Colorado University Athletics
Football Notebook – An Offensive Chapter
April 06, 2017 | Football
Digging in on Colorado’s offense
BOULDER – This edition of the Colorado football notebook takes a look at the Buffalo offense heading into next season.
• One of the hot topics during spring football was the depth the Buffs have at wide receiver. Just how deep is Colorado, not just at receiver but the overall passing game? Of the 289 completions last season, all but four passes were caught by players who are returning in 2017.
That is one behind Wake Forest for the fewest number of receptions lost from any of the 128 FBS programs. However, Wake Forest RB Tyler Bell, who caught two passes in 2016, tore an ACL this spring and is expected to miss the fall due to the injury. Take his numbers out and CU would have the lowest number of receptions lost.
The top five sorted by fewest receptions lost from 2016:
The bottom five:
In case you are curious what four receptions are gone off of last year's team, they were by Joey Hall (for a first down versus Idaho State), Chris Hill (a TD, also against Idaho State), Sefo Liufau (14-yard reception on CU's first play of the Michigan game) and Sean Irwin (catch in the Alamo Bowl, which officially does not count in CU records since bowl statistics are not recognized).
• An interesting note from quarterback Steven Montez's time on the field last year is that three wide receivers all had career-highs in games that he started.
Devin Ross started the trend in Montez's first career start at Oregon when he caught seven passes for a personal-best 153 yards and one touchdown. The next week versus Oregon State, it was Shay Fields who went for a career-high 169 yards receiving and three touchdowns, which tied the CU record for most TD receptions in a game (all were in the first half, a new school record for TD catches in a half). In Montez's third and final start at USC, Bryce Bobo caught a career-high 10 passes. Eight of those were from Montez, as Liufau did complete two passes to Bobo in his limited action in the second quarter.
Analyzing Montez's numbers in his three starts last season, he threw for 274.3 yards per game, completed 67.7 percent of his passes (67 of 99) and had seven TDs against three interceptions.
Fields was his most productive receiver with 19 receptions for 288 yards and four TDs in passes from Montez. Bobo caught 16-of-28 pass attempts from Montez that went for 154 yards and two touchdowns while Ross caught 15-of-30 balls thrown his way for 211 yards and one touchdown. Phillip Lindsay had the highest percentage of catches in passes from Montez, an obvious feat coming out of the backfield, as he caught 14-of-17 attempts for 153 yards.
• Sticking with the passing game but adding a running back influence, Lindsay caught 47 of CU's 289 completions last season. It was one reception behind Washington State's Jamal Morrow and James Williams, who both caught 48 passes a year ago, for the most by any Pac-12 running back, but it by no means was close to the national lead. That went to Ohio State's Curtis Samuel, who caught 74 passes for the Buckeyes in 2016. Middle Tennessee RB I'Tavius Mathers was second with 66 receptions. Neither Samuel or Mathers return in 2017.
What is of note with Lindsay involved in the passing game is the body of work over his career.
Lindsay's 93 receptions are the second most among all returning running backs, trailing only Southern Miss' Ito Smith. Smith has 100 receptions in his career.
Lindsay also ranks ninth among returning players in career all-purpose yardage with 4,195 yards by the NCAA count (CU's count is 4,029 yards since Colorado does not include bowl statistics in official statistical records).
NCAA ACTIVE CAREER ALL-PURPOSE YARDS LEADERS (returning in 2017)
In the CU record books, Lindsay ranks third in all-purpose yardage, 10th in yards from scrimmage (2,924), 13th all-time in rushing (2,233 yards), 23rd in scoring (144 points), 24th in receptions and 42nd in receiving yardage (719). Again, the numbers vary from the chart above because the NCAA takes into account bowl statistics.
Lindsay will need 800 yards exactly to break the CU record for career all-purpose yardage, which Rodney Stewart (2008-11) currently owns at 4,828.
• For the offense, it all starts up front and the Buffs are experienced there. CU returns five offensive linemen who have started games in their careers. Those five have combined for 82 starts and played in 5,862 snaps from scrimmage. The leader in the group is Jeromy Irwin, who has 26 career starts and 1,906 snaps under his belt (in addition to being a two-year team captain).
• One of the hot topics during spring football was the depth the Buffs have at wide receiver. Just how deep is Colorado, not just at receiver but the overall passing game? Of the 289 completions last season, all but four passes were caught by players who are returning in 2017.
That is one behind Wake Forest for the fewest number of receptions lost from any of the 128 FBS programs. However, Wake Forest RB Tyler Bell, who caught two passes in 2016, tore an ACL this spring and is expected to miss the fall due to the injury. Take his numbers out and CU would have the lowest number of receptions lost.
