Colorado University Athletics
Woelk: After First Loss, No Excuses From Colorado's Tucker
September 14, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — No excuses.
Colorado coach Mel Tucker made that perfectly clear after Saturday's 30-23 overtime loss to Air Force at Folsom Field. The Buffaloes were outplayed on their home turf, made more mistakes than the opponent and paid the price. The Falcons came up with big plays when absolutely necessary — and for the first time in three weeks, the Buffs didn't have an answer when the game was on the line.
"Death by inches," Tucker said.
Indeed. Had the Buffs not had an extra point blocked in the fourth quarter — ending a streak of 107 successful PAT attempts — they would have trailed 23-17 with 6:09 remaining and their final touchdown would have ostensibly given them a win.
Of course, the Buffs also had plenty of "what-if" moments in their favor. They ended the first half with a Mikial Onu interception off a tipped ball, ending a drive that otherwise would have almost certainly given AFA at least a 23-10 halftime lead. Air Force also had a PAT bounce off the uprights, a missed point that also loomed large as the game headed down the stretch.
But the bottom line is the Buffs didn't execute consistently when it mattered most. After scoring a touchdown on their first possession of the game, then adding a field goal two minutes later for a 10-0 lead, Colorado didn't score again until the 6:09 mark of the fourth quarter. Their next five possessions ended with four punts and an interception.
Meanwhile, CU's defense struggled early to contain the AFA rushing game, then gave up some huge pass plays in crucial moments. The defense played well at times, particularly in the second half, but just like the offense, consistency evaded the Buffs in critical moments.
Still, despite the ups and downs, the Buffs had a clean slate heading into overtime — only to see the Falcons rip off a 25-yard scoring run on their first play from scrimmage, then hold the Buffs on downs to clinch the win.
After the game, media members tried to offer Tucker an alibi. The Buffs are young. The Falcons had two weeks to prepare. Colorado players were emotionally spent after two big wins over historic rivals.
To his credit, Tucker wasn't buying. Not for a second.Â
"Make no mistake, there is no excuse about how many days we had to prepare," Tucker said. "That is not what we are all about. We had a lot of opportunities to get the job done. You can point to several plays where we aren't at our best and didn't execute, and it cost us."
As for Colorado's relative inexperience, Tucker wouldn't bite.
"I haven't even considered us being a young team," he said with a shrug. "I haven't talked about that before and don't see a reason to talk about it now. We have good enough players at enough positions to get the job done. … Eliminating bad football is what we have to do."
Tucker also made sure to credit the Falcons.
"Give those guys a ton of credit," Tucker said. "They played hard and made plays. I have a ton of respect for Air Force and what they are all about. They made more plays than us."
To be brutally honest, Saturday's game was a case of the Buffs tempting fate once too often.
In the opener, they trailed Colorado State twice in the first half before taking control and dominating the second half. Last week, they trailed at the half by 17 and by 10 going into the fourth quarter before pounding the Huskers into submission.
But Saturday, the Falcons refused to fold. Even though they didn't score in the third quarter and tallied just three points in the fourth, they never showed signs of throwing in the towel.Â
"It is consistency," Tucker said. "You have to do it play in and play out. That is where we are lacking right now. If you don't execute, it will catch up to you."
There was no faulting the Buffs' effort Saturday. They came back from a 13-point deficit to force overtime, with the defense once again delivering some big takeaways and the offense catching fire just in time to push the game into an extra period.
But effort alone isn't enough, especially against well-coached teams.
"Our guys fought and played hard but it's not just about that," Tucker said. "It's about being able to execute for four quarters — 60 minutes — plus being able to finish. That's where we are right now."
Tucker promised, the Buffs will learn from their mistakes. This team has no doubt taken on the never-say-quit personality of its head coach; the next order of business will be to begin establishing some consistency.
It is why Tucker, along with refusing to make excuses, pointed the finger directly at himself. Saturday was no doubt a team loss — offense, defense and special teams — but the head coach said it will be his job to correct those errors.
"Our job as coaches is to figure out why we aren't as consistent as we need to be," Tucker said. "We will look at the film and be very critical and get ready for the next one. That's what I told our players. We're going to move forward with this football team."
There is a coaching maxim that nobody likes to learn from a loss.
But Saturday afternoon in the CU locker room, Tucker made it clear to his players that they will learn — and move on.Â
"Every day, we have an opportunity to practice, prepare and meet and we will take advantage of those days," Tucker vowed. "This is not a final situation. We are continuing to work with this football team. We have tremendous upside and we have to figure out a way to get it out of them. That's why they call us coaches."
It is yet another example of the culture Mel Tucker is building at Colorado. No excuses, no pointing fingers.
And, despite a scoreboard that read a Colorado loss Saturday, it is yet another example of why Colorado football is in good hands.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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