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October 15th – Boulder Colorado 40, No. 24 Arizona State 16
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Phillip Lindsay rushed for 219 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Colorado Buffaloes to their first win over Arizona State in their history, 40-16.
Lindsay averaged 8.4 yards on 26 carries and his big day included a 75-yard rumble on the first snap of the second half. He also scored from 13 yards out, capping off a memorable evening with a 4-yard scoring run in the final minute.
The Buffs ran for 315 yards overall.
“We didn’t play very well and my hat goes off to them because they ran the ball on us unlike anyone has ever run it the whole time I’ve been at Arizona State,” said Sun Devils fifth-year coach Todd Graham.
Sefo Liufau threw for 265 yards on 23 of 31 passing against the nation’s worst pass defense in his return to the Buffs starting lineup for the first time since spraining his left ankle at Michigan on Sept. 17.
His biggest play came when he slipped a sack, rolled left and found Bryce Bobo all alone for a 66-yard gain to the Sun Devils 9. Three plays later, Liufau took it in himself from the 3 to snap a 10-10 tie.
“We can enjoy the win tonight, but we have to go back to work on Monday and prove ourselves all over again,” Liufau said.
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The game against Arizona State opened about as well as any Buff fan could have hoped. Arizona State received the opening kickoff, and, for the third time in seven games, the CU defense held the opposition to a three-and-out. Then, for the fifth time in seven games, the Buff offense opened the game with a touchdown drive.
Sefo Liufau, back in the starting lineup for the first time since the Michigan game four weeks earlier, earned the first down of the game on a seven yard run. A 12-yard completion from Liufau to Bryce Bobo was sprinkled in between successful runs by Phillip Lindsay. At the ASU 27-yard line, Kyle Evans took over, with three runs covering 27 of the remaining yards, including a 16-yard run to complete the 10-play, 81-yard drive.
The teams then traded punts before the Sun Devils picked up the first break of the game. After forcing a three-and-out from the Sun Devil offense, the Buff defense was immediately called back onto the field. Jay MacIntyre muffed the punt return, with ASU recovering at the Buff 31-yard line.
Five plays later, the game was tied.
With just under three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Sun Devil quarterback Manny Wilkins hit Kody Kohl for a five yard touchdown. The Buffs were dominating the stats sheet, but the game was tied, 7-7.
The Colorado offense, though, stormed back.
The ground game continued to be successful, with Phillip Lindsay, Kyle Evans, and quarterback Sefo Liufau picking up yardage. A 32-yard completion from Liufau to Evans, followed by a ten-yard run by Evans, set the Buffs up with a first-and-goal at the ASU six yard line as the first quarter came to a close.
The change of direction, though, also brought about a change of momentum. The Colorado drive stalled inside the Arizona State ten yard line, with Davis Price called upon to hit a 20-yard field goal. Colorado 10, Arizona State 7, early in the second quarter.
A Demario Richard run for 37 yards on ASU’s first play from scrimmage set the Sun Devils up at the CU 38-yard line. The Buffs’ defense stiffened there, however, with Arizona State settling for a 51-yard field goal by the all-time leader in field goals, Zane Gonzalez. Four minutes into the second quarter, the game was tied once again, at 10-10.
The score remained tied, though, for less than two minutes.
The Buffs’ next drive was all Sefo Liufau. On CU’s first play, Liufau evaded the Arizona State pass rush, finding Bryce Bobo for a 66-yard gain down to the Sun Devil nine yard line. After a false start penalty against the Buffs, and a seen yard Liufau run, the Buff quarterback finished off the drive with a three yard run. With nine minutes remaining before halftime, the Buffs had the lead for good, at 17-10.
A quick three-and-out by the Arizona State offense, including a sack by Buff linebacker Jimmie Gilbert, gave the CU offense the ball back at their 44-yard line.
