Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Balanced Offense Providing Plenty Of Benefits
October 31, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Since the day he arrived in Boulder, Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre has aimed for a truly balanced offense.
The No. 21 Buffaloes (No. 20 USA Today) appear to have hit that sweet spot. Eight games into the season, CU is fourth in the Pac-12 in rushing offense, fourth in passing offense and third in overall offense. The 6-2 Buffs can run or throw equally well — and the benefits are paying off.
That offense will be on display Thursday night when Colorado plays host to UCLA in a 7 p.m. game at Folsom Field (Fox Sports 1).
The most obvious benefit to the balance is that opposing defenses can't load up to stop one facet of Colorado's offense. When defenses spread their secondary and linebackers to cover the pass, the Buffs can run. When they stack the box to stop the run, the Buffs can throw.
The Buffs simply take what defenses give them.
In a 10-5 win over Stanford, the Cardinal held the Buffs to a season-low 135 yards passing. But instead of going nowhere, the Buffs ran for 224 yards, giving CU its first win with less than 150 yards passing since 2008.
At Michigan, the Buffs struggled to run the ball (64 yards rushing), but went to the air effectively. While Colorado did lose the game, the Buffs were leading until quarterback Sefo Liufau went down with an injury early in the third quarter — after throwing for 246 yards and three touchdowns. The 28 points scored by the Buffs in that game are still the most by any Michigan opponent this season.
But another major benefit of CU's balance has been the comfort level it has provided for the quarterbacks.
"The quarterback likes it more," MacIntyre said. "They all want to throw it all the time, but when you can hand it off and make some runs and kind of get people on their heels and slow down the pass rush, it helps you be a better quarterback. I think it's made our quarterbacks more comfortable."
Indeed — and it's shown in CU's passing statistics, particularly Liufau's. In five starts this year, the CU senior has completed 91 of 135 attempts for 1,179 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions. Including his final 13 passes of the 2015 season, Liufau has now thrown a school-record 148 straight passes without an interception.
That interception number — or lack thereof — can't be overstated.
In years past, Liufau virtually shouldered the load for CU's offense. It resulted in him making some big plays, but also forcing some throws he shouldn't have made — or wouldn't have made in better circumstances.
Now, that pressure no longer exists. Asked how much easier a strong running game has made it for CU's quarterbacks, Liufau responded with an ear-to-ear grin.
"Tenfold," he said. "Maybe twenty-fold. To be able to just watch our running backs break big runs, I know I don't have to do as much. I don't have to go out there and think that I have to make play after play after play just to keep us in a game. I know we have the weapons to do a lot of different things."
Even the threat of a strong rushing attack forces defenses into a guessing game. That, in turn, opens up the passing game.
"It gives the receivers a little more separation and gives me a little more time to throw," Liufau said. "With our run pass and play-action stuff, it definitely helps."
It has also given Liufau the luxury of changing plays at the line of scrimmage. If he sees a defense that's susceptible to a run, he has the ability — and confidence — to call a play that will take advantage of the formation.
"I have the opportunity to switch run plays and pass plays at the line of scrimmage if we see something we really don't like," Liufau said. "Say we're trying to run to the left and you see overload blitz — that means problems. But now we have the ability to change the call and still pick up yards."
The biggest impact on the improved run game has been a veteran offensive line that has stayed relatively healthy and a significantly improved Phillip Lindsay. The CU junior is third in the Pac-12 in rushing, averaging 93.1 yards per game and 6.3 yards per carry.
"It's nice to know that Sefo doesn't feel like he has to shoulder everything," Lindsay said. "In the past, that's what he's felt like he had to do and that's when you get hurt. Sefo couldn't relax and felt like he had to take measures into his own hands every play. That's when injuries happen and it's when interceptions happen.
"That's not happening anymore."
Lindsay obviously enjoys the productive running game, and he knows that part of its success can be attributed to the passing game.
"At any given time, someone is making a play that's going to change the game," Lindsay said. "The fastest way downfield is throwing it. We all know that. You get your receivers catching and people have to spread out — and that opens up the running lanes. Then when I'm running, they have to come back in and our receivers are open. We're all helping each other out."
Of course, one more factor that is proving to be a huge help to the offense is CU's defense, currently ranked No. 1 in the Pac-12 in total defense and No. 2 in scoring defense.
In years past, CU too often was forced into trying to win an offensive shootout. This year, they can live with the occasional stalled drive because they are confident their defense will get them the ball again.
"You don't feel like you have to score every time," Liufau said. "Obviously you want to do that, but knowing the defense is there makes a big difference."
SCOUT NUMBERS GROW: Requests from NFL scouts for space in the press box for Thursday night's game continue to grow. As of Monday afternoon, 32 scouts from 21 NFL teams had asked for credentials for Thursday's game with the Bruins.
According to Sports Information Director Dave Plati, it will be the most scouts and most NFL teams ever represented at a CU home game.
The reason for the big numbers is actually twofold. One, of course, is that the Buffs have a number of players likely to be selected in next April's NFL Draft. The number of scouts at CU's weekday practices has grown dramatically from this year and more and more teams are becoming interested in looking at the Buffs in action.
Also, because it's a Thursday game, scouts will be able to catch the game and fly out Friday in time for another game Saturday.
INJURY UPDATE: MacIntyre said offensive tackle Aaron Haigler, who missed the last two games, should be available Thursday. Meanwhile, kickers Chris Graham and Alex Kinney have been handling field goal duties in practice this week as Davis Price continues to recover from mononucleosis.
FS1 CREW: The Fox Sports television crew for Thursday night's game will include Joe Davis (play by play), Brady Quinn (color commentary) and Jenny Taft (sidelines).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
