Buffs Aim For Second Straight Road Win At WSU
October 21, 2017 | Football, Neill Woelk
PULLMAN, Wash. — In a conference in which road wins are difficult to come by, the Colorado Buffaloes will be chasing their second in a row Saturday night at No. 15 Washington State (8:45 p.m., ESPN).
If the 4-3 Buffs (1-3 Pac-12), who won at Oregon State last week, can pull off a win against the 6-1 Cougars (3-1 Pac-12), it will end a 27-game drought against ranked teams on the road, a stretch that covers 15 years. The last time the Buffs beat a ranked team on the road was 2002, when Gary Barnett's team went to UCLA and handed the No. 20 Bruins a 31-17 defeat.
The Buffs figure Saturday night is as good of a time as any to end the skid. The Cougars are coming off a surprising 37-3 loss to unranked Cal, a game in which just about everything that could have gone wrong did for WSU. That includes yielding nine sacks and seven turnovers, five of those interceptions of standout quarterback Luke Falk.
Falk, who is still among the nation's leaders in passing yards and touchdown throws, has been the center of the Buffs' attention all week. But Saturday night's weather at Martin Stadium could be a major factor. The forecast calls for temperatures in the low 40s, rain throughout the game and wind gusts as high as 40 mph.
Those are not conditions conducive to a passing game.
"It's football," Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "It's one of the beauties of football. I just wish it was grass with mud. It'd be even more fun."
Given their druthers, the Buffs likely wouldn't mind a game that is decided by rushing attacks. The Buffs' run game has been on a roll lately, averaging more than 230 yards per game over the last three, with running back Phillip Lindsay accounting for 549 yards and six touchdowns in that stretch.
Lindsay also isn't the type to be bothered by the weather, especially on Martin Stadium's artificial turf.
"I feel like I play better in the cold anyway," Lindsay said. "Cold doesn't bother me at all. I can't control the weather, I can't control the field. All I can control is myself and what I do to help my team win."
To get Lindsay moving, the Buffs will have to contend with a WSU defensive line that features one of the Pac-12's best, Hercules Mata'afa. The WSU junior leads the Pac-12 in tackles for loss (12) and is tied for the league lead in sacks (6.5).
The Cougars, meanwhile, have not made a serious attempt at establishing a consistent run game this year, averaging just more than 70 yards per contest on the ground and surpassing the 100-yard mark only twice. For the season, Lindsay actually has more yards in his last three games (549) than the entire WSU team has accumulated on the ground all year (519).
Still, WSU did rush for 122 yards in a win over USC, the Trojans' only loss of the year — and Colorado's defense has struggled against the run game in recent weeks, yielding nearly 700 yards on the ground in the last two games.
"When it comes down to it, it's just execution," Buffs linebacker Drew Lewis said. "It might be just one person who makes a mistake, like playing front side when he should have played backside. That'll cause a four or five yard gain every time. When teams look at us and think that our defense isn't stout, that's what they're talking about. (But) we're getting better at that. Every day we're trying to finish plays off and come together as a defense. Everyone needs to come together to finish a play."
If the Cougars are able to throw consistently, it means the Buffs will have to put some pressure on Falk. CU hasn't had much success rushing the passer in Pac-12 play — the Buffs have just two sacks in conference games — but the Cougars have allowed a league-high 32 sacks this year.
More than anything, the Buffs would like to produce a complete game on both sides of the ball. They have had good performances by the defense and solid efforts by the offense — but in Pac-12 play, the two haven't coincided. If they can put the two together against the Cougars, there's no reason to think they won't be in the ballgame down the stretch.
"We all see that we have the potential to win big games," said wide receiver Bryce Bobo, who had two touchdown receptions in last week's win over Oregon State. "We're going into this week with the mindset that this is going to be a close game. (Washington State) has a really good offense, and their defense has improved a lot since last year. We know that it's going to be a good game."
MATCHUP TO WATCH: Colorado's offensive line vs. WSU's defensive line. If the Buffs' big men up front can move the Cougars, it will allow Lindsay to get into a rhythm and give the Buffs a chance to control the tempo and the clock.
KEEP AN EYE ON: Buffs linebackers Derek McCartney and Jacob Callier. McCartney is coming off a season-best seven-tackle performance against OSU, where he also had a third-down stop and a quarterback hurry. McCartney could be key in getting some pressure on Falk and also against the WSU run game. Callier, meanwhile, has become a pass rush specialist for the Buffs and could play a big role, especially if the Buffs utilize their nickel package on a regular basis.
THE SERIES: Colorado leads the all-time series 6-4, with the series tied 2-2 since the Buffs entered the Pac-12 in 2011. Colorado won 38-24 last year in Boulder; the Cougars won the last game in Pullman, 27-3 in 2015. Overall, the Buffs are 1-1 at Martin Stadium.
NUTS AND BOLTS:
Kickoff: 8:45 p.m., Martin Field.
Broadcast: The game will be televised nationally by ESPN with Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht and Rocky Bolman. The radio broadcast will be carried by AM 850 KOA with Mark Johnson, Gary Barnett and Bobby Pesavento.
In-game live blog, stats: A live in-game blog as well as continually updated statistics will be available on www.CUBuffs.com
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
Players Mentioned
