Buffs Return To Work, Begin Preparations For UCLA

BOULDER — On a day when his Colorado Buffaloes moved up a couple of spots in the polls, CU head coach Mike MacIntyre said he doesn't believe his team will lose focus of the one-game-at-a-time approach that has gotten them to this point.

The 6-2 Buffs (4-1 Pac-12), ranked No. 23 in both polls last week, moved up two spots Sunday in the Associated Press poll to No. 21 and three spots in the USA Today/Coaches poll to No. 20. The No. 20 ranking is the highest the Buffs have been in at least one of the polls since early 2003.

The most important rankings of the year, however, will come out Tuesday, when the College Football Playoff committee releases its first top 25 of the season at 5 p.m.

After a couple of days off during their bye weekend, the Buffs returned to the practice field on Sunday to begin game-week preparations for Thursday's game at home vs. UCLA (7 p.m., Fox Sports 1).

MacIntyre said the players showed no sign of rust from the layoff, and neither did they exhibit any signs of complacency that might come with a national ranking and first place in the Pac-12 South.

"They came out ready to roar in practice," MacIntyre said. "They worked at it, they've been focused. They know what's in front of them and they know the only way you can do it is one game at a time. You slip up one time and it gets tighter and tighter. All the teams we play are excellent."

Indeed, while the Buffs are bowl eligible for the first time since 2007, they believe they have plenty more to accomplish. With three of their four remaining regular season games at home, they are in good position to earn their first division title since the 2005 Buffs won the Big 12 North.

That, of course, would put them in the Dec. 2 Pac-12 championship game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

Any loss, however, would bring them back to the pack in the division, where they currently hold a half-game lead over Utah and USC (both at 4-2).

Thus far, MacIntyre and his staff have done a good job of keeping the Buffs focused on the task at hand. But equally important has been the players' insistence on refusing to look past anything other than the next game. A group that has endured several years of losing seasons isn't likely to forget such adversity in only a few weeks.

"They've got everything in front of them they've always dreamed of and they've worked so hard to get here, they don't take it for granted," MacIntyre said last week. "It's not like it's a common occurrence. … These guys will stay on each other, which is awesome."

BUFFS IN GOOD COMPANY: After the weekend's games, only six teams in the nation had their offense and defense both ranked in the nation's top 25 in yardage and yardage allowed. Those teams are Alabama (No. 17 offense, No. 4 defense), Louisville (1/10), Ohio State (20/6), Baylor (4/25), Colorado (19/12) and Southern Miss (22/16).

Not coincidentally, five of those teams are also ranked in the Associated Press top 25: No. 1 Alabama, No. 5 Louisville, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 13 Baylor and No. 21 Colorado.

KICKING WORK: The Buffs continue to work on their kicking game, particularly field goals. Colorado had trouble in that department in its last game, when CU missed three of four field goal attempts in a 10-5 win over Stanford.

The Buffs have been without the services of No. 1 kicker Diego Gonzalez for much of the year after he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in CU's loss at Michigan. No. 2 kicker Davis Price, meanwhile, was sidelined before the Stanford game with mononucleosis, and it's not known whether he'll be back in time for the UCLA game.

At Stanford, kicker Chris Graham missed his first two attempts and punter Alex Kinney was wide on CU's third try of the game before Graham finally hit CU's fourth try of the day.

"They've just got to keep working," MacIntyre said. "Kind like your golf swing. You go out there and figure it and fix it a little bit and hopefully hit it down the center of that fairway. I'm hoping they do that. They've been working at it, they want to do well at it. They kicked really well today so hopefully they'll keep that up."

MacIntyre also said he's hoping Gonzalez can get one more year of eligibility, but it will depend on whether the NCAA will grant him that year because of the injury. "You have to send all the paperwork in," MacIntyre said. "Hopefully there's a shot at it."

HOME SWEET HOME: In four games in Colorado this season (three in Boulder and one in Denver), Colorado has outscored opponents 187-36.

The Buffs have also started quickly in those games. In three of the four, they have scored a touchdown on their first possession of the game; in the only game they didn't manage that (Oregon State), they scored a touchdown on their second possession.

Overall, they have outscored opponents in Colorado 55-10 in the first quarter, and only once have they not held the lead heading into the second quarter. That came against Arizona State, when the two teams were tied 7-7 heading into the second period.

As for the second quarter, the Buffs are even better in Colorado. In their four games in the state, they've outscored opponents 85-6 in the second period.

"We love to get going fast in the state of Colorado and keep it going," MacIntyre said. "That's something we definitely try to do."

PAC-12 TURNAROUNDS: With four conference wins already — three more than last year — and four to go, the Buffs have a chance of establishing one of the biggest turnarounds in Pac-12 history.

The biggest improvement in league victories by a Pac-12 team is five, last produced by Stanford in 1999, when the Cardinal went 7-1 in conference play one year after finishing 2-6 in Pac-12 play.

With two more wins, the Buffs can match that mark, and three or four more would be a Pac-12 record. The four conference wins are already twice as many as CU has managed in any season since entering the Pac-12.

BUFF BITS: The last time the Buffs were bowl eligible after eight games was 2005, which is also the last time CU won a conference division title. … The Buffs have now had three games without an offensive turnover this year, and the offense has gone nine straight quarters without turning the ball over. ... The Buffs have nine pass plays of 50 yards or longer this season, and five different players on the team have caught one of those big pass plays. Shay Fields' four receptions of over 50 yards this year are tied for the third most of any player in the country. Other players with at least one 50-yard reception are Bryce Bobo (two), Devin Ross, Phillip Lindsay and Kabion Ento. ... In five Pac-12 games, Lindsay is also averaging 113.8 yards per game rushing. ... Buff cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon is one of only two players in the nation with at least one pass breakup in every game this year. The other is Indiana's Rashard Fant. Fant leads the nation with 13 PBUs and Witherspoon is second with 12.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu