The Wildcats no doubt have explosive ability. In four games, they have 10 touchdowns from 20 yards out or farther, including a pair of 75-yard touchdown passes (both from Gunnell), a 94-yard touchdown run (by Brightwell) and an 84-yard scoring run (Tate).

"We have to play assignment football, make sure that guys do their jobs, be disciplined," Tucker said. "They give you a lot of different looks. They do a great job from a scheme standpoint, they put pressure on a lot of guys. Everyone's at the point of attack versus this offense and they can be very explosive."

If the Buffs see Tate on Saturday, they will be facing a true dual-threat player who is capable in the passing game and a threat to score with his legs from anywhere on the field.

"He's a very explosive player," Tucker said. " When you have a player like that, who can throw the ball down the field and be accurate in the pocket but can also take off and make plays with his feet, it puts a lot of pressure on your defense. We have to do a really good job with our pass rush lines. And obviously, like we talked about earlier, option responsibilities and things like that and so we have to be very sharp."

Gunnell is more of a true pocket passer with a strong and accurate arm.

"You prepare for the worst — by the worst I mean how can they hurt you the most," CU safety Mikial Onu said. "We prepare for both as if they're both running quarterbacks. We prepare for both as if they're both extremely accurate down the field, extremely accurate intermediate throws. That way you prepare for either. Whoever they roll out there, we'll be ready because we've practiced against both."

BROWN IS MR. CONSISTENT: Four games into the season, Colorado's leading receiver is having an outstanding year with 19 catches for 301 yards and four touchdowns.

It's certainly no surprise — except that it's not CU's preseason All-American, Laviska Shenault Jr.

Rather, the Buffs' top receiver is senior Tony Brown, whose consistency in every phase of his game has made him a favorite target this year of quarterback Steven Montez.

"He was very consistent in fall camp and he was working hard and grinding, and nobody was really talking about him coming into the season," Montez said at Tuesday's weekly press conference. "There wasn't really too much chatter about Tony Brown. But now there should be chatter, and rightfully so. He played really well against Arizona State (nine catches, 150 yards, three touchdowns) … He's just one of those guys that just does everything right. He blocks in the run game, he runs all the right routes, he doesn't miss any routes, he catches balls and doesn't drop them. He just plays extremely good, clean football."

When the season began, much of the hype around CU's receiving corps centered around Shenault. But when teams began focusing on containing Shenault, it left Brown and K.D. Nixon to reap the benefits. Nixon is right behind Brown in the production department with 17 catches for 295 yards and one score.

SIMILAR DEFENSES: On paper, the Colorado and Arizona defenses are very similar — they have given up some big numbers in terms of yardage and points, but they have also come up with key takeaways that have helped produce wins.

CU is currently giving up 30.8 points per game; the Wildcats are yielding 29.3 per game. Colorado is giving up 466.5 yards per game; Arizona is at 473.3.

But both defenses are keeping their teams in the game by forcing key turnovers. The two teams are tied for sixth in the nation in takeaways with 11 each, while Colorado is second in the nation in turnover margin (plus-1.75) and Arizona is sixth (plus 1.5).

"They're very active, they're aggressive," Tucker said. "They have no problem pressuring you on any down or distance. They mix up the looks, mix up the fronts. They're really good coaches over there, they got a good scheme, good players. And they're definitely an attacking, ball hawking group of guys."

STAYING UPRIGHT: When the Buffs did not give up a sack against Arizona State in their 34-31 win two weekends ago, it marked the second time this year CU has kept Montez upright the entire game (the Buffs also managed the feat in their season-opening 52-31 win over Colorado State).

It's no surprise that Montez also had one of the best games of his career against ASU, throwing for 337 yards and three touchdowns.

"It's huge," Montez said of having a "clean" pocket. "Just not having to run out of the pocket and to move around scramble, and just being able to step up in the pocket. ... It just makes a world of difference when they play that well. Zero sacks, that's just hard to do, especially at the level that we play at. All the credit goes to them, they played their butts off."

CU has given up just five sacks this year, but Montez admits some of his early exits from the pocket have been his fault and not that of the offensive line. It's been something he and quarterback coach/offensive coordinator Jay Johnson have been working on correcting.

"A lot of that in the past has been on me, just focusing on stepping up in the pocket," Montez said. "Coach Johnson and I have been doing a huge job of emphasizing, once I hit that third step in my drop, or whichever step in my drop, to get that initial slide back up into the pocket ... I think it helps out a lot so that the rushers have to rush all the way around instead of me running out of the pocket and giving them a shorter distance to get to me."

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: Since Colorado entered the Pac-12 in 2011 and began playing Arizona on a regular basis, there has been one constant in their annual meeting: it has always been an offensive show.

While Colorado holds a 14-7 all-time edge in the series, the Wildcats have won six of eight since CU joined the Pac-12.

In those eight Pac-12 games, the winning team has never scored fewer than 38 points while the losing team has never scored fewer than 20. In six of those games, the winner has surpassed 40 points, and the losing team has surpassed 30 points four times.

BROADCAST TEAM: The Pac-12 Network crew for Saturday will have Ted Robinson on play-by-play, Yogi Roth with color commentary and Samantha Peszek on the sidelines.

BUFFS BITS: Colorado WR Laviska Shenault Jr. has 138 touches on offense in 16 career games, and has produced 72 first downs and six short touchdown plays (on which no first down is awarded). Thus, he has earned a first down or touchdown on 56.5 percent of his touches in his career … The Buffs are currently second in the nation in kick returns, averaging 33.5 yards on six returns … Colorado has produced at least one interception in each game this year, with five total … Tackles Arlington Hambright and William Sherman and center Tim Lynott lead the offensive line in snaps played with 280 so far.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu