Fast Five: Keys For Buffs Vs. Wildcats
October 06, 2017 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — For defensive coordinators, every week in the Pac-12 is an adventure.
Just ask Colorado's D.J. Eliot.
Last week, Eliot prepared his team to face one of the nation's premier pass attacks and one of the country's best quarterbacks, UCLA's Josh Rosen.
This week, the Buffs must switch gears in a hurry. Saturday, they will see a premier dual-threat quarterback in Arizona's Brandon Dawkins, a player who can throw (670 yards passing, five touchdowns in four games this year) and run (341 yards, six TDs on the ground). He is no doubt the catalyst for an UA offense that is averaging more than 41 points and nearly 480 yards per game.
The 3-2 Buffs (0-2 Pac-12) will also see what has all the signs of a much-improved Arizona defense. A Wildcats bunch that last year was near the bottom of the Pac-12 in scoring defense and total defense appears to have taken a big jump this year. Arizona (2-2, 0-1) is fifth in the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 22.2 points per game.
What the Buffs must do Saturday to break into the Pac-12 win column:
1. Get RB Phillip Lindsay going downhill. It's actually a simple equation: when the Buffs are successful on the ground, their air attack thrives. When the run game struggles, so does the passing game.
Getting Lindsay in a rhythm is a huge part of that equation — even when he's not the leading rusher. In last week's loss to UCLA, CU's leading ground gainer was quarterback Steven Montez. But Montez's biggest runs came after fakes to Lindsay, who drew the defense in and allowed Montez to slip around the edge and down the sidelines.
In order to make defenses buy that fake, the Buffs need to get Lindsay running downhill early. If the Buffs do that, everything else will open up.
2. Keep Dawkins in the pocket and contain him on the edge. Dawkins is a good passer, but not in the league of UCLA's Rosen. The Buffs must contain him and make him beat them with his arm.
If they let him escape the pocket, he's a huge threat. But if they keep him inside, his effectiveness will be greatly reduced.
Dawkins will get some yards on planned runs. That's part of Arizona's attack. But keeping him inside and not giving him an edge — either on a scramble or on a planned run — will be a key to CU's success in containing him. Arizona is eighth in the nation in rushing, averaging 296 yards per game, and Dawkins is the big reason.
The other part of this equation is keeping running back J.J. Taylor in check. Taylor is the starting point for the Wildcats' read-option attack. If the Buffs stifle Taylor early, it will take away one of Dawkins' big weapons.
3. Keep trying to stretch the field. While the Buffs haven't had much success thus far with the long ball — their longest completion of the season is just 44 yards — they need to continue throwing it deep, if for no other reason than to keep the Wildcats honest.
So far this year, the Buffs have seen all kinds of exotic deep zone defenses designed to prevent Montez from going up top. On the few opportunities they have had, the Buffs have just missed a couple of big plays. But if they keep throwing those long balls, they'll hit some — and those momentum plays will be a big difference, not only this week but in weeks to come.
4. Â Take care of the ball. This is obvioulsy something every team should do every game, but the Wildcats' defense has been particularly good at forcing turnovers this year.
For the first time since 2001, Arizona has multiple takeaways in its first four games of the season, with five interceptions and four fumble recoveries so far. The Buffs can't afford to give Dawkins extra possessions by turning it over.
Of course, that formula works the other way. The Wildcats offense turned the ball over five times in their most recent outing, a 30-24 loss to Utah. If Colorado can get a few extra possessions, it will go a long way in forcing Arizona to play catchup — not something Arizona's offense is particularly designed to do.
5. Continue solid punt and kick coverage. Arizona's Shun Brown has a pair of punt returns for touchdowns this year, one for 66 yards and one for 63. The Buffs, meanwhile, have allowed just three punt returns for a total of 26 yards. Keep that trend up on Saturday and there won't be any of those dramatic momentum shifts that can change the outcome of a game.
As for kick returns, the Wildcats are 17th in the nation, averaging almost 26 yards per return. The Buffs, meanwhile, are one of just nine teams in the nation who have yet to give up a kick return longer than 22 yards. CU's Davis Price has 29 kickoffs and 21 touchbacks. There's no doubt he would like to add a few touchbacks to that total this weekend.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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Neill Woelk
Contributing Editor
University of Colorado
CUBuffs.com
C:Â 720-839-5577
Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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