Woelk: Takeaways From Buffs Game At Washington State

 

 BOULDER — After two long road trips — literally and figuratively — the Colorado Buffaloes finally get the chance to play at home again this week.

But the task doesn't get any easier. Directly ahead is a Friday night matchup at Folsom Field with a talented USC team (7 p.m., ESPN2), which means the Buffs get to spend the week answering questions about Colorado's all-time 0-13 record against the Trojans.

But years past won't be on CU coaches' and players' minds. Rather, Mel Tucker's team will be intent upon addressing more-recent issues, beginning with those that re-occurred in Saturday night's 41-10 loss at Washington State.

Our weekly takeaways:

1. Colorado's passing game has to re-establish some consistency. For the first five weeks of the season, CU's offense kept the Buffs in games, thanks in large part to an efficient and effective passing game.

But over the last two weeks, Colorado has scored just 13 points, with the air attack totaling just 272 yards and no touchdowns (131 vs. Oregon, 141 vs. Washington State).

The biggest issue, of course, has been turnovers, specifically interceptions. After throwing just two interceptions in the first five games, CU quarterback Steven Montez has thrown six in the last two games. Not only have they been drive killers, they have provided a short field to the opponent.

Late Saturday night in Pullman, reporters asked Tucker whether he would "evaluate" the quarterback position (translation: will he consider making a change).

"We need to just get him (Montez) right,"  Tucker said. "We evaluate everything all the time. It's continuous. We just need to get him right. It's really tough right after a game, emotions are high coming off a tough loss. This is not the time to make those type of decisions."

No doubt, Montez has struggled over the last two games. After back-to-back games with Pro Football Focus grades in the mid-80s (Arizona State and Arizona), he dropped to the mid-50s vs. Oregon, then a season-low 46.1 at Washington State. That's definitely not a positive trend.

Still, the guess here is that it's unlikely Tucker will make a change at this point of the season (especially after backup Tyler Lytle suffered an injury on his first play Saturday and No. 3 Blake Stenstrom threw an interception on his first collegiate pass).

But it doesn't mean the CU coaching staff — in particular QBs coach Jay Johnson — won't use every option available to get Montez "right" as they head down the season stretch. With five games remaining, the Buffs have plenty to play for and Colorado coaches will no doubt go in the direction they believe gives them the best chance to win those games. 

2. CU's run game is steadily improving. Since his arrival, Tucker has made it clear he wants the Buffs to run the ball on their terms, and they are quietly making progress in that regard. Saturday, CU rushed for 179 yards, the second-highest total of the season and most since 243 in the season-opening win over Colorado State.

What's encouraging is that the Buffs are running for tough yards early in games. CU had 109 rushing yards at halftime Saturday, with two of their most-promising drives fueled by the run game. Sophomore Alex Fontenot had 105 yards on 11 carries against the Cougars, with 57 yards after initial contact. Meanwhile, starting tackle Arlington Hambright had a team-high 87 PFF grade in the run game.

"We've been very efficient running the football," Tucker said. "That's what we want to be able to do. Fontenot runs the ball hard. He gets tough yards, yards after contact. He's got burst, he's got acceleration. We're creating some space for him in the run game. That's really been three, four weeks in a row we've been able to do that."

The guess here is that we'll continue to see an increased emphasis on the run game. That should not only help the passing game, but should also help the Buffs become more productive in another area … 

3. Red zone improvement will be critical. On the surface, Colorado's numbers didn't look so bad against WSU. Three trips inside the opponent's 20-yard line produced two scores, a touchdown and a field goal.

But the Buffs' first two trips Saturday yielded just three points when the game was still up for grabs. It was the same story a week earlier in Oregon, when they also had some empty forays into the red zone that helped turn a close game into a runaway.

"You can't win games if you can't finish drives, if you can't score touchdowns," Tucker said.

'Nuff said.

4. Young defenders are adding some help. We all know the Buffs' defense has been riddled with injuries. They've lost what amounts to two starting cornerbacks, a nose tackle, a defensive tackle and two safeties at various junctures, and that's not a complete list. While defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson did return to the lineup Saturday, he played just 17 snaps and was credited with one tackle.

But the bright spot — yes, it's a silver lining outlook — is that a number of young players are starting to get some significant snaps. Saturday, that group included freshman safety/nickel Mark Perry getting his first career start (75 snaps, four tackles), junior college transfer linebacker Jash Allen (20 snaps, PFF grade of 77.7), JC transfer linebacker Jamar Montgomery (15 snaps, 2 tackles and a pass breakup), and true freshman DB Tarik Luckett (10 snaps, 1 tackle).

Those newcomers/youngsters have been getting more and more reps in practice, and they're translating that work into game time.

"The scores haven't reflected it the past couple of games, but I feel like we're making some improvements defensively," Tucker said. "We've got a lot of young players out there … We've been developing those guys in practice and they're to the point now where we're putting them in the game. That's going to help us. We need all these guys to be ready to go in there and produce."

According to PFF, CU's top-graded starting defender in the game was junior safety Derrion Rakestraw, who had a 77.6 grade after three tackles, an interception and three pass breakups.

5. Takeaways and turnovers continue to be critical. We know how turnovers have hurt Colorado over the last couple of weeks. WSU collected 10 points off of three CU turnovers; a week prior, Oregon turned four CU turnovers into 21 points.

To combat that, the Buffs need to create some defensive takeaways, and they've struggled in that area recently. Colorado did not have a takeaway against Oregon and had just one against Washington State, an interception late in the game.

Through the first five games, takeaways were an equalizer for the CU defense. But, as Tucker pointed out Saturday night, "We're still not generating the takeaways we need to have."

6. Yards after catch are costly. The Cougars had three touchdowns of 22 yards or longer, and a half-dozen more "explosive" plays. The biggest hit came in yards after catch, as the Cougars turned short passes into long gains, with 232 yards after the reception.

7. Self-inflicted wounds were still an issue. Seven penalties for 55 yards (including four false starts), three interceptions, missed tackles, missed assignments and missed field goals all took their toll. 

The good news is the Buffs cut the number of penalties from the week before in half, and both missed field goals were long attempts (48 and 52 yards).

Separately, eliminating any one of those issues would not have changed the outcome of a 41-10 contest. But the Buffs have already been involved in four games (two wins and two losses) when one or two moments made the difference in the outcome, and there will be more of those down the stretch.

If the Buffs can trend back to fewer self-inflicted issues, they will pick up another win or two in those close games.

8. Nate Landman continues to be a rock for the defense. Colorado's junior linebacker hasn't had any of the "big" plays that quickly made him a household name among Buffs fans early last season. But he continues to make plays on a steady basis, week-in-week out.

Saturday, it was seven tackles, two quarterback hurries and a pass breakup. He is always around the ball, is a reliable "disruptor" and has become CU's most dependable defender in virtually every situation. 

9. Confidence will be critical. This isn't a commodity that can be measured. But as the season progresses, teams that can maintain a level of confidence — in themselves and in their coaches — will be the teams that win close games, especially in contests when such things as division titles are basically out of reach.

It's hard to gauge exactly where the Buffs stand in this regard, but there didn't seem to be any sign of Colorado waving the white flag Saturday. CU players appeared to play hard down to the end, even when the game was out of reach.

Now, Tucker's challenge will be to make sure this team maintains that approach in the coming weeks. 

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu