Colorado University Athletics
Woelk: 10 Takeaways From Buffs Win Over CSU
September 01, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — When Colorado Athletic Director Rick George presented head coach Mel Tucker with the game ball in the CU locker room after Friday night's 52-31 win over Colorado State, George also had a message for the Buffs.
He expects more. Friday night was a start — a very good start — but the fact of the matter is, wins over Colorado State are nothing new. The Buffs have won five in a row and six of the last seven over their in-state rivals, and the powers that be in the Champions Center are eager to see the Buffaloes do more than just push the Rams around.
Tucker would be the first to agree. While no doubt happy with a victory in his CU coaching debut, Tucker made it clear he expects his team to improve — and he expects that to happen between now and next Saturday's 1:30 p.m. home opener with Nebraska.
"We're going to make our most improvement from the first game to the second game," Tucker said in his post-game press conference. "I have a really good idea right now of where we are as a team but it's a starting point. I'm looking forward to watching film and making corrections so we can get these kids ready for next week."
No doubt, Saturday's visit from the Cornhuskers — their first trip to Boulder since 2009 — is front and center on the mind of just about every CU fan. But Friday's game is worth one more look as we figure out what's ahead for the Buffaloes.
Thus, our first 2019 installment of weekly takeaways:
1. Laviska Shenault Jr. changes games even when he's not touching the ball. On the fourth play of the game Friday, Shenault drew a pass interference penalty that kept a drive alive on third down and helped the Buffs get in position for their first touchdown of the night. Two series later, he drew another penalty on another scoring drive.
Shenault also did his fair share with the ball in his hands, catching three passes for 48 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown catch that displayed his incredible sense of balance as he kept his feet and somehow found his way into the end zone. He also ran the ball three times for 35 yards, including a successful fourth-down conversion, and his 23-yard run out of the H-back spot in the fourth quarter set up Colorado's sixth touchdown of the evening.
But his impact goes far beyond his actual touches. The Rams followed Shenault from one side of the field to the other all night, almost always dedicating two players to his presence — and that allowed the Buffs to get the ball in the hands of other playmakers, from Tony Brown to K.D. Nixon to the tight ends.
That extra attention is something Shenault will see all year, and it's something that no doubt will become a little frustrating. As he walked down a stadium tunnel with a teammate after the game, he looked around and said — only half-jokingly — he expected to see a CSU player or two follow him to the locker room.
But if there's anyone who is physically and mentally capable of dealing with such attention, it's Shenault. He will still make plays — and he knows that any extra coverage that comes his way is creating an opportunity for someone else.
A P.S. to this item — senior Tony Brown continues to be a steady, reliable performer. He came up with big catches, he was physical downfield as a blocker and he had an impact all night long. He and his WR teammates have become a physical, tough group that take the job of blocking downfield personally, and their attention to detail in that area Friday was a big boost.
2. Tight ends are a bona-fide part of the plan. Last year, CU's tight ends caught six passes in 12 games. Friday night, they caught four, including a touchdown — the first TD catch by a tight end since 2017.
That's something for which opposing defenses will now have to account. Both Brady Russell and Jalen Harris are big, reliable targets, and Russell also has good speed for a big man. Russell had two catches for 44 yards on CU's go-ahead drive late in the second quarter Friday, and he picked up extra yards after the catch on both plays.
Both fit in nicely into CU's goal of utilizing every weapon on offense, something Tucker and offensive coordinator Jay Johnson have vowed to do since they arrived. CU's tight ends are good receivers, they provide a nice safety valve for quarterback Steven Montez and they are valuable run blockers. That brings us to …
3. Colorado's run game should continue to improve. One of the best parts of Colorado's 40-carry, 243-yard night on the ground against the Rams was the fact that the Buffs didn't need any huge runs to inflate that number.
CU's longest rush of the night was a 32-yarder by Alex Fontenot (19 carries, 125 yards, 3 touchdowns), and the Buffs also had Shenault's 23-yard run. But after that, it was a ground-and-pound attack that produced a healthy 6.1-yard average per carry — and CU backs were stopped for only 4 yards of losses all night.
The Buffs will no doubt see better run defenses. But it was a nice start for an offensive line that also didn't allow a sack all night, and it also meant the entire weight of the offense wasn't resting on the shoulders of quarterback Steven Montez.
4. Speaking of Montez, the senior quarterback had a good but not great night, and he will get better. Even fifth-year seniors get the jitters, and Montez no doubt had some early butterflies Friday. He missed some open receivers early and looked unsettled in the pocket at times.
But he settled down and completed some big-time passes, finishing with a very respectable 13-for-20 night for 232 yards and two scores, and he did not have an interception. His night included a beautiful toss to Brown down the sidelines for a 38-yard gain on CU's second touchdown drive; his throw to Shenault for a 25-yard score was right where it needed to be; and had Shenault not lost the ball in the lights in the fourth quarter, the two would have hooked up for the longest completion of the night (and likely a score).
Fact is, most of the quarterbacks I watched over the weekend had some rough moments, including Oregon's Justin Herbert. Montez got comfortable, made plays — and good decisions — when the Buffs needed them most.
5. The Buffs have a quarterback sneak again. It was just one play out of 60 offensive snaps for the Buffs, but it produced 8 yards and kept a touchdown drive alive on third-and-1 in the third quarter.
Thing is, the Buffs haven't had a QB sneak in their arsenal in recent years because they haven't lined their quarterback up under center. But they do it just often enough now that teams won't automatically anticipate a sneak on a short-yardage play — but they will have to guard against it.
Again, not a big deal by any means, but one of those little things that gives the offense a different look and another weapon.
6. Takeaways and turnovers. There's no way to overstate the importance of Colorado's four defensive takeaways against the Rams. They were clearly the difference in the game. CU's defense struggled to contain CSU's offense for much of the evening, as the Rams sent their punter onto the field only once.
But the Buffs also not only stopped four CSU possessions with takeaways, they converted three of them into touchdowns — not coincidentally the final margin of victory. Meanwhile, Colorado's offense didn't give the ball away once. CU won the field position battle all night and that 4-0 turnover margin was crucial.
If you're looking for a statistic that is a key indicator on an annual basis, turnover margin is one of the more important. Figure this: in the last eight Pac-12 championship games, at least one of the teams in the title game — including four champions — finished in the top three in the league in turnover margin.
"If you're plus-three, you win 80 percent (of the time)," Tucker said. "If you score on defense, you win 90 percent of the games."
In other words, if you take care of the ball and take it away from the opponent, your chances of winning are pretty good.
7. Inside run defense was steady and will improve. Overall, CSU's run numbers were by no means special but not bad — 31 carries for 131 yards, a 4.2 average.
But in the trenches, the Buffs had a good night. The Rams had only three rushes of 10 yards or more, and one of them came from wide receiver Dante Wright (who was CSU's leading rusher).
But that long rush by Wright — a 41-yard run when he started from the left slot, took a handoff and went around the right end all the way to the end zone on fourth-and-2 — exposed an area in which the Buffs have to improve. Colorado's perimeter defense struggled, and it is no doubt an area the Cornhuskers will try to exploit next Saturday.
One reason to think the run defense will continue to improve is the presence of some youngsters — Nai'im Rodman, Austin Williams and Janaz Jordan — who contributed some solid play in a reserve role on the defensive line. Those are players who will only get better.
"Now we know exactly who we are," Tucker said. "We have a really good idea of where we are as a football team and where we need to go. If we're going to play great defense, we're going to have to play better."
8. There's work to be done in the secondary. CSU quarterback Collin Hill had a good night, completing 31-of-47 for 374 yards and three scores — but he also threw two very big interceptions.
The Buffs knew their young secondary would have its rough moments out of the gate. The veteran presence of grad transfer Mikial Onu is a big addition; along with his two interceptions, he also provided a steady presence and good communication. (Onu, by the way, has already matched last season's CU leader in interceptions. Linebacker Nate Landman led CU with two interceptions in 12 games in 2018; Onu had two in the first game of 2019.)
Overall, it is a secondary that should get better. As relatively inexperienced players like Mekhi Blackmon (who had an interception called back by a penalty), Chris Miller and Aaron Maddox (a huge forced fumble) continue to get more playing time, the mistakes will be reduced and the big plays should increase.
One thing that will help the secondary is an improved pass rush. The Buffs didn't really threaten Hill until the second half, but when they started to get to him, it made a difference. CU had two sacks, both in the fourth quarter, and both were big plays — including one that led to a fumble and the final touchdown of the evening.
9. Graduate transfers are now a significant part of the college game. Programs all over the nation are taking advantage of the graduate transfer rule, which allows players who have a degree to move to another school and be immediately eligible.
The Buffs had three grad transfers in the starting lineup on Friday, and all three were big contributors — Onu had two interceptions, Harris caught a touchdown pass and left tackle Arlington Hambright had a good night on the line.
Expect the growing trend of grad transfers to continue. Players who want a fresh start or find themselves wanting a little more playing time can seek new opportunities — and they bring with them experience and the discipline it took to earn a degree at their previous stop.
10. Tucker's fundamentals and culture are taking hold. This is a process that will never stop, but it is good to see that his foundational building blocks are already making a difference.
Lots of coaches talk about discipline, work ethic and physical football. Tucker makes sure those things are non-negotiable. They are the cornerstones of his program, and it showed Friday night: the Buffs had just four penalties, did not have many "brainlock" moments and overall kept themselves in the game.
"Our organization and attention to detail showed up today," Tucker said. "We didn't have a lot of stupid penalties, we didn't have 'not enough guys on the field' or gaps and mishaps that you usually seein the first game."
Another Tucker trait: the Buffs played hard from beginning to end and it showed. They were the better conditioned team and made plays down the stretch. Meanwhile, Tucker's insistence that his players maintain an even keel paid off.
"They didn't flinch and there was never panic, even though we weren't playing well at all," Tucker said. "We were hurting ourselves but the players just continued to play to the next play. The mental dispositions toward competing and playing the next play really paid off for us tonight."
There will be more of those moments this season. The Buffs will see far better teams than the Rams. But Tucker's influence is already quite clear — and it will be fun to see how this team grows as the schedule becomes more difficult.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
