Woelk: Buffs Expect Tough, Physical Matchup At Stanford
October 19, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — It's a truism in every football locker room in America:
"Film doesn't lie."
And truth is, when the Colorado Buffaloes look at film from last year's 42-10 Stanford win in Boulder, the Buffs see a Cardinal team that dominated the Buffs up front, slowly but surely pounding them into submission by day's end.
"They were physically tougher than we were out there last year," head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "We played them hard for a while, then it got away from us right at the end of the half. We have to be more physical than we were last year. Our guys do remember last year playing hard against them, but them taking it to us."
Not that the Buffs were in the minority a year ago. While much of the Pac-12 — much of the nation, in fact — has morphed toward spread offenses and up-tempo attacks, David Shaw's Cardinal has steadfastly remained the same: a tough, physical team that doesn't try to fool you as much as simply beat you into the ground. It's how they've become a perennial Pac-12 power.
But this year, the Buffs believe, is different. This year, the Buffs think they have the horses to match up with the Cardinal in the trenches.
The answer will come Saturday, when Colorado (5-2 overall, 3-1 Pac-12) plays at Stanford (4-2, 2-2) on Saturday in a 1 p.m. matchup (Pac-12 Networks).
This year's Stanford team is by no means the same bunch that came ran roughshod through the Pac-12 a year ago before destroying Iowa in the Rose Bowl. The Cardinal lost nearly its entire starting offensive line, as well as some key starters from defense, with the result being some recent struggles. Stanford is just 2-2 in its last four games, and has scored just one offensive touchdown in each of those contests.
Still, MacIntyre, his staff and his players haven't lost a shred of respect for the Cardinal. After all, Stanford did thoroughly dominate USC, 27-10, earlier this season — the same USC team that beat CU 21-17 less than two weeks ago.
"They're definitely a physical football team," MacIntyre said. "They're big and strong. They're still pushing people around. They ran the ball well against Notre Dame and Notre Dame had some dudes up front."
But one thing the Buffs have proven this year is that they are no longer the pushovers of the Pac-12. Rather, they have shown that they are now capable of winning the the battle up front on both sides of the ball.
That much was evident in Saturday's 40-16 win over Arizona State, when the Buffs dominated the line of scrimmage. Colorado's offensive line opened up gaping holes all night long, producing a 315-yard rushing performance, while the defensive line led the way to holding ASU to just 199 yards total offense — a statistic punctuated by five Colorado quarterback sacks.
"We're a more physical team that we were last year, just bigger and stronger," MacIntyre said. "We kind of understand what we're doing a little bit better. But we've got to come with a physical mentality or they'll run us out of there if we don't come with that mentality."
The Buffs have definitely upped the ante with their offensive and defensive lines.
Defensively, the front three of Josh Tupou, Jordan Carrell and Samson Kafovalu has been outstanding, particularly against the run.
"They've played stout," MacIntyre said. "(Assistant coach) Jim Jeffcoat's done a good job with those guys. They're big and strong. They're powerful guys, and so are our backups that come in, which is something that we haven't had, that much depth in that area. That makes a huge difference for us."
Offensively, CU's front five has been solid each week, improving dramatically over last year in pass protection and in run blocking. It's exactly the type of physical play MacIntyre has been waiting to see.
"One of the things we're doing better is staying on blocks and finishing them," MacIntyre said. "Before we would go after them and they'd come up at the last second and kind of get the guy and the hole wouldn't be quite as clean. Now the holes are cleaner, and that's why you're seeing our running backs break into the secondary. … When you're running full speed and you haven't had any disruption, you can see that safety coming and you can see the backside corner. Now you can make an adjustment. ... That's where our offensive line has done that a lot more often and that's helped us run the football better."
CU's players are also more confident that they can match up with the Cardinal.
"I think we'll go out there and test Stanford's physicality," Buffs quarterback Sefo Liufau said. "I don't think it's like it was in past year where we couldn't rely on our toughness up front. We've got a great front on offense and we've got a great front on defense and we feel that we match up well with these guys."
MCCAFFREY UPDATE: Stanford star running back Christian McCaffrey, who missed last weekend's 17-10 Stanford win over Notre Dame with an unspecified injury, was expected to practice with the Cardinal on Tuesday.
"He feels a lot better," Shaw said at his weekly press conference. "We'll have him back on the field doing some things today. Hopefully we can get him into some practices later in the week."
MacIntyre, however, has said the Buffs fully expect to see McCaffrey in the lineup. If so, he will make a big difference in the Cardinal attack. In Stanford's win over USC earlier this year, he carried 31 times for 172 yards and a touchdown and also caught three passes for 66 yards and a score.
MORE TIME FOR HUCKINS: Offensive lineman Jonathan Huckins, sidelined early in the season by a finger injury, is seeing more and more playing time.
In last week's game against ASU, Huckins played 24 of CU's 84 total offensive snaps, splitting time between both guard positions.
"We feel like Jon is a starter," MacIntyre said. "We rotate him at both guard spots and he can play center, too. When we can rotate him, that keeps us fresher. Those guards, we pull them a lot. If we can keep them fresher, they pull better, they stay on the blocks better, they get around quicker. He's a good football player for us."
CONFERENCE LEADERS: Four games into the nine-game Pac-12 season, the Buffs have a number of players among the conference leaders. The list includes:
— OLB Jimmie Gilbert leads the conference with 6.5 quarterback sacks. Gilbert is also third in tackles for loss, with 8.5, and he leads the nation with five forced fumbles this season.
— ILB Kenneth Olugbode is fifth in tackles, averaging 7.7 per game.
— RB Phillip Lindsay has moved up to fourth in rushing, with 614 yards this season (87.7 per game), is sixth in scoring (8.6 points per game) and seventh in all-purpose yards (122.3 per game).
— WR Devin Ross is fifth in receptions per game, averaging 5.4 per contest.
— The Buffs have three receivers in the top seven in yards per game: Shay Fields fourth at 73.1, Ross fifth at 65.4 and Bryce Bobo seventh at 63.0.
— CB Ahkello Witherspoon is tied for the league lead in passes defended with 10 (1.57 per game).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