After two incompletions, Liufau kept the drive alive with a 15-yard completion to Devin Ross on third-and-ten. A holding call pushed the Buffs back, but Liufau then hit Bryce Bobo for 18 yards to keep the drive alive. Two runs by Phillip Lindsay, the second being a 13-yard scoring run, made it 23-10, Buffs, at halftime (the extra point attempt by Davis Price was missed).
Halftime score: Colorado 23, Arizona State 10
The Buffs had a two-score advantage, but were also taking the field against a team which was averaging 25.8 points per game in the second half against FBS opponents in 2016.
Colorado received the second half kickoff, and, after a touchback, took over at its 25-yard line.
Twelve seconds later, the Buffs had another score.
Phillip Lindsay took a handoff from Liufau and, 75 yards later, had his second touchdown. Lindsay broke through the line untouched, and juked his way past several ASU defensive backs on his way to the longest score of his career.
Just like that, it was 30-10, Colorado.
The Buff defense forced a three-and-out by the Sun Devil offense before Buff return man made his second mistake of the night. Instead of fielding the punt Matt Haack, MacIntyre allowed the punt to hit the ground. By the time the ball came to a stop, Haack had a 64-yard punt, and the CU offense was pinned down at its five yard line.
A three-and-out by the Buffs, coupled with a 20-yard punt return, set the Sun Devils up at the CU 30-yard line. The Buff defense, though, again rose to the occasion. Aided by a sack by linebacker Kenneth Olugbode, the Sun Devils drive actually lost two yards. Zane Gonzalez was again true, though, hitting from 50 yards out to make it a 30-13 game.
The Colorado offense, though, quickly responded. Completions of ten yards to Devin Ross and 15 yards to Phillip Lindsay put the ball in ASU territory. Runs by Lindsay (18 yards) and Kyle Evans (16 yards) kept the Sun Devils on their heels. The Buff offense again stalled, however, in the red zone, and the ten-play, 68-yard drive netted nothing when Davis Price missed a 26-yard field goal attempt.
When Manny Wilkins hit Tim White for a 44-yard completion three plays later, the game was still very much in doubt. On third-and-nine at the CU 40-yard line, though, the drive was thwarted by an interception by Afolabi Laguda.
The Buffs then restored order, with a 12-play, 62-yard drive highlighted by a 26-yard completion from Liufau to Jay MacIntyre. With a chance to put the game out of reach, the CU offense again failed to complete a drive inside the ASU red zone, settling for a field goal attempt. Chris Graham replaced Davis Price, connecting on a 36-yarder to make it a 33-13 game late in the third quarter.
The teams then traded puns as the game clock hit a glacial pace. An ASU punt, though, again proved to be the Sun Devils’ most effective weapon. Jay MacIntyre made his third special teams mistake of the night, muffing the punt, with ASU getting new life at the Buff 32 with 11 minutes still remaining.
The Buff defense, though, again refused to yield. A sack of Wilkins by linebacker Addison Gillam thwarted the drive, and the Sun Devils had its second scoring drive with negative yardage on the night. Zane Gonzalez connected on yet another long field goal, this time from 59 yards out.
The Sun Devils had scored, but their drive went for a negative nine yards, and it was still a three score game, at 33-16, with nine minutes remaining.
After a three-and-out by the CU offense, the Sun Devils had one last chance to make a game of it. A sack by Chidobe Awuzie, though, left Arizona State with an untenable fourth-and-14 at its 47-yard line. An incompletion gave the Buffs the ball back, though, ending ASU’s final threat.
Taking over at the ASU 47-yard line with 5:28 remaining, Phillip Lindsay put on a show. Eight straight carries by Lindsay put him over 200 yards on the night, with a four-yard scoring run with 40 seconds remaining capping a great night for Lindsay, and a great night for the Buffs.
Final score: Colorado 40, Arizona State 16
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Here are video highlights from the game …
“This is the first team with a winning record we beat this year,” said Mike MacIntyre. “They perennially have beaten us bad. We had them at home … I thought tonight was a break through win”.
