Friday Fast Facts

—

Friday’s Fast Facts

—

Big Picture

— In 28 seasons as a coach, head or assistant, pro or college, this is the first season Mike MacIntyre has been part of a 3-0 start. As a freshman player, MacIntyre was part of a 3-0 Vanderbilt team playing for his father in 1984;

— Colorado has won eight straight home games, it’s longest string since winning ten straight home games (1993-95);

— CU is closing in on 700 all-time wins, with an all-time record of 698-494-36 (.583). With two more wins, Colorado will become the 25th team in NCAA history to surpass the 700-win mark;

— Against Northern Colorado, Colorado had a 300-yard passer (Steven Montez; 357); a 100-yard rusher (Phillip Lindsay, 151); and a 100-yard receiver (Devin Ross, 143). The 300-100-100 was just the 11th such game in CU history (though there were two in 2016, v. Oregon and v. Washington State);

— Colorado and conference openers … The Buffs have an 80-41-2 (.658) record in conference openers in their history, including a 36-16-1 mark when opening conference play at home. In its most recent history, Colorado was 23-13 in openers as a member of the Big Eight; 7-8 in openers as a member of the Big 12; and is 2-4 so far as a member of the Pac-12 (including a 41-38 win over Oregon last year)

—

Buffs & Huskies

— Washington holds a 10-5-1 lead in the series with Colorado, including seven straight wins. The teams played for the first time in 1915, with the Huskies winning, 46-0. The teams didn’t play again until the 1950’s, with the Buffs picking up their first win, 21-20, in 1953.

— Colorado won three straight games in the series between 1989 and 1996, with both teams being ranked …

— In 1989, in an emotional first game after the death of Sal Aunese, No. 5 Colorado rolled No. 21 Washington, 45-28 (“Road Trip to Seattle; Buffs Dominate“);

— In 1990, No. 20 Colorado played its fourth ranked team in five weeks, holding on to defeat No. 12 Washington, 20-14, with an interception in the end zone with 59 seconds to play (“Deon Figures pick preserves victory“);

— In 1996, No. 8 Colorado defeated No. 13 Washington in the Holiday Bowl, 33-21 (“Good Bowl, Good Result“)

— The only other game between the two teams in which both schools were ranked was last December 2nd, when No. 4 Washington manhandled No. 8 Colorado, 41-10 (“Dawg Pounded“);

— Rick Neuheisel is not the only former CU coach to land in Seattle as the head coach at Washington. Legendary Washington coach Don James was the defensive coordinator for CU head coach Eddie Crowder (1968-70)

—

Statistically speaking

— Colorado and Washington are fairly equal in their offensive numbers through the preseason. Colorado is 85th in the nation in rushing offense (148.7 ypg.), while Washington is 95th (129.7 ypg.). The Huskies have a slight edge in the passing game, coming in at 25th (301.7 ypg.), with the Buffs at No. 27 (299.3 ypg.).

— The difference between the two offenses is not in total offense: Colorado 50th (448.0 ypg.); Washington 58th (431.3 ypg), but in scoring offense. The Huskies are taking advantage of their yards, scoring 47.0 points per game (11th), while the Buffs have posted 31.7 points per game (62nd);

— Colorado remains in the top five nationally in scoring defense, ranked 4th in the nation (9.0 ppg.). Washington is not far behind,however, giving up only 12.3 ppg. (13th in the nation);

— Colorado is ranked 100th or worse nationally in at least two categories: sacks allowed (3.0 per game, 108th nationally) and penalties per game (8.67; 106th nationally).

— Washington is ranked 100th or worse nationally in at least two categories: red zone scoring percentage defense (100%; 111th nationally) and time of possession (26:26; 113th) … for what it’s worth, in the 2016 Pac-12 championship, Washington held the ball for 38:34, with CU’s 21:26 of possession the lowest for the Buffs since 2010;

— Last season, the Colorado offense did not have a single scoring drive of over 90 yards. In the first two games of the 2017 season, the Buffs already have two, a six-play, 94-yard drive against CSU, finished off by a 45-yard touchdown run by Phillip Lindsay, and a nine-play, 96-yard scoring drive against Texas State, capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Steven Montez;

— Colorado’s opponents in 2017 went a combined 75-74 a year ago, with only five of the 12 making the post-season (entering the 2016 season, the numbers were 90-65, with ten of the 12 teams going bowling the previous year, with Idaho State and Oregon State being the only exceptions.

—

Player Notes

— Drew Lewis had 10 tackles against Northern Colorado, becoming the first Buff since Greg Biekert in 1990 to record ten or more tackles in the first three games of their CU career (12 v. CSU; 13 v. Texas State)

— Colorado now has three wide receivers with over 100 career catches … the only team in the nation which can make such a claim. Shay Fields has 163 career receptions, with Devin Ross at 111 and Bryce Bobo at 109 (Phillip Lindsay has 91 career receptions, just nine short of giving CU a lineup with four players with 100+ career catches);

— Phillip Lindsay tallied 151 yards on 26 carries against Northern Colorado, with one touchdown. Lindsay has scored at least one touchdown in 14 of his last 18 games. He has moved from 10th to 8th on the all-time CU rushing list, with 2,611 yards, passing Herchell Troutman (2,487, 1994-97) and James Mayberry (2,544, 1975-78).

—

Pac-12 Notes

— With a 26-7 non-conference record to date, the Pac-12 is guaranteed of posting its 34th consecutive season with an overall winning record in non-conference play. The league is 18-7 against FBS competition … and 8-0 against the Big Sky Conference;

— There are 27 FBS teams which still have perfect records to start the 2017 season, including seven teams from the Pac-12 (no other conference has more than five). CU’s 3-0 start is the best for the Buffs since 2008, the only other Pac-12 team which has waited this long to start 3-0 is Washington State, which last started 3-0 in 2005;

— Washington has a seven-game winning streak over Colorado, but that is only the fourth longest streak at issue this weekend. Oregon has won ten in a row over Arizona State (8:00 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks) … USC has won 13 straight over Cal (1:30 p.m., MT, ABC) … Stanford has won nine straight over UCLA (8:30 p.m., MT, ESPN);

— Stanford running back Bryce Love is averaging 174.7 yards rushing per game, second-highest average in the nation;

— Oregon’s running back Royce Freeman is tied for the nation’s lead in scoring, averaging three touchdowns per game;

— Washington’s Dante Pettis, with three punt returns for touchdowns in the first three games of the 2017 season, is easily the nation’s leader in punt returns, averaging 38.0 yards per return;

— The Buffs’ next opponent, UCLA, is on the road this weekend, taking on Stanford (8:30 p.m., MT, ESPN). Bruin quarterback Josh Rosen enters the game as the No. 2 passer in the nation, averaging 427.2 yards per game.

–

—–

This post, about the Washington game, from the 2017 Season, is filed under Uncategorized.
You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment.