Colorado University Athletics
Photo by: Tony Harman
Brooks: Tuesday Tidbits
November 08, 2016 | Football, B.G. Brooks
Gilbert says ejection vs. UCLA resulted from ‘one in a million shot’
HELMET-TO-HELMET MISTAKE: An unfunny thing happened on the way to Colorado outside linebacker Jimmie Gilbert's way to tackle Mike Fafaul – the UCLA quarterback slid.
And as a result, Gilbert delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit that resulted in a targeting call and his ejection from CU's eventual 20-10 win last Thursday night against UCLA.
At the time, it was a bad blow for Gilbert – CU's sack leader with 6.5 – and the Buffs defense. But had it occurred in the game's second half, it could have left a mark that might have impacted this Saturday's game at Arizona (8:05 p.m., FS1).
Because his infraction occurred in the first half, sitting out the second half of the UCLA game instead of the first half of the Arizona game was Gilbert's penalty.
"After we won I felt relief because I knew I'd be able to play the next game," Gilbert said Tuesday. "I wasn't too worried about it during the game (but) it was a huge weight off my shoulders."
Gilbert knows enough about the targeting rule not to have drawn a head-first bead on Fafaul. But as Gilbert made his final approach to make the tackle, Fafaul went into a feet-first slide.
"If he hadn't slid I would have hit him in the stomach," Gilbert said. "There was nothing I could do about that . . . it was a one in a million shot. I wouldn't expect it to happen (again). I'll learn from it."
After going to the locker room, where he spent the rest of the game, he said he had a halftime talk with his defensive teammates "and told them what I saw. I was trying to give my input and still be a part of the game without actually being out there on the sidelines."
His infraction was one of 12 called against the Buffs (the Bruins were penalized 13 times) and resulted in coach Mike MacIntyre bringing the team in early Friday morning (8 a.m.) for a "teaching session."
Gilbert said it included "80 up-downs and four or five timed gassers . . . we needed to run; for us to be Pac-12 champs we can't play like that. Ever. We gave up a lot of points just because of penalties – stupid personal fouls, off-sides, things like that. By him punishing us like that it's a way of him getting it into our heads that we can't play like that again."
MacIntyre has warned his players that their final three opponents – Arizona, Washington State, Utah – likely will take a cue from UCLA and do their best to unnerve the No. 16 (AP) Buffs. Restraint, said Gilbert, is critical: "We have a bunch of aggressive guys . . . when someone hurts our pride it really gets us going. But you have to show restraint, sit there and take it and do your damage in between the whistles."
PUT THOSE FLAGS AWAY: The dozen penalties against UCLA was a season high for the Buffs and scratched them from being the Pac-12's least penalized team. Their 52 for the season ties them with Arizona for fourth in the conference in that category. Arizona State (41), Washington (48) and Stanford (50) are the top three.
For the Buffs to close out November on the best possible note, they're aware that the flags can't fly that much again – particularly the penalties for personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct.
"That performance wasn't like us," running back Phillip Lindsay said. "At the end of the day that's not what coach Mac is about, and that's not what he's built at this program. That's just not what this program is about period. We just addressed, we looked each other in the face and said that we're not going to do that.
"Because that will get us beat later on down the road, making stupid penalties like we did. We just need to hold each other accountable. And watch each other because that's what it's all about."
MacIntyre said a few personal foul calls in football are to be expected, but not flags for unsportsmanlike conduct. He called the personal fouls "judgment calls at times. If we don't get a personal foul every once in a while, we're probably not being real aggressive. I don't mean that mean or to do anything vicious, you just better play aggressive."
But flags thrown after the whistle blows leave him "ticked off . . . hitting a guy, pushing a guy, jawing with a guy, that's totally selfish. All that does it hurts the team . . . those are the types of plays that really irritates me. That's selfish. We addressed it clearly."
Prior to the UCLA game, CU's most penalized game was at Michigan (7 for 46 yards).
SUPERB ATHLETE, FAST LEARNER: Isaiah Oliver is relatively new to the role of returning punts. But that doesn't mean punt coverage teams can sleep on him.
To the contrary, Oliver's game-changing returns against UCLA put the Pac-12 on notice that he's dangerous and must be accounted for. His five returns against the Bruins totaled 124 yards and included a 42- and 68-yarder – the last for a fourth-quarter touchdown that created separation for the Buffs. He was named the Pac-12's special teams player of the week.
Oliver, a sophomore who also competes in the decathlon for the CU track team, started returning punts in the second half of the Arizona State (Oct. 15) when Jay MacIntyre suffered a concussion.
Learning to consistently catch the ball was his initial hurdle; now it's learning "the rotation of the ball," he said. "Sometimes when the tip is going down you know it's going to stop a lot shorter. When it's up it's carrying. So being able to see that as well as seeing where the gunners are at and the people coming down, judging whether or not you need a fair catch, and doing that all of that at the same time is probably the number one thing that I still need to learn."
Oliver is from Goodyear, Ariz. (Brophy Prep), so this week's game represents a return to his home state. He expects the trip "to be a lot of fun for my family to come out to the game and to basically play in front of a home crowd for me."
Neither Arizona nor Arizona State offered him a scholarship, which isn't something he says he dwells on. Nonetheless, he admits when the Buffs play either the Wildcats or Sun Devils "it's always in the back of my mind . . . just knowing that I came from Arizona and looked for those schools to offer me and they didn't. There's always a little bit of extra motivation to show them that this is where I'm at now."
He said he's asked a lot about CU by Arizona acquaintances, prospects the Buffs might be interested in, and how he likes life in Boulder. "I tell them that every decision they make is up to them and that everyone is going to have a different take on a different school," he said. "Once they find one that they like, it's up to them."
But Oliver has found his niche and the Buffs obviously have found a punt returner.
WHERE'S THE 'O'? Remember when the Buffs were averaging right at 40 points a game (39 through their first seven)? It wasn't that long ago, but subpar offensive games against Stanford (a 10-5 win) and UCLA (a 20-10 win) now have CU averaging 33.7 points per outing (sixth in the Pac-12).
The reasons for the drop-off aren't complex: In the past two games the Buffs have met a couple of strong defenses, CU's offensive line hasn't had its best performances, and the play of quarterback Sefo Liufau has been erratic.
CU's 304 yards of total offense against UCLA was its lowest output of the season. The offense owes much to the defense for preserving the last two 'W's, but as Lindsay explained, "You definitely don't want to always leave your defense out to dry all the time because that doesn't feel good. We know each other on a personal level, and for them to go out there and put their bodies on the line for us to get the ball back. We have to help them out and score points.
"And we've just got to get back to our groove, and we will this week. We're already a more focused team, and we're hungry. That's where I feel like in the past, we weren't as hungry. What you do in practice shows up on the field, and what we did in practice for the past couple of weeks, wasn't what we were used to. And this week we went to square one and we're getting that groove back."
MacIntyre disagreed with Lindsay's assessment of subpar practice the last two weeks, noting that Lindsay's personality usually has him being overly critical. "We had good practices," MacIntyre said.
He agreed with Lindsay's call for the offense to rediscover its mojo but added that past CU teams wouldn't have won the past two games: "Our team has crossed that hump now . . . 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. I haven't seen a down practice or a practice where I really had to get after them. I hope Phillip does feel that way, because it's going to keep him motivated."
MacIntyre also said offensive lulls are to be expected but they can't continue if the Buffs are to meet their seasonal goal of winning the Pac-12: "They always say offense lights up the scoreboard, but defense wins championships. You've got to have a good defense and we have a good defense. Our offense will start clicking and get in the end zone, and we're going to need to in these games coming up for sure."
PRICE IS RIGHT: Freshman placekicker Davis Price has recovered sufficiently from his bout with mononucleosis to resume practice. He will be available Saturday in Tucson, MacIntyre said.
After going 4-for-5 on field goals during a three-game stretch, Price has missed the last two games. Chris Graham kicked in his place during that stretch, hitting half of his six attempts. Against Stanford, when Graham missed his first two kicks, punter Alex Kinney was called on to attempt his first college field goal (he missed).
But Graham made a critical 23-yarder against the Cardinal and was 2-of-3 against the Bruins (one blocked kick).
MacIntyre said his kickers benefit from having a team sports psychologist (Chris Bader) on staff. Kicking, noted MacIntyre, is "just like your golf swing. You've just got to go out there and do it on the practice range. With everybody there, you've got to come through."
He said Graham "did better last week and I think he's done better this week. I thought Davis kicked good. I feel like those guys can definitely do it, they've just got to consistently do it when the pressures on. I think the more they do it and the more they're in that, they get mentally tougher. Davis will be healthy for Saturday."
A WRITE-IN CANDIDATE PERHAPS? With Tuesday being Election Day, MacIntyre opened his weekly news conference by noting, "There are a lot more important things today than this media conference. Make sure you go vote, I'm dead serious. That's where I'm going after this. That's an important part of the history of our country. Don't take it lightly."
Asked a follow-up question of which college football coach he would elect as POTUS, MacIntyre didn't hesitate.
"David Cutcliffe (Duke). He's a well-rounded, solid man. He's very out-spoken. David Cutcliffe for sure, I'd vote for him for president. I wish he was running now to be honest."
MacIntyre coached with Cutcliffe at Duke and Ole Miss and considers him a mentor.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
And as a result, Gilbert delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit that resulted in a targeting call and his ejection from CU's eventual 20-10 win last Thursday night against UCLA.
At the time, it was a bad blow for Gilbert – CU's sack leader with 6.5 – and the Buffs defense. But had it occurred in the game's second half, it could have left a mark that might have impacted this Saturday's game at Arizona (8:05 p.m., FS1).
Because his infraction occurred in the first half, sitting out the second half of the UCLA game instead of the first half of the Arizona game was Gilbert's penalty.
"After we won I felt relief because I knew I'd be able to play the next game," Gilbert said Tuesday. "I wasn't too worried about it during the game (but) it was a huge weight off my shoulders."
Gilbert knows enough about the targeting rule not to have drawn a head-first bead on Fafaul. But as Gilbert made his final approach to make the tackle, Fafaul went into a feet-first slide.
"If he hadn't slid I would have hit him in the stomach," Gilbert said. "There was nothing I could do about that . . . it was a one in a million shot. I wouldn't expect it to happen (again). I'll learn from it."
After going to the locker room, where he spent the rest of the game, he said he had a halftime talk with his defensive teammates "and told them what I saw. I was trying to give my input and still be a part of the game without actually being out there on the sidelines."
His infraction was one of 12 called against the Buffs (the Bruins were penalized 13 times) and resulted in coach Mike MacIntyre bringing the team in early Friday morning (8 a.m.) for a "teaching session."
Gilbert said it included "80 up-downs and four or five timed gassers . . . we needed to run; for us to be Pac-12 champs we can't play like that. Ever. We gave up a lot of points just because of penalties – stupid personal fouls, off-sides, things like that. By him punishing us like that it's a way of him getting it into our heads that we can't play like that again."
MacIntyre has warned his players that their final three opponents – Arizona, Washington State, Utah – likely will take a cue from UCLA and do their best to unnerve the No. 16 (AP) Buffs. Restraint, said Gilbert, is critical: "We have a bunch of aggressive guys . . . when someone hurts our pride it really gets us going. But you have to show restraint, sit there and take it and do your damage in between the whistles."
PUT THOSE FLAGS AWAY: The dozen penalties against UCLA was a season high for the Buffs and scratched them from being the Pac-12's least penalized team. Their 52 for the season ties them with Arizona for fourth in the conference in that category. Arizona State (41), Washington (48) and Stanford (50) are the top three.
For the Buffs to close out November on the best possible note, they're aware that the flags can't fly that much again – particularly the penalties for personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct.
"That performance wasn't like us," running back Phillip Lindsay said. "At the end of the day that's not what coach Mac is about, and that's not what he's built at this program. That's just not what this program is about period. We just addressed, we looked each other in the face and said that we're not going to do that.
"Because that will get us beat later on down the road, making stupid penalties like we did. We just need to hold each other accountable. And watch each other because that's what it's all about."
MacIntyre said a few personal foul calls in football are to be expected, but not flags for unsportsmanlike conduct. He called the personal fouls "judgment calls at times. If we don't get a personal foul every once in a while, we're probably not being real aggressive. I don't mean that mean or to do anything vicious, you just better play aggressive."
But flags thrown after the whistle blows leave him "ticked off . . . hitting a guy, pushing a guy, jawing with a guy, that's totally selfish. All that does it hurts the team . . . those are the types of plays that really irritates me. That's selfish. We addressed it clearly."
Prior to the UCLA game, CU's most penalized game was at Michigan (7 for 46 yards).
SUPERB ATHLETE, FAST LEARNER: Isaiah Oliver is relatively new to the role of returning punts. But that doesn't mean punt coverage teams can sleep on him.
To the contrary, Oliver's game-changing returns against UCLA put the Pac-12 on notice that he's dangerous and must be accounted for. His five returns against the Bruins totaled 124 yards and included a 42- and 68-yarder – the last for a fourth-quarter touchdown that created separation for the Buffs. He was named the Pac-12's special teams player of the week.
Oliver, a sophomore who also competes in the decathlon for the CU track team, started returning punts in the second half of the Arizona State (Oct. 15) when Jay MacIntyre suffered a concussion.
Learning to consistently catch the ball was his initial hurdle; now it's learning "the rotation of the ball," he said. "Sometimes when the tip is going down you know it's going to stop a lot shorter. When it's up it's carrying. So being able to see that as well as seeing where the gunners are at and the people coming down, judging whether or not you need a fair catch, and doing that all of that at the same time is probably the number one thing that I still need to learn."
Oliver is from Goodyear, Ariz. (Brophy Prep), so this week's game represents a return to his home state. He expects the trip "to be a lot of fun for my family to come out to the game and to basically play in front of a home crowd for me."
Neither Arizona nor Arizona State offered him a scholarship, which isn't something he says he dwells on. Nonetheless, he admits when the Buffs play either the Wildcats or Sun Devils "it's always in the back of my mind . . . just knowing that I came from Arizona and looked for those schools to offer me and they didn't. There's always a little bit of extra motivation to show them that this is where I'm at now."
He said he's asked a lot about CU by Arizona acquaintances, prospects the Buffs might be interested in, and how he likes life in Boulder. "I tell them that every decision they make is up to them and that everyone is going to have a different take on a different school," he said. "Once they find one that they like, it's up to them."
But Oliver has found his niche and the Buffs obviously have found a punt returner.
WHERE'S THE 'O'? Remember when the Buffs were averaging right at 40 points a game (39 through their first seven)? It wasn't that long ago, but subpar offensive games against Stanford (a 10-5 win) and UCLA (a 20-10 win) now have CU averaging 33.7 points per outing (sixth in the Pac-12).
The reasons for the drop-off aren't complex: In the past two games the Buffs have met a couple of strong defenses, CU's offensive line hasn't had its best performances, and the play of quarterback Sefo Liufau has been erratic.
CU's 304 yards of total offense against UCLA was its lowest output of the season. The offense owes much to the defense for preserving the last two 'W's, but as Lindsay explained, "You definitely don't want to always leave your defense out to dry all the time because that doesn't feel good. We know each other on a personal level, and for them to go out there and put their bodies on the line for us to get the ball back. We have to help them out and score points.
"And we've just got to get back to our groove, and we will this week. We're already a more focused team, and we're hungry. That's where I feel like in the past, we weren't as hungry. What you do in practice shows up on the field, and what we did in practice for the past couple of weeks, wasn't what we were used to. And this week we went to square one and we're getting that groove back."
MacIntyre disagreed with Lindsay's assessment of subpar practice the last two weeks, noting that Lindsay's personality usually has him being overly critical. "We had good practices," MacIntyre said.
He agreed with Lindsay's call for the offense to rediscover its mojo but added that past CU teams wouldn't have won the past two games: "Our team has crossed that hump now . . . 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. I haven't seen a down practice or a practice where I really had to get after them. I hope Phillip does feel that way, because it's going to keep him motivated."
MacIntyre also said offensive lulls are to be expected but they can't continue if the Buffs are to meet their seasonal goal of winning the Pac-12: "They always say offense lights up the scoreboard, but defense wins championships. You've got to have a good defense and we have a good defense. Our offense will start clicking and get in the end zone, and we're going to need to in these games coming up for sure."
PRICE IS RIGHT: Freshman placekicker Davis Price has recovered sufficiently from his bout with mononucleosis to resume practice. He will be available Saturday in Tucson, MacIntyre said.
After going 4-for-5 on field goals during a three-game stretch, Price has missed the last two games. Chris Graham kicked in his place during that stretch, hitting half of his six attempts. Against Stanford, when Graham missed his first two kicks, punter Alex Kinney was called on to attempt his first college field goal (he missed).
But Graham made a critical 23-yarder against the Cardinal and was 2-of-3 against the Bruins (one blocked kick).
MacIntyre said his kickers benefit from having a team sports psychologist (Chris Bader) on staff. Kicking, noted MacIntyre, is "just like your golf swing. You've just got to go out there and do it on the practice range. With everybody there, you've got to come through."
He said Graham "did better last week and I think he's done better this week. I thought Davis kicked good. I feel like those guys can definitely do it, they've just got to consistently do it when the pressures on. I think the more they do it and the more they're in that, they get mentally tougher. Davis will be healthy for Saturday."
A WRITE-IN CANDIDATE PERHAPS? With Tuesday being Election Day, MacIntyre opened his weekly news conference by noting, "There are a lot more important things today than this media conference. Make sure you go vote, I'm dead serious. That's where I'm going after this. That's an important part of the history of our country. Don't take it lightly."
Asked a follow-up question of which college football coach he would elect as POTUS, MacIntyre didn't hesitate.
"David Cutcliffe (Duke). He's a well-rounded, solid man. He's very out-spoken. David Cutcliffe for sure, I'd vote for him for president. I wish he was running now to be honest."
MacIntyre coached with Cutcliffe at Duke and Ole Miss and considers him a mentor.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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