Buffs Aiming For 'Complete' Game At Arizona
November 10, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Asked earlier this week if he thought his team has put together a "complete" game this year, Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre quickly named CU's 44-7 win over Colorado State.
That, of course, was the Buffs' season opener.
MacIntyre then thought a little more about the question, and said he believed the Buffs had put together solid efforts in all three phases — offense, defense and special teams — a couple of times since.
But it hasn't happened for the last several weeks. As Colorado prepares for its November stretch run, MacIntyre knows it would be the perfect time for the Buffs to hit their stride.
"It's definitely something we want to do again," MacIntyre said. "Lately, we haven't done it where we've won all three phases, and we need to do that."
In their last game, the Buffs' offense struggled with four turnovers, but still got a special teams punt return for a touchdown and a solid defensive effort to produce a 20-10 win over UCLA.
The week prior, CU's offense moved the ball well up and down the field, but struggled in the red zone when special teams missed three of four field goal attempts. Again, it was the defense that made the difference in a 10-5 win over the Cardinal.
Neither was a particular thing of beauty. But it's the final result that matters, and it's hard for MacIntyre — or anyone with an interest in the Buffs, for that matter — to complain too much.
In years past, anything less than a near-perfect game usually spelled defeat. That's no longer the case.
"Our team has crossed that hump now," MacIntyre said. "We could not have won the past two games the previous years I've been here, but they found out how to win, they found out how to keep playing. They don't blink, they don't ever give up. We'll start clicking on all cylinders again and I hope it's this weekend."
The No. 16 (AP) Buffs would love to see their offense get back on track, and on the surface, it appears Saturday's 8 p.m. game at Arizona (FS1) offers the perfect opportunity. The Wildcats have given up at least 34 points in their last six games (all Pac-12 games and all losses), and they are 111th in the nation in pass defense, 97th in rush defense, 117th in overall defense and 117th in scoring defense (yielding an average of 37.1 points per game).
Not that the Buffs are counting on an easy night. But after back-to-back games in which the offense couldn't match its early season output, they'd like to rediscover the efficiency and effectiveness that helped them score at least 41 points in four of their first five games.
"I think we'll bounce back very well," Liufau said. "Arizona's a good team, but the only people that can stop us is ourselves. That's not to sound cocky, but if we can get back to the execution we had at the beginning of the season, the only people that can stop us are ourselves."
In the win over UCLA, Liufau threw his first two interceptions of the season — something he interestingly enough credits to perhaps trying to be too perfect.
"The biggest thing thing is I always strive for perfection and sometimes that can get in the way of you just going out there and playing," Liufau said. "I know the reads, I know where the ball is supposed to go — but to try and play perfect and not make any mistakes in the last two weeks has really hurt me."
Liufau admits part of the problem is realizing that unlike the last few seasons, the Buffs are at a place where a mistake won't necessarily spell certain defeat. Instead, Colorado has a defense that can keep the Buffs in the game.
Still, he and his offensive cohorts would love to get back to where they were earlier in the season, if nothing else to take a little pressure off the defense.
"The frustrating part is that we were at a high level at the beginning of the year and to drop off from where we were," he said. "If the offense can put up some points, especially in the red zone, it could make some of those closer games a lot easier and the last few moments of the game won't be as tense."
The Buffs expect to have kicker Davis Price available this week after a bout with mononucleosis sidelined him for the previous two games. CU's special teams also got a big boost from Isaiah Oliver's punt returns in the win over UCLA and there's no reason to believe the defense isn't up for another solid performance.
In other words, this could be the week the Buffs put together one of those "all three phases" performances.
"We still have to play a complete Colorado football game in terms of great offense, great defense and great special teams inside of one game," Oliver said. "We've had great offense some games, we've had great defense some games and as you saw last week, we had great special teams. But we've yet to have that all in one. That's what we're looking to do this weekend against the University of Arizona so we can really see where we're at."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
