Tuesday Buffs Bits: Colorado's Tucker Familiar With Oregon's Cristobal

BOULDER — If there's a little SEC flavor in Friday's Colorado-Oregon Pac-12 matchup at Autzen Stadium (8 p.m. MT, FS1), it is no accident.

Both head coaches — Colorado's Mel Tucker and Oregon's Mario Cristobal — have SEC experience in their background, including a year in which they served together on Nick Saban's staff at Alabama.

In 2015 — a national championship season for the Crimson Tide — Tucker was in his first (and only) year as Alabama's assistant head coach and defensive backs coach while Cristobal was in his third season as Saban's offensive line coach.

After the conclusion of that season, Tucker left Alabama to join Kirby Smart at Georgia, becoming Smart's defensive coordinator. He spent three years with the Bulldogs before coming to Colorado after the 2018 season.

Cristobal, meanwhile, stayed one more year at Alabama before leaving in January 2017 to become Oregon's offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator under Willie Taggart. When Taggart left in December 2017, Cristobal was named UO's head coach, and he has quickly changed the Oregon culture.

It wasn't long ago that the Ducks were a high-scoring, spread-oriented team that treated defense almost as an afterthought. But under Cristobal, they have become a pro-style, tough-in-the-trenches program, and they now have one of the nation's best defenses. The 13th-ranked Ducks (4-1 overall, 2-0 Pac-12) have held four straight opponents to single-digit scoring, have given up just one touchdown in their opponents' last 51 possessions, and they lead the Pac-12 in scoring defense (9.8 points per game).

It's exactly the type of program Tucker wants to build in Boulder. He was part of those kinds of programs at Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Ohio State, and he believes it is the kind of football that will succeed under the Flatirons.

"I like the way they play football," Tucker said. "They're very sound on offense, they have a good offensive line, they're strong, and they like to run the ball. They've got playmakers at the skill spots and they have an outstanding quarterback. They have very good design. They run a pro style deal, they do a great job with RPOs (run-pass options). Defensively they play very, very fast and they're physical. They're strong up front and they have pass rushers. I like the way their team is built."

Cristobal isn't the only member of the Oregon staff with whom Tucker is familiar. He and UO special teams coach Bobby Williams coached together at Michigan State under Saban in the late 1990s in Tucker's first college coaching job, and they were reunited under Saban again at Alabama.

"I enjoyed working with Coach Cristobal and Bobby Williams also," Tucker said. "(Williams) and I go way back. He's been a great mentor of mine over the years. I really like watching Mario coach. He's very, very intense. He's a physically imposing guy, he's got a passion for the game, and he's a very accomplished offensive line coach. He's got great leadership ability and his guys always play hard for him."

FIXING PENALTIES: After steadily reducing the number of penalties in three straight games — from nine to six to three — the Buffs (3-2 overall, 1-1 Pac-12) took a step in the wrong direction in Saturday's 35-30 loss to Arizona. Colorado drew eight yellow flags in the game for a season-high 85 yards.

It's something Tucker has emphasized this week.

"There's aggressive penalties and there's foolish penalties," Tucker said. "I talked to the guys this morning about the choices and decisions that we make. And it's not just during the game, it's day in and day out in practice, on the field, and off the field. There's a simple truth. Simple things that have to be done."

Tucker then presented a simple analogy at Tuesday's press conference."

"If I held up an apple and a bag of Doritos, it doesn't take a dietitian to tell you which one's healthier," he said. "It's a simple choice, but then you wonder 'Well, why aren't those choices being made all the time? They're so simple.' So, that's where the challenge comes. We put our guys in positions, day in and day out, to make those choices. And there's consequences for everything that we do. Whether it's class, or treatment, or being punctual, whatever it is, you either win or you lose. So, when we win, we want to make sure we understand why we win, why we were successful, and then celebrate that. And when we make poor choices, then we want to understand there's going to be consequences for that and then work to eliminate them."

TAKEAWAYS BIG FOR BUFFS: CU is first in the Pac-12 and third in the nation in turnover margin at plus-1.6 per game, having grabbed 12 takeaways on defense and given up only four on offense.

The Buffs have also made the most of those takeaways, turning them into 37 points (four touchdowns and three field goals) while opponents have turned CU's turnovers into just three points.

TUCKER ON HERBERT: Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert was touted in the preseason as a Heisman Trophy candidate. But because the Ducks have been more of a ball-control team, he hasn't put up the gaudy numbers of some his counterparts.

Still, he has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 33 straight games — the longest such streak in the country — and he has 15 touchdown passes this year against just one interception. The only other quarterbacks in the nation with at least 15 touchdown passes and not more than one interception are Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa and Ohio State's Justin Fields.

"He's got really good size, he's got great pocket presence and he's accurate with the ball," Tucker said. "He's got an extremely strong arm and he's a good decision maker. He does a good job with the short throws and he's got a really good touch and accuracy on intermediate throws, and then on deep balls he can let it fly. He has mobility also. I mean, he's not a guy who's just looking to run first, but if you don't have a coordinated pass rush he's going to step up in the pocket and he'll run and get a first down. So he's one of those players that can do everything. It's going to be hard to to find holes in his game when he moves on to the next level."

BROWN CONTINUES SOLID SEASON: Buffs wide receiver Tony Brown enters Friday's game leading the team in catches (29), receiving yards (442) and touchdowns (four).

The yards and touchdowns are already career highs for the CU senior. If he adds three receptions to his total Friday, that will tie his career best of 32, set last year.

PURSELL OUT: CU announced Tuesday that offensive lineman Colby Pursell will undergo gall bladder surgery and will be out indefinitely. There is a possibility that he could return this season.

As for CU's other injured players, Tucker said most of them are on a day-to-day basis with most likely to be a game-day decision.

Oregon, meanwhile, will be without starting defensive end Gus Cumberlander, who suffered a season-ending injury last weekend against Cal.

SERIES: Oregon leads the all-time series, 12-9, including wins in six of the last seven meetings. CU's 41-38 win in Eugene in 2016 — the last time the two programs met — ended a six-game Oregon win streak … The two teams have met three times in bowl games, with Colorado winning the 1996 Cotton Bowl (end of 1995 season) 38-6 and the 1998 Aloha Bowl 51-43 before the Ducks took a 38-16 win in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl (2001 season) … Oregon leads 5-3 in Eugene.

BROADCAST TEAM: The FS1 team for Friday's broadcast will consist of Joe Davis on play-by-play, Brock Huard color commentary and Bruce Feldman on the sidelines.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu