Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Prepare For Visit From Oregon State
September 30, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
Colorado hosts Beavers in conference home opener Saturday
BOULDER — With one Pac-12 game down and eight to go, there remain plenty of unknowns in the Colorado Buffaloes' season.
But one thing of which the Buffs are quite certain is this: a stumble Saturday at home against Oregon State (12:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) will eliminate all the good will, good feelings and positive attention forged by last week's win at Oregon.
Not the the Buffs (3-1 overall, 1-0 Pac-12) are expecting such a slip in their conference home opener — and neither should it be expected. Since the beginning of fall camp, this upperclassman-dominated team has done an outstanding job of focusing on the task at hand. They've approached each week with the singular purpose of going 1-0, and while their fans spent the week celebrating and reliving the win over the Ducks, the Buffs very quickly got down to the business of getting ready for the Beavers (1-2, 0-0).
"Everyone is still talking about Oregon, but that's done," running back Phillip Lindsay said at the Buffs' weekly Tuesday press conference. "We're on to Oregon State, who is a good team. If you don't go in there with the right attitude with any Pac-12 team then you're not going to come out with the win. We're just worrying about ourselves and going out there and playing Colorado football. That's it."
If practice is any indication of a team's performance, the Buffs should play well Saturday. Head coach Mike MacIntyre said each day this week that he liked the way his players responded — and neither is he worried about a little success going to their heads.
"These young men have worked so hard, I don't think they'll let down for a second," MacIntyre said. "We need to be prepared and ready to go. In our league, everybody's good. Everybody's got good football players. We've got to come ready to play and give our best to be able to win. Preparing during the week is the key."
The Buffs didn't have to look far to remind themselves of what kind of players the visiting Beavers have. Although Colorado scratched out a 17-13 win in Corvallis a year ago — CU's only conference win of the season — the Beavers did their share of damage and many of those players are back, including running back Ryan Nall, wide receiver Victor Bolden and quarterback-turned-receiver Seth Collins.
Nall is a 235-pound bruiser who ran for 120 yards and a score against CU last year. Collins leads the Beavers this year with 16 catches for 185 yards while Bolden has 13 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown.
But it is Bolden's return skills that have the Buffs' full attention. A year ago, he returned four kicks for 110 yards, and last week had a 99-yard kick return for a touchdown against Boise State.
"We've got to cover well," MacIntyre said. "Bolden's really good. He's quick and fast and they do a good job blocking up front. They're excited about him because they know he can return it, so their guys up front do a good job blocking. He's going to be hard to handle."
Defensively, the Beavers line up in a base 3-4. Outside linebacker Titus Failauga leads OSU with a pair of sacks while defensive back Devin Chappell is the overall tackles leader with 23, including a sack. Cornerback Treston Decoud has a pair of interceptions and the Beavers have also forced four fumbles this season.
Offensively, Darrell Garretson leads Oregon State at quarterback. The junior has thrown for 453 yards, three touchdowns and just one interception this season, and while he left last week's game 38-24 loss to Boise State early with an injury, the Buffs expect him to be in the starting lineup today.
The Buffs, of course, are familiar with the game of "Who will start at quarterback?" After playing it close to the vest the week before the Oregon game, they sent redshirt freshman Steven Montez onto the field in place of injured Sefo Liufau (ankle). Montez responded with a 333-yard, three-touchdown game in the air to go with 135 yards and one touchdown rushing.
Liufau continued to improve this week, but MacIntyre said the Buffs won't name their starter until gameday.
If the Buffs' offense performs as it has thus far — especially in the first quarter, when they've outscored opponents 72-14 — they should have an opportunity to move the ball. Colorado is averaging a robust 523.2 yards per game (15th in the nation) while Oregon State's defense is giving up 385 yards per game (65th in the nation).
The one statistical category in which the two teams are the closest is scoring defense: Colorado is giving up an average of 24.2 points per game (55th) while the Beavers are giving up 25.0 per game (57th).
But while the Buffs spent the week preparing for the Beavers, they also know this will be just one more test in what they believe will be a long season of such weekly exams.
So far, the results have been good. But eight games to go, they know they are a long way from a final grade.
"We need to be a heavyweight again," MacIntyre said. "We used to be a welterweight. I think we stepped up to at least being able to spar with the heavyweights. The more games we win, we'll see if we're a heavyweight."
BUFF BITS: A win today would give CU its first 2-0 start in league play since 2007 — also the last time CU played in a bowl game. … CU's offense is currently averaging 523.3 yards per game, currently ahead of the all-time school best of 495.3, set in 1994. … The Buffs have had the lead 78.1 percent of the time in their games thus far. … NT Josh Tupou's seven tackles last week against Oregon were a career high. … LB Kenneth Olugbode is the 70th player in CU history to hit 200 tackles for a career, surpassing the milestone last week. … The Buffs have nine sacks this year and will be facing an offense that has yielded 13 sacks in three games (126th nationally). … The Buffs are 26th in the nation in third-down offense (48.4 percent) and 22nd in third-down defense (29.5 percent).
BROADCAST: The Pac-12 Networks will televise today's game with JB Long, Glenn Parker and Jill Savage. KOA radio will broadcast the game with Mark Johnson and Gary Barnett.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