The Buffs broke through – and in a big way. Colorado posted 580 yards of total offense, while holding Arizona State to 199. Phillip Lindsay, with 219 yards rushing (not to mention 20 yards receiving), outdid the Sun Devil offense all by himself. The Arizona State defense, fifth in the nation in rushing yards allowed coming into the game, surrendered 315 yards rushing to Colorado.
“These guys right here made me man”, said Phillip Lindsay, who brought the entire offensive line with him to the post-game press conference. “I am excited to have that 75 yard run but I am more excited that we were able to move the ball as a team efficiently. At the end of the day it’s all about the team and as long as I am helping with the team that’s all that matters”
“Obviously we didn’t play very well”, said Arizona State coach Todd Graham, who lost for the first time in five games against Colorado. “We had some challenges but my hat goes off to them because they ran the ball on unlike anybody has ran the whole time I’ve been at Arizona State. Their energy of their whole team, I don’t know if we came out real flat energy wise, but you got to give the all the credit. There’s no excuses, they kicked our tail.”
Game Notes …
— The Buffs moved to 5-2 (3-1), the best start to the season since the 2005 team opened 7-2;
— The attendance was 48,588, a new high in the Mike MacIntyre era, and the most since 50,083 were on hand for the 2011 USC game;
— The win was the first in eight tries for Colorado against Arizona State, with the Buffs not coming within two touchdowns of the Sun Devils in the previous seven contests;
— Colorado honored former Buff great Herb Orvis at halftime. Orvis had previously been named the eighth Buff to be named to the College Football Hall of Fame;
— The 59-yard field goal by ASU’s Zane Gonzalez was the second-longest in Folsom Field history, second only to the 60-yarder hit by Mason Crosby against Iowa State in 2004;
— In the second half, Arizona State ran 14 plays inside Colorado territory … for a minus 14 yards. The four Arizona State scoring drives: five plays for 31 yards (touchdown, after a muffed punt); five plays for 52 yards (field goal); four plays for minus-two yards (field goal after a 20-yard punt return); and four plays for minus-nine yards (field goal after a second muffed punt)
— Phillip Lindsay’s 219 yards rushing marked his first 200-yard game, and third 100-yard game of his career. His 75-yard touchdown run was the longest o his career. With his big night, Lindsay became the 13th player in CU history with over 3,000 all-purpose yards (3,204) and the 14th member of the 500/500 club (over 500 yards both rushing and receiving). His was the first 200-yard rushing effort by a Buff since Chris Brown went for 2011 against Missouri in 2002;
— Bryce Bobo had the first 100-yard receiving game of his career, with six catches for 110 yards;
— Chidobe Awuzie recorded his seventh career sack, moving him past Michael Lewis (6.5 – 1998-2001) for the most sacks by a CU defensive back;
— Afolabi Laguda’s interception was the first of his career, and extended Colorado’s streak with at least one turnover to 20 straight games, the longest current streak in the nation.
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33 Replies to “Colorado 40, Arizona State 16”
I want to say one thing about this game. Lindsey has found a new gear. He has always been the Tasmanaian devil running back but until this year I never saw him run away from people or cuase them issues becuase of his speed. This year is different. I am not sure if it is just becuase he is older, if he worked with a speed coach , or the new strength coach has done it but he can flat out fly now.
Do you realize in his break away versus USC last week it was Adoree Jackson that caught him. No one else. And he still ran for like 50 yards. In this game I think I finally saw him realize that his speed is giving defenders a hard tme and he is giving them that one false step and then blowing by them.
Shoot, I decided I want to make 2 comments. We may have seen our O line grow up this week. I am not sure and I want to see it next week against Standford but I think they watched the take of the USC game and realized something.
Darn make that 3 comments: The running game may have been more effective becuase Sefo was checking them into the right run plays…. Not sure hard for us to tell but we went from a pretty rough running game versus USC to a phenomenal one against what was supposed to be the best run defense in the converence. No knock on Montez. I think he is going to be great. Sefo just understands the game better (which is what you expect).
