Tuesday Buffs Bits: Opportunity Ahead For Colorado Against Utes
November 26, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — It's been a while since the Colorado Buffaloes have played on this kind of stage with these kinds of stakes.
When Mel Tucker's Buffs square off with Utah in a prime time nationally televised game (ABC) Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium, there will be plenty on the line for both teams.
The Buffs (5-6 overall, 3-5 Pac-12) will be vying for their first bowl bid since 2016. The sixth-ranked Utes (11-1, 7-1) will not only be trying to clinch a Pac-12 South title, they will also be playing to keep their name in the College Football Playoff mix.
It all adds up to an opportunity Tucker and his team relish.
"This is a great opportunity for our program because we get a chance to play football," Tucker said Tuesday. " You don't get many opportunities to play games. There's a lot of preparation in the offseason for very few opportunities. To play on a national stage in front of a great opponent is something that we have to take advantage of and we're going to finish strong."
It's the kind of game Tucker envisions his program playing on a regular basis in the future — one with bowl and playoff implications.
But to get there, CU's first-year head coach knows he has to rebuild the culture of the program, something he started to do the day he arrived last December.
Now, with a two-game win streak over two perennial Pac-12 powers (Stanford and Washington), Tucker said he can see that foundation beginning to take shape.
"Saturday night was really good to see," Tucker said of the 20-14 win over Washington. "It was great to see our players have success against a very strong opponent and well-coached football team. Just cementing our culture — you could see that Saturday with the way our guys played. Washington is very well coached and our guys play relentless football, very physical. That's a brand of football that is a winning brand in my opinion."
Tucker's message to his team this week has been to take the momentum and confidence they gained from the last two games, build on it in practice this week, then be at their best Saturday.
"You gain confidence by having success and having some measure of success, and then you have to build on that and learn from that," he said. "To understand why we had success and what goes into that. We're gaining confidence and cementing our culture and we're starting to see it on the field on a more consistent basis. That's part of the process and that's what expected."
Indeed, after enduring a five-game losing streak that began in Week 4 of the season, the Buffs have corrected a number of the issues that caused them problems during the skid.
— After allowing opponents to convert nearly 50 percent of their third-down tries in the first nine games, CU has allowed just a 33.3 conversion rate (9-for-27) over the last two games. Washington netted a minus-9 yards on its 17 third-down plays.
— CU's defense was yielding more than 150 yards per game rushing in the first nine games, but has cut the number nearly in half — 79.5 — over the last two.
— After averaging more than 10 penalties per game in a four-game stretch, the Buffs have cut the number down to 5.3 over the last three games.
— The Buffs defense has reduced explosive plays. After allowing 53 plays of 20 yards or more in the first nine games (nearly six per game), CU allowed just five combined in the last two games.
— Most importantly, CU has allowed just 13.5 points per game over the last two after nine games in a row of giving up at least 30.
But there is one area in which Tucker wants to see improvement this week — the red zone. Colorado has penetrated the opponent's 20-yard line 41 times this season, but has just 19 touchdowns and 14 field goals to show for those trips.
"We have to move the ball efficiently on offense and have a balance in how we distribute the ball," Tucker said. "We have to play penalty-free football and when we get in the red zone we have to get points. Most importantly, we need to finish with touchdowns. We're going to make the most on the possessions we get and we have to do a really good job on defense of getting the ball back to our offense. It's going to be a team effort of complementary football. Utah doesn't make a lot of mistakes and they don't beat themselves so we're going to have to be at our very best and that's why preparation is very critical to our success."
BOWL MOTIVATION: CU senior linebacker Davion Taylor said the Buffs are no doubt motivated by the opportunity to extend their season.
"We're hungry," Taylor said. "We really want this bowl game. It's been since 2016 that we've had a bowl game here in Colorado so we're really trying to just push and give everything we've got this week. It's do or die and we're really just trying to be physical and competitive in every moment at practice this week. They're a very good team and we're projected to lose and we're trying to come out on top. We're hungry for it, we're going to work for it, and we'll just see how it comes out on Saturday."
HEAVY UNDERDOGS: It hasn't escaped the Buffs that the Utes are four-touchdown favorites.
"That's just going to give us a little bit more energy and make us a little bit more rowdy," said wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr.
Tucker wouldn't say if he has addressed CU's heavy underdog status, but acknowledged that his team is probably aware.
Quarterback Steven Montez, meanwhile, shrugged it off.
"Let them sleep," he said. "It doesn't really matter to us. We're still going to work and we're still going to go out and play as hard as we can."
MONTEZ MARKS: Montez, who last weekend set the CU record for most touchdown passes in a career (61), needs just 77 passing yards to become Colorado's all-time leader in that category. He current has 9,492, trailing former teammate Sefo Liufau (9,568). He also needs just 37 yards total offense to break Liufau's career record of 10,509. Montez already owns 30 CU records and is tied for 16 others.
RUN DEFENSE: Colorado's rushing defense has been outstanding the last two games, allowing just 79.5 yards per game, including only 32 to Washington.
"We want to be a run-stop defense, that comes first," Taylor said. " We practice it all the time and in the last two weeks we've been putting more of an emphasis on it and trying to keep our opponent under 100 yards. We've succeeded these last two games and we know that Utah loves to run the ball so we're more hyped to take on the challenge of keeping them under 100 yards and stop their run game."Â
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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