Photo by: Tony Harman
Brooks: Unblinking Buffs Man Up, Do What It Takes To Halt Cougars
November 19, 2016 | Football, B.G. Brooks
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No. 12 CU moves to 9-2 with gutsy 38-24 win over No. 20 Wazzu
BOULDER – Don't blink. The Colorado Buffaloes haven't in the past month and now college football is moving past viewing them with wide-eyed wonder. Wide-eyed acceptance maybe?
The Buffs are a legit 9-2, ranked No. 12 with a bullet (AP, USA Today/Coaches), perched at No. 10 in the CFP polling, and so deliciously in control of their fate in the suddenly fluid Pac-12 South that the conference's preseason pollsters are ordering crow for Turkey Day.
Last in the South Division – a sadly familiar spot for Mike MacIntyre's bunch – was the prediction in early August. Three months later, his Buffs have climbed from worst to first and they aren't finished.
Doubters can still doubt, but hey, keep that stuff outside Boulder County.
A short while after Oregon had stunned No. 11 Utah 30-28 in Salt Lake City on Saturday afternoon, CU climbed into the driver's seat in the Pac-12 South by overrunning, out-defending and upending No. 20 Washington State, 38-24. It was CU's first win against a ranked team since 2009.
With only the Utes now standing in their way of winning the division – and the Utes are Boulder-bound next Saturday (5:30 p.m., Fox) – the Buffs are sitting prettier than anyone in the college football world could have imagined back in late summer.
After they celebrated post-game with their suddenly engaged student body at raucous Folsom Field, the guess here is that many of the players went to the couches of their choice and tuned in to Saturday night's USC-UCLA game. A Bruins win, following the Utes' loss and what unfolded at Folsom, could cap one of CU's brightest Saturdays in a long, long time.
MacIntyre knew that a team stocked with upperclassmen and experience had a real chance to be really good. What he might not have known was just how good, how steely and resilient his fourth Buffs bunch would be.
Saturday's visit by Wazzu offered the latest and best example to date and validated an observation of his team that MacIntyre made in late October: "About three weeks ago we started saying, 'We do not blink.'"
And they didn't against Wazzu.
Early on, the Buffs lost defensive backs Afolabi Laguda (ejection for targeting) and Ryan Moeller (concussion). Then receiver Bryce Bobo went to the sideline with a lower leg injury and didn't return.
It was next man up . . . and oh how the Buffs manned up. At the team's hotel before the Buffs headed to Folsom, MacIntyre said he "told everybody to be all in, the guys that might not play much and the guys that play a lot."
Point taken. Shuffling in the secondary was required, so cornerback Chidobe Awuzie moved to Moeller's safety spot, stationing Akhello Witherspoon and Isaiah Oliver at the corners. When Laguda went out, Nick Fisher entered the DB mix.
The Cougars' 24 points were about a touchdown more than what the Buffs had been allowing in their previous 10 games – a league-best 17.9 a game, tied with Washington. But countering that stat, WSU had averaged 24.6 games per second half in its previous 10 games. The Buffs held the Cougars to seven points in the third quarter, none in the fourth.
CU defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt, as stony a guy as there is in the profession, concluded, "There's some things we didn't do well. We could play better. But they play with passion. They play with their soul. That was big. That's what I'm so proud of them for."
And Fisher was particularly passionate and soulful. All he did was arguably turn the game around. "That fourth-down stand at the beginning of the fourth quarter, I think that was the difference in game," MacIntyre said.
A sophomore who had played in six previous games and made all of four tackles, Fisher made a fourth-and-four tackle on WSU receiver Kyle Sweet for a 3-yard gain. The Cougars and QB Luke Falk were halted at the Buffs' 15-yard line.
CU took possession, drove nearly the length of the field, and positioned Chris Graham for a 46-yard field goal. He made it, opening a 31-24 lead and opening just a bit of fourth-quarter breathing room on an afternoon that had been stiflingly short of it.
On offense, with Bobo leaving after his lone reception – he'd made 40 entering this game – someone was needed to fill his spot in the receiving rotation. With the Cougars paying particular attention to deep-threats Shay Fields and Devin Ross, Jay MacIntyre became a target for Sefo Liufau seven times for 90 yards – making it a career-best afternoon for "J-Mac."
His Saturday's work included career highs in receptions, yardage and first downs earned. His longest catch gained 23 yards. "My dad always talks about playing your role and being a star in your role," he said. "When the chances do come, make them. That happened (today) and it was exciting."
The Buffs haven't been injury free in the school's finest season in over a decade. Far from it. They lost starting linebacker Derek McCartney (knee) and starting kicker Diego Gonzalez (torn Achilles) in the same game – at Michigan. Liufau missed half of the Michigan game and three full games thereafter with an ankle ailment.
And Saturday, he went to the ground after a 4-yard gain early in the fourth quarter and suffered a hip pointer. Again, next man up, with Steven Montez spelling him for the rest of that series, which started with Fisher's huge stop and ended with Graham's field goal.
It was the first three points in a 10-point final quarter for the Buffs, and it would be the reason MacIntyre could open his post-game media conference like this: "Wow, what a great college football game – especially great because we won."
Later in his conference, MacIntyre turned slightly philosophical when asked whether this team has bought in or is playing with a chip on its shoulder.
"The buy-in is bigger by everybody," MacIntyre answered. "The chip is within their heart and soul now. They've got such a fortitude and fight. They truly believe in each other."
And once more, at long last, the college football world is believing in the Buffs. There's absolutely no reason not to.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
The Buffs are a legit 9-2, ranked No. 12 with a bullet (AP, USA Today/Coaches), perched at No. 10 in the CFP polling, and so deliciously in control of their fate in the suddenly fluid Pac-12 South that the conference's preseason pollsters are ordering crow for Turkey Day.
Last in the South Division – a sadly familiar spot for Mike MacIntyre's bunch – was the prediction in early August. Three months later, his Buffs have climbed from worst to first and they aren't finished.
Doubters can still doubt, but hey, keep that stuff outside Boulder County.
A short while after Oregon had stunned No. 11 Utah 30-28 in Salt Lake City on Saturday afternoon, CU climbed into the driver's seat in the Pac-12 South by overrunning, out-defending and upending No. 20 Washington State, 38-24. It was CU's first win against a ranked team since 2009.
With only the Utes now standing in their way of winning the division – and the Utes are Boulder-bound next Saturday (5:30 p.m., Fox) – the Buffs are sitting prettier than anyone in the college football world could have imagined back in late summer.
After they celebrated post-game with their suddenly engaged student body at raucous Folsom Field, the guess here is that many of the players went to the couches of their choice and tuned in to Saturday night's USC-UCLA game. A Bruins win, following the Utes' loss and what unfolded at Folsom, could cap one of CU's brightest Saturdays in a long, long time.
MacIntyre knew that a team stocked with upperclassmen and experience had a real chance to be really good. What he might not have known was just how good, how steely and resilient his fourth Buffs bunch would be.
Saturday's visit by Wazzu offered the latest and best example to date and validated an observation of his team that MacIntyre made in late October: "About three weeks ago we started saying, 'We do not blink.'"
And they didn't against Wazzu.
Early on, the Buffs lost defensive backs Afolabi Laguda (ejection for targeting) and Ryan Moeller (concussion). Then receiver Bryce Bobo went to the sideline with a lower leg injury and didn't return.
It was next man up . . . and oh how the Buffs manned up. At the team's hotel before the Buffs headed to Folsom, MacIntyre said he "told everybody to be all in, the guys that might not play much and the guys that play a lot."
Point taken. Shuffling in the secondary was required, so cornerback Chidobe Awuzie moved to Moeller's safety spot, stationing Akhello Witherspoon and Isaiah Oliver at the corners. When Laguda went out, Nick Fisher entered the DB mix.
The Cougars' 24 points were about a touchdown more than what the Buffs had been allowing in their previous 10 games – a league-best 17.9 a game, tied with Washington. But countering that stat, WSU had averaged 24.6 games per second half in its previous 10 games. The Buffs held the Cougars to seven points in the third quarter, none in the fourth.
CU defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt, as stony a guy as there is in the profession, concluded, "There's some things we didn't do well. We could play better. But they play with passion. They play with their soul. That was big. That's what I'm so proud of them for."
And Fisher was particularly passionate and soulful. All he did was arguably turn the game around. "That fourth-down stand at the beginning of the fourth quarter, I think that was the difference in game," MacIntyre said.
A sophomore who had played in six previous games and made all of four tackles, Fisher made a fourth-and-four tackle on WSU receiver Kyle Sweet for a 3-yard gain. The Cougars and QB Luke Falk were halted at the Buffs' 15-yard line.
CU took possession, drove nearly the length of the field, and positioned Chris Graham for a 46-yard field goal. He made it, opening a 31-24 lead and opening just a bit of fourth-quarter breathing room on an afternoon that had been stiflingly short of it.
On offense, with Bobo leaving after his lone reception – he'd made 40 entering this game – someone was needed to fill his spot in the receiving rotation. With the Cougars paying particular attention to deep-threats Shay Fields and Devin Ross, Jay MacIntyre became a target for Sefo Liufau seven times for 90 yards – making it a career-best afternoon for "J-Mac."
His Saturday's work included career highs in receptions, yardage and first downs earned. His longest catch gained 23 yards. "My dad always talks about playing your role and being a star in your role," he said. "When the chances do come, make them. That happened (today) and it was exciting."
The Buffs haven't been injury free in the school's finest season in over a decade. Far from it. They lost starting linebacker Derek McCartney (knee) and starting kicker Diego Gonzalez (torn Achilles) in the same game – at Michigan. Liufau missed half of the Michigan game and three full games thereafter with an ankle ailment.
And Saturday, he went to the ground after a 4-yard gain early in the fourth quarter and suffered a hip pointer. Again, next man up, with Steven Montez spelling him for the rest of that series, which started with Fisher's huge stop and ended with Graham's field goal.
It was the first three points in a 10-point final quarter for the Buffs, and it would be the reason MacIntyre could open his post-game media conference like this: "Wow, what a great college football game – especially great because we won."
Later in his conference, MacIntyre turned slightly philosophical when asked whether this team has bought in or is playing with a chip on its shoulder.
"The buy-in is bigger by everybody," MacIntyre answered. "The chip is within their heart and soul now. They've got such a fortitude and fight. They truly believe in each other."
And once more, at long last, the college football world is believing in the Buffs. There's absolutely no reason not to.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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