Colorado University Athletics
Tuesday Buffs Bits: From Air Force To Air Raid, Buffs Defense Faces Wide Spectrum
October 15, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — In the span of roughly a month, Mel Tucker's Colorado defense will have seen both ends of the spectrum of offenses — from Air Force to Air Raid.
On Sept. 14, the Buff faced an option-heavy Air Force team that ran the ball 52 times and threw just 12 passes in a 30-23 AFA win in overtime.
Saturday in Pullman, Wash., the Buffaloes (3-3 overall, 1-2 Pac-12) will face a Washington State squad (3-3, 0-3) that is averaging 52.5 pass attempts per game while running the ball an average of just more than 16 times per contest.
It is the beauty — and the challenge — of college football.
"That's one thing about college football, you see a difference offense every week," Tucker said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. "It's not like the NFL, where guys line up in I-pro and I-slot. You can see the wishbone one week and the next week it's Air Raid. You have to have enough flexibility in your defensive schemes to be able to handle it and just be comprehensive enough where your kids aren't confused. There is a challenge that is great. I love coaching defense, it's a different challenge every week."
Saturday's game at Martin Stadium is set to kick off at 5 p.m. (MDT) and will be nationally televised by ESPNU.
Mike Leach's Cougars no doubt pose a challenge for Colorado's defense. WSU is averaging 43.0 points per game (first in the Pac-12 and seventh in the nation) while quarterback Anthony Gordon leads the nation with 435.3 yards passing per game. Washington State has thrown at least 42 passes in every game this year, and has surpassed the 60-attempt mark twice (61 in a 67-63 loss to UCLA and 66 in last weekend's 38-34 loss to Arizona State). Meanwhile, eight different WSU players have caught at least 16 passes, led by wide receiver Eason Winston, who already has 42 catches for 496 yards and nine touchdowns.
"Coach Leach is obviously an outstanding coach," said CU defensive coordinator Tyson Summers. "He does a great job with the offense and coaching the quarterbacks, and they're really good at what they do. His players are well coached, they play with a lot of confidence and they know what they're doing with the ball once they get it in their hands."
Leach is part of the original "Air Raid" family, an offense he helped Hal Mumme design years ago at tiny Iowa Wesleyan. Since then, the offense has seen a number of offshoots, but Leach is still considered one of the masterminds of the system.
"It's the pure Air Raid, it's not like a version of the Air Raid," Tucker said. "It's just a real Air Raid. They really have it down to a science and they have a quarterback that can run it. He can run the offense, he knows how it works and he can put a lot of pressure on your defense. It's certainly a different type of offense and I give coach Leach credit. He believes in what he's doing and he always finds a way. No matter where he is, or who he's got, he finds a way to move the ball and score points."
Colorado fans have seen Leach for the better part of two decades — first as Texas Tech's coach from 2000 to 2009, when both teams were in the Big 12; and now at Washington State, where he has been since 2012, one year after Colorado joined the Pac-12. It has led to a rare statistic — Leach has lost to four different Colorado head coaches: Gary Barnett, Dan Hawkins, Jon Embree and Mike MacIntyre.
But he has also built winning programs wherever he's been. While he is just 4-5 overall against Colorado, he is 3-2 against the Buffs at WSU, including a 3-1 mark in the last four meetings. He also has four straight winning seasons Washington State, including an 11-2 finish last season.
The Cougars, though, have had their problems this season. They started the year with three straight non-conference wins, reaching No. 19 in the national polls. But they have since lost three in a row, including a wild 67-63 loss to UCLA in a game the Cougars led by 32 in the second half, followed by losses to Utah and Arizona State. They have also lost their defensive coordinator, as Tracy Claeys resigned after a 38-13 loss to Utah, a move that didn't seem to make much difference, as WSU lost again last week, 38-34, to ASU.
Now the Cougars are riding a three-game conference losing streak, their longest Pac-12 skid in five years.
But the Buffs are also dealing with their own issues. CU has lost two in a row, including last weekend's 45-3 loss at Oregon. Tucker is doing his best this week to make sure his team returns to its fundamentals, addresses its problems and heads to Pullman ready to play.
"These coaches are really coaching these guys, getting after guys, teaching guys, making corrections, and getting the tempo going," Tucker said. "I told (the team) this was a good practice today. That is what we need to do. We need to practice like this and then tomorrow do it even better. Then we are going to take this show on the road and we will see what happens. That is the beauty of it. No one knows what is going to happen. This time next week we will be talking about it."
GROWING UP FAST: Colorado freshman cornerback K.J. Trujillo has started the last two games for CU with solid results. In two games, he has given up just two completions for a total of 17 yards.
But Saturday will almost certainly be his biggest test yet.
"The first thing you see is K.J. getting a lot of confidence," Summers said. "We've got a lot of guys like K.J. who are out there playing as freshmen and are having to get snaps probably a little bit before they're ready. But I thought K.J. played well the other day. K.J. is a very, very smart kid, he's a smart football player, he takes whatever coaching he has. The very next play he's going to be able to make sure he does it and he does like that from then on out."
The Buffs have had to turn to a number of youngsters, especially on defense, where injuries have taken their toll. But those young players, Summers said, are learning quickly.
"Having guys that are willing to be coached, guys that are smart, guys that are not going to make the same mistake twice is very good for us," he said. "That's why K.J. is out there playing because he does all the little things correctly."
COLORADO CONNECTION: Washington State running back Max Borghi played high school ball in Colorado at Pomona. Now a sophomore, Borghi has become an important cog in the WSU offense, as he leads the team in rushing with 58 carries for 407 yards and five touchdowns, along with being WSU's third-leading receiver with 27 catches for 271 yards and two scores.
"He's a very talented guy," Summers said of the 5-10, 197 pounder. "Obviously they're trying to find ways to get the ball in space to him. What they do offensively gives him a chance to not have to be in protection very much. They found a lot of different ways. He's a talented guy. You can see where he's able to take over games."
NOT-SO-FOND MEMORIES OF PULLMAN: The last time the Buffaloes traveled to Pullman, it didn't end well for Colorado as the Buffs suffered a 28-0 shutout in wet, cold and windy conditions.
It was also a tough night for CU quarterback Steven Montez, then a sophomore. Montez completed just four of 13 attempts in the first half for 21 yards — all career lows for games in which he has started — before being replaced at the beginning of the third quarter by backup Sam Noyer.
"Last time, time the weather wasn't the best," Montez said Tuesday. "That shouldn't stop us, though. We need to fight through the weather, fight through whatever forces are going up against us, and do our best to go out there and get the job done. I don't know if it's supposed to rain or snow, but hopefully it's nice. In the case that it's not, then we're still going to go out there and play football, play tough, and play physical just like we always do."
Montez likely won't get his wish for nice weather. Saturday's forecast for Pullman calls for a 90 percent chance of rain, a high temperature of 46 degrees and winds in the 15-20 mph range.
TURNOVER MARGIN: Even after losing the turnover battle 4-0 against Oregon, the Buffs still have more defensive takeaways (12) than turnovers (8) this year.
Washington State, meanwhile, has 10 turnovers and 10 takeaways — but the WSU defense hasn't created a turnover in the last two games, and just one (an interception) in the last three.
BROADCAST CREW: Saturday's ESPNU crew will have Roy Philpott on play-by-play, Kelly Stouffer with color commentary and Lauren Sisler on the sidelines. The KOA radio crew will consist of Mark Johnson and Gary Barnett.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