The top five sorted by fewest receptions lost from 2016:
| Rk., School | Total Receptions in 2016 |
# of receptions by players returning in 2017 |
Percent Returning |
Receptions Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Wake Forest | 190 | 187 | .9842 | 3 |
| 2. COLORADO | 289 | 285 | .9862 | 4 |
| 3. Georgia Tech | 83 | 75 | .9036 | 8 |
| 4. Vanderbilt | 210 | 201 | .9571 | 9 |
| T-5. Troy | 315 | 305 | .9683 | 10 |
| T-5. TCU | 295 | 285 | .9661 | 10 |
The bottom five:
| Rk., School | Total Receptions in 2016 |
# of receptions by players returning in 2017 |
Percent Returning | Receptions Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 124. East Carolina | 359 | 168 | .4680 | 191 |
| 125. Western Michigan | 263 | 59 | .2240 | 204 |
| 126. North Carolina | 313 | 89 | .2843 | 224 |
| 127. Western Kentucky | 305 | 77 | .2525 | 228 |
| 128. Clemson | 422 | 175 | .4147 | 247 |
In case you are curious what four receptions are gone off of last year's team, they were by Joey Hall (for a first down versus Idaho State), Chris Hill (a TD, also against Idaho State), Sefo Liufau (14-yard reception on CU's first play of the Michigan game) and Sean Irwin (catch in the Alamo Bowl, which officially does not count in CU records since bowl statistics are not recognized).
• An interesting note from quarterback Steven Montez's time on the field last year is that three wide receivers all had career-highs in games that he started.
Devin Ross started the trend in Montez's first career start at Oregon when he caught seven passes for a personal-best 153 yards and one touchdown. The next week versus Oregon State, it was Shay Fields who went for a career-high 169 yards receiving and three touchdowns, which tied the CU record for most TD receptions in a game (all were in the first half, a new school record for TD catches in a half). In Montez's third and final start at USC, Bryce Bobo caught a career-high 10 passes. Eight of those were from Montez, as Liufau did complete two passes to Bobo in his limited action in the second quarter.
Analyzing Montez's numbers in his three starts last season, he threw for 274.3 yards per game, completed 67.7 percent of his passes (67 of 99) and had seven TDs against three interceptions.
Fields was his most productive receiver with 19 receptions for 288 yards and four TDs in passes from Montez. Bobo caught 16-of-28 pass attempts from Montez that went for 154 yards and two touchdowns while Ross caught 15-of-30 balls thrown his way for 211 yards and one touchdown. Phillip Lindsay had the highest percentage of catches in passes from Montez, an obvious feat coming out of the backfield, as he caught 14-of-17 attempts for 153 yards.
• Sticking with the passing game but adding a running back influence, Lindsay caught 47 of CU's 289 completions last season. It was one reception behind Washington State's Jamal Morrow and James Williams, who both caught 48 passes a year ago, for the most by any Pac-12 running back, but it by no means was close to the national lead. That went to Ohio State's Curtis Samuel, who caught 74 passes for the Buckeyes in 2016. Middle Tennessee RB I'Tavius Mathers was second with 66 receptions. Neither Samuel or Mathers return in 2017.
What is of note with Lindsay involved in the passing game is the body of work over his career.
Lindsay's 93 receptions are the second most among all returning running backs, trailing only Southern Miss' Ito Smith. Smith has 100 receptions in his career.
Lindsay also ranks ninth among returning players in career all-purpose yardage with 4,195 yards by the NCAA count (CU's count is 4,029 yards since Colorado does not include bowl statistics in official statistical records).
NCAA ACTIVE CAREER ALL-PURPOSE YARDS LEADERS (returning in 2017)
| Player, School | Pos. | Rush | Rec. | INT | PR | KR | Total |
| Carlos Henderson, LA Tech | WR | 257 | 2,878 | 0 | 0 | 2,094 | 5,229 |
| Royce Freeman, Oregon | RB | 4,146 | 650 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,796 |
| Justin Jackson, Northwestern | RB | 4,129 | 582 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,711 |
| Trent Taylor, LA Tech | WR | 0 | 4,179 | 0 | 482 | 16 | 4,677 |
| Ito Smith, Southern Miss | RB | 3,123 | 1,050 | 0 | 0 | 456 | 4,629 |
| Jarvion Franklin, Western Michigan | RB | 3,639 | 640 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,279 |
| Larry Rose III, New Mexico State | RB | 3,618 | 635 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,253 |
| Arkeel Newsome, UConn | RB | 1,694 | 893 | 0 | 0 | 1,623 | 4,210 |
| PHILLIP LINDSAY, COLORADO | RB | 2,296 | 822 | 0 | 0 | 1,027 | 4,195 |
In the CU record books, Lindsay ranks third in all-purpose yardage, 10th in yards from scrimmage (2,924), 13th all-time in rushing (2,233 yards), 23rd in scoring (144 points), 24th in receptions and 42nd in receiving yardage (719). Again, the numbers vary from the chart above because the NCAA takes into account bowl statistics.
Lindsay will need 800 yards exactly to break the CU record for career all-purpose yardage, which Rodney Stewart (2008-11) currently owns at 4,828.
• For the offense, it all starts up front and the Buffs are experienced there. CU returns five offensive linemen who have started games in their careers. Those five have combined for 82 starts and played in 5,862 snaps from scrimmage. The leader in the group is Jeromy Irwin, who has 26 career starts and 1,906 snaps under his belt (in addition to being a two-year team captain).
Players Mentioned
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