Great game.
They did write about Lindsay working on his speed over the summer, both his explosiveness and overall, maybe with the new strength coach, I don’t remember that part.
Comment 3, Sefo had them lining up faster and going before ASU was lined up correctly, so Sefo was more effective getting them into the right run plays with the hurry up then Montez was against USC. Also Lindsay said that O-line was just pushing them and the comments from the O-line men after confirmed their ability to move ASU’s line; their coach even said the same. So you’re correct.
But, Montez will learn from Sefo and his play so far and going forward and he will be that kind of QB in the future.
Yeah Go Buffs! Great win! sure, special teams still need a lot of work but how could anyone complain after a 40-16 victory over a 5-1 team? The Buffs played great last night. It seemed like the ASU qb was getting drilled every he dropped back. And 315 rushing yards! I loved that Phil Lindsay brought the offensive line to the postgame presser, shows how tight knit this team is. Nice to see Sefo return and play well too! Bring on Stanford!
Took the Arizona St. Monkey off our backs and stepped on its throat. On to Stanford to turn the Cardinal,
BLUE.GO BUFFS
I like the “monkey” comment. Buffs accomplished some nice things: 1) Beat ASU for the first time ever 2) Beat a ranked team for the first time since 2010 3) Won, for the first time this season, against a team with a winning record 4) Won, on a huge night when the pressure was on them to win against a team like ASU. That is a different kind of pressure than Michigan or USC. These are all good accomplishments. My curiosity is high on Stanford game. They may not be as good as they used to be but they are physical. I know it is another 1-0 week which is a good approach but I am going to be fired up for the blackout game against UCLA in Folsom. Go Buffs!!!
I’m not going to critique last night’s game. Of course there are mistakes that need the be corrected, but there will always be things to fix…win or lose. I’m just going to enjoy the win today and tomorrow start thinking about Stanford.
All I want to say is “HOW ABOUT THEM BUFFALOES?!?!
#WTTF #TheRiseIsReal
GO BUFFS!
Late posting. Traveling today. Great win! No nit picks. Before the season started, I circled this game as the most important from my personal fan perspective. It still was even though the circumstances were slightly positively different (4-2 record instead of 3-3). Were there some lapses and tendencies from time to time? Sure. But we beat a Top 25 team, convincingly. Buffs are 5-2, tied for Pac 12 South lead with momentum going into Stanford. Beautiful Fall night, great crowd, recruits witnessing a big win.
The big hyped RB who left Colorado got completely upstaged by the one that stayed home 🙂
I have to agree with Peter on a few things (especially Lingering) and the prevent turtle offense……unless you are giving some bench warmers PT
Prevent turtle defense… too funny (I like it). But they did drive down the field for that last TD with the end of the 4th quarter approaching (running almost five minutes off the clock and scoring), which is an improvement from the past; and they rode Lindsay all the way. TOO COOL, suck it Ballage.
There were a few times ASU stopped the screen or up the middle in the second half and I was thinking, oh no here we go again, but then the Buffs started driving again, using the same plays. In the past they have stopped doing what was working and had gone into the prevent turtle offense, but this time they executed and had that drive and stepped on ASU’s throats; improvement and leadership from the seniors and juniors was shown on that drive.
Some (others) need to remember that ASU’s defense was ranked against the run and normally scores two and a half times the points per game then they got against the Buffs. Lindsay getting more yards then the entire ASU offense is icing on the cake.
Overall a well played game and it is sure fun to see a buff team that is solid and plays well all game long. I don’t want to nitpick but I agree ep that Lingering really has a difficult time calling plays in the second half when CU has a pretty decent lead although not a lead that has decided the game as yet.
Everything worked out ok but there is just that little something hard to put a finger on that seems to change in the second half with the offense it but it can be felt watching the O in those situations. Yesterday it didn’t affect and maybe it won’t with this team this year but it is there and in the past it has cost us some games.
First. Great win. 5 and 2. Headed for a bowl. Nice. Year 4. The magical year for the past and the present. And hopefully not for the immediate future, middle future or long future.
The play calling. Yup Lindgrening/Chiaverining has the disease. They just have to call those plays they love. The ol 3 and out makers. Run, bubble, run….bubble, run pass…bubble bubble bubble…..
Lindgrening/Chiaverining is like the ST. Shakey Suspect Scary.
Could be a nit pick by you guys, but to get to the big bowls and win the big bowls the coaching staff will have to have improved and be as good as the players. Just how it is.
Awesome game! I loved the consistency of the run game all night. One minor quibble. I’m a bit frustrated at Coach Mac with the way he handled the last two minutes of the first half. We had them pinned way back and once we stopped them on first down, why didn’t he call time out to get one more shot before the first half ended? Am I missing something? Were we out of timeouts? I’d like to see a little more aggressiveness and killer instinct in that spot. We had the momentum and were getting the ball to start the 2nd half. It ended up being a moot point because we immediately took control of the game in the second half, but I think we need that killer instinct moving forward.
Couldn’t agree more. Head scratching decisions at the end of first half seem to be a trend with this coaching staff.
Yo Stuart,
Big win and lots of celebration in my birthday suite high above Folsom led to my mistaken post. I’ll take a celebratory mistake any time.
Also, very disappointed in the post by “Peter” — Good God, man, we beat a ranked team by 24 points and all Peter can do is complain. My son and I raised some eyebrows walking away from the game toward his apartment by repeatedly screaming “Go Buffs!” and finding very few folks returning our calls. Lots of fair weather fans who did not realize how important this win was to the Buffaloes program, and lots of whiny little bit$#es like Peter who seem offended by the big win.
Congratulations to my Buffs. Tonight was one of the most important and enjoyable wins of my 32 years as a Buff fan. Congrats to Sefo, Phillip Lindsay, Bryce Bobo, and an inspired Buffaloes defense led by Addison Gillam that put a serious beat-down on the Sun Devils. ASU got one touchdown off a turnover and otherwise had to settle for three 50+ yard field goals.
Serious notes from the game. The Buffs broke their 23 game losing streak against ranked teams. And Zane Gonzalez is perhaps the greatest place kicker in NCAA history. Last week, he became the all time leader in field goals. Tonight, he became the first ever to kick three 50+ yard field goals in one game. Zane was stupendous and will make an excellent NFL kicker.
I could not be prouder of my Colorado Buffaloes.
Mark
Boulderdevil
Mark,
Easy there, I am not a fair weather fan. This team says its goal is to win the PAC12 Championship. We should hold them to the standards they set for themselves. Well what I saw tonight isn’t going to cut it against Washington. We played as well as we did at the beginning of the season but not any better. It is not whiny to see bad play calling and favoritism hurting your team. It is not whiny to notice that we had the ball with a couple minutes before the half and all our time outs and instead of trying to do something with it we just three and outed on bad plays and gave it right back to ASU. Belichek, Saban, Meyer, Shaw, Petersen would have all tried to score in that position. Do we want to be mediocre or do we want the wins that actually matter?
Hey Peter… Troll much?
Peter, you have to be kidding. We just won a game against ASU by 24 points. Jay had a bad game, kid just seemed off. Please don’t compare this situation to the Hawkins, it’s not even close to being the same. Jay just had a rough day, and we still won, by a lot. Enjoy this, it’s been to long since we had an off game and still killed a conference opponent.
Extremely proud of our Buffs and how far they have come. Unfortunately didn’t get to see the game, but was listening to the radio broadcast. Glad our typical conservative garbage at the end of the first half didn’t end up costing us the game. Special teams still an issue. Not sure how Peter can be disappointed in the offense. 580 yards & 40 points not enough?
change their offense dramatically once they are ahead. No they continue to beat you in every phase of the game. The Buffs need to rise to this level.
