Buffs Report: CU Prepares For Two Arizona QBs This Week
September 30, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Mel Tucker's 3-1 Colorado Buffaloes returned from a weekend off Monday to begin preparations for Saturday's home game with 3-1 Arizona at Folsom Field (2:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
Those preparations mean the Buffs will spend the week getting ready for two quarterbacks, as they don't know who Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin will trot out to take the Wildcats' first snap of the game.
Last week, Arizona saw freshman Grant Gunnell start in place of injured senior Khalil Tate (sore hamstring) and lead UA to a 20-17 win over UCLA. Gunnell completed 29 of his 44 attempts against the Bruins for 352 yards and a touchdown, and Monday earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors for his efforts.
But it is Tate who is the more dangerous of the two — and even though he watched Saturday's game against UCLA from the sidelines dressed in street clothes, the Buffs will no doubt prepare this week as if he could be the starter Saturday.
"We have to prepare for both guys," CU head coach Mel Tucker said. "We'll see what happens. We'll be monitoring the situation. But it just makes too much sense (not) to do that."
The Buffs are quite familiar with Tate. The Arizona senior came on early in their 2017 matchup in place of injured starter Brandon Dawkins and proceeded to shred the Buffs. By game's end, he had rushed 14 times for 327 yards (an NCAA rushing record for quarterbacks) and four touchdowns, along with completing 12 of 13 pass attempts for 154 yards and another score in a wild 45-42 UA win.
Then, a year after dominating Colorado with his legs, he had a career night with his arm. In last year's matchup in Tucson, Tate completed 17 of 22 attempts for 350 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-34 Wildcats win. Thus, in his last two games against CU (he also played briefly against Colorado in 2016), he has accounted for 846 yards and 10 touchdowns.
"Both guys are very good players," said CU defensive coordinator Tyson Summers. "Both guys give them the ability to win."
Gunnell has a solid and accurate arm. But he is not a threat with his legs, at least not in the same league as Tate, who Summers called "one of the most talented players in the country." Â
At his weekly Monday press conference, Arizona's Sumlin said he wasn't sure if it was a competitive advantage to force the Buffaloes to prepare for two quarterbacks. But, he noted, his two quarterbacks are quite clearly very different.
"The guys that are playing are so different on paper as styles of quarterbacks, so the fact that you're preparing for a couple different guys, that's part of it," Sumlin said. "One of them's going to run out there Saturday and now there's video on both of them, so I don't know if there's much of an advantage either way right now."
BUFFS INJURY UPDATE: Colorado also has several players who suffered injuries in the Buffs' most recent game, a 34-31 win at Arizona State on Sept. 21.
Monday, Tucker said it would be "game-time" decisions for those players.
BACK TO WORK: Tucker said he liked what he saw from his team after their time off. The Buffs practiced three days last week in their bye week, then had the weekend off.
"Coming off of Colorado State (the season opener on a Friday night), we had a couple days and that Monday practice we had to do some extra things to get them going," Tucker said. "We didn't have to do that today. That's a good sign of our maturity and how far we've come in a short period of time."
Most importantly, Tucker said, the Buffs took stock of where they are now — and where they want to be.
"The focus was good today," he said. "We worked with a purpose. We laid out some things for them in the team meeting. Just showed them where we are and where we need to go."
DEVELOPMENTAL PRACTICES PAYING OFF: During the season, Tucker and his staff conduct "developmental practices" twice a week for players who don't see much action in games.
The idea is to get those players competitive snaps in practice. "We coach everybody," Tucker says.
Those practices help the Buffs keep every player involved on a regular basis — and they also help develop depth. Already this year, some of the players who started the year practicing in the developmental workouts have been called into action in games because of injuries.
"A lot of guys who started off in the developmental practices are now getting those (game) reps we're talking about, particularly in the secondary and on the defensive line," Summers said. "The way we practice and the organization Coach Tucker has installed has given those guys the opportunity to be successful."
FOCUS ON FAST STARTS: Heading into the Arizona State game, the Buffs were concentrating on getting off to a quick start. The offense responded with two long touchdown drives on its first two possessions, and CU finished with 24 points before halftime.
Now, CU coaches want the defense to follow suit.
In four games, Colorado has given up 79 points in the first half, including 59 in the second quarter. In the second half (and two overtime), the Buffs have yielded just 44 points — including only six in the third period.
"We talk constantly about not giving up explosive plays," Summers said. "The big part has got to be just communication. What we're able to do is settle in and be able to play pretty well about halfway through the second quarter throughout the rest of the game."
Explosion plays have no doubt been a problem for the CU defense. Colorado has yielded 21 plays of at least 20 yards this year, with nine of them going for touchdowns.
 "Practice is important," Tucker said. "Start practice fast. ... Typically, if you can start fast in practice enough times then you can start fast in a game. You can't let the magnitude of the game or the situation or the opponent effect how you play."
MONTEZ VS. WILDCATS: While the focus the last two years has been Tate's performance against the Buffs, CU quarterback Steven Montez has had his share of success against Arizona.
In two games, Montez has completed 46 of 74 attempts for 594 yards and six touchdowns.
BUFFS BITS: The Buffs and Wildcats are the only teams in the Pac-12 South without a conference loss, meaning Saturday's winner will emerge as the division leader … CU's Alex Fontenot is tied for second in the Pac-12 in rushing touchdowns with four … Montez is second in the league in passing yards per game at 291.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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