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Friday Fast Facts
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Neill Woelk’s Fast Five Keys for the Buffs’ home opener against the Wildcats
From CUBuffs.com … After his team opened the season with a pair of emotional wins over two long-time rivals, Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre had a simple message when the Buffs hit the practice field this week:
Keep your foot on the gas and don’t let up.
What MacIntyre and his players don’t want is any kind of letdown — emotional or otherwise — when the Buffs take the field Saturday for their 3 p.m. home opener against New Hampshire (Pac-12 Mountain). With a 2-0 record and a bye week on the horizon, the Buffs would love to take some momentum into that bye week, when they will begin preparation for their Sept. 28 Pac-12 opener at home against UCLA.
But to get there, they need to take care of business against the Wildcats, an FCS program with a strong tradition that includes 14 straight postseason appearances.
This year, UNH is off to an uncharacteristically slow start. The Wildcats opened the season with a 35-7 loss to Maine, then dropped a 10-3 decision to Colgate last week. They have been hampered by an injury to quarterback Trevor Knight — the CAA preseason “offensive player to watch” — and are now operating under the direction of sophomore Christian Lupoli.
Still, Colorado is taking nothing for granted. A loss — or even a poor performance — would create some unnecessary doubts heading into conference play.
What do the Buffs need to do in order to keep their momentum going in the right direction?
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How to follow the game (3:00 p.m., MT)
TV Station: Pac-12 Mountain