Glad we won but disappointed in the offense and special teams. Defense was great. We should have won 54-3. Now that would have been a statement!
I don’t know how else to say it… that was a DISAPPOINTING win.
Where to begin.
1. NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN are we allowing a coach bring his son along. Jay cost us 13 points.
– First he muffs a punt setting up an easy ASU touchdown.
– Then he is scared to catch the punt so he lets it bounce costing us 15 yards and pinning us on the 5. This is a quick 3 and out and then an easy field goal for ASU.
– Then he muffs a punt again setting up an easy field goal for ASU.
THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS. Julmisse is incredibly fast, why isn’t he returning punts as well as kickoffs?
2. Can we get a real kicker? Missing a PAT and a field goal from short range stinks of old CU.
3. FIRE Lindgren. If I see that stupid screen pass one more time I’ll have a stroke. We were going against the WORST passing defense in the country and we allegedly have a top tier receiving corp. Why weren’t we throwing deeper/upfield more? The play calling got nauseatingly predictable as soon as we were ahead. The team has to learn to go for the jugular.
4. Clock management. We have the ball with a couple minutes to spare and we literally try and do nothing with it. We let time bleed off the clock. We call a weird time out with about 45 seconds left. We basically dared them to score on us.
All of these boil down to one theme. A lack of diligence and precision. Look at elite programs like Alabama. They never waste a down. They never waste a second. Everything has a purpose. They step on your neck and keep stepping. They don’t
Easy big fella! Jay had a bad game, no doubt about it. Jay is also, idk is a 20 year old kid, he has done well until tonight. He will bounce back, as I’m sure he’s just as embarrassed as you are mad at him. I’m not gonna analysis your whole post, but I definitely agree with The conservative play calling comment about the 2nd half. On that note on to Stanford and we still have lots of room for improvement.
Peter,
Please remember to take your meds each day and before games.
It will help you cope with your Drumpf mentality.
The sky is not falling. The rise is real.
Haha, no no I agree the sky is not falling. But I don’t think we played that well. ASU was just worse. I am excited about the rise and if you have seen previous posts I have been calling it and defending MacIntyre for awhile now. I just don’t want us to keep playing down to our opponents. From the stat sheet this contest should have been out of hand at the half but it wasn’t. We played well enough tonight to beat ASU, but Washington?
Peter, jay also had a great, diving catch on third down to keep a drive alive. He knows he had a. Ad day returning punts. As to why he is the guy vs anyone else? One guess: ball security and consistency. We don’t see them practice. The coaches do.
Enjoy the rise. It is real. It is also a never-ending process. Unless you believe like vk that everyone eventually hits their ceiling and cannot continually improving their craft.
Go Buffs!
The ceiling is always there. Be careful.
Jay was a bit gun shy. Daddy said because of the wind. Then get him off the field.
Anyway he has been excellent up to now. Just don’t get him in the Lindgrening/Chiaverining phase.
I won’t speak to the rest of these points but the “real kicker” comment sticks in my craw. It smacks of someone who didn’t start paying attention the day we were ranked. I don’t know what constitutes a real kicker- was Diego real? Was Davis Price real when he drilled a 54 yarder? How many kickers should we be carrying on scholarship? Personally, the last decade has been tough enough to split hairs after a conference win with division implications. The saying is “never look a gift horse in the mouth”- I don’t plan on looking these gift Buffs in the mouth!.
I dunno, remember when Aric kicked a 27 yarder in 2008 to win in OT which immediately earned him a scholarship and then missed his next 8 and we were stuck with a “not real” kicker for years?
Peter,
I guess you’re perfect…never making mistakes. Why are you projecting on Jay?
Peter,
I would like to make a couple of points:
1. Mac Jr up to this point had been a very servicable punt returner. I suspect he has never had someone kick it out of the lights before. Their punter is amazing and it was causing him significant issues. My bet is that Mac Sr will get him the repitions he needs under the lights to fix it. Cool down man. remember that return he had in the Michigan game for like 40 yards….
2. We had a real kicker. He tore his achilis. That was our third string true freshman kicker. He will get it corrected.
3. The other ones were compliants without any real insight but on this one you give me actual amunition…. So anyone on this board will tell you I was not a huge fan of Lindgren last year. This year he has done much better. The changes to his offense brought by Chev have fundamentaly altered his offense to a fantastic level. He still gets stuck sometimes ina rut but he actually gets out of them sooner. Now on to the wide reciever screen pass. What you do not seem to ralize is the wide reciever screen pass serves 3 purposes in this offense and Lindgren is doing a grea job this year of doing that:
A. It serves as a short run play out wide where our athletes can goone on one versus their athletes. Remember Shae’s long touchdown run against OSU? We consistently get 3-5 yeardson that play. And I bet we get 10-15 or more as often as we loose 5 on it.
B. It widens the field. Many times that this is called the saftey is required to fill and make the tackle. This means that the safety cannot be sitting in the middle of the field running downhill at our running backs and taking the seem and slant routes away. This is real important to understand. This play makes the safety cheat to the boundary. Even a cheat of 1-2 yards is massively important in the middle seam game and the run game.
C. This is where I am so impressed by Lindgren, this play sets up the over the top. Watch the games and see how many times Sefo pumps the short route and then lets it fly deep. We do it often. Many of our deep plays this year have played off of the wide reciever sweep look and motion that turns it up to a go route.
4. On this one you need to understand the tempo of the game. If we start calling time outs right away and ASU makes a play they have a shot of scoring and digging into our lead. Calling the time out at the end was to make them punt. Maybe he shanks it, maybe we get a fantastic return. When it gets punted out of the endzone you just run out the clock. But yes you make them punt. This is another area that until this year Mac has done a horrible job of. Chev has brought in some clock management technques and over this etire year I have been very impressed. I have always seen a reason for their clock management and understood it even if I didn;t agree.
Rob I always like your comments. I think Peter is entitled to his, and wish more of the responses were informative like yours.
I think based on recent history a lot of us were getting nervous in the second half with the offensive play calling. And I personally thought after it was obvious Mac Jr was having trouble with the punts, the special teams committee should have gone to the next guy. I think there are other very capable guys that can do the job. Great kid, he usually has great hands (like on that catch), but it wasn’t his night at PR.
Fair points all of them. I appreciate the class and thoughtfulness.
I wonder since Chev is doing so well should wekeep Lindgren? Sure seems like we could use a special teams coach right about now. However, I do concede liking some of Lindgrens calls.
I understand the purpose of screen pass. I think it’s efficacy against sub .500 opponents results in it being used with too much frequency against better and more athletic squads such as ASU and USC. I don’t recall many deep attempts in either game, some against USC but way late. So it definitely didn’t open up the deep ball, or at least the coaches were reluctant to try it. (And why try It when Lindsay and the O line are going beast mode?) I am not saying don’t use the screen but their safeties were cheating and we kept throwing into the cheat.
I get why a coach would be conservative going into the half with a lead but I personally felt we had the momentum and had them on their heels. I was upset about not using time outs and better plays to try and score BEFORE we gave it back on a 3-0 Send them to the locker room with despair, not with a defensive stand.
I do think we utilized our tight ends better. Although neither attempt worked, one was a drop and the other overthrown, it did give ASUs safeties something else to think about.
I have positive thoughts about our O-line play but that’s on the next article.
Great win! What makes it even better is the lack of rushing yards for ASU, including Ballage getting only 14 yards on 7 carries. He flirted with CU and then last minute he left his home state for ASU (yeck!); glad to see him not do well against CU. And Sefo back and he has zero interceptions in over 100 passes for the season.
Nice win Buffs, next up Stanford… and they not looking like their normal selves.
What a game. Buffs kept great control and closed the deal. A veteran team saying “we got this.” Much more impressive than Utah eeking one out over the Beavers. Bring on Stanford- time to go 1-0 next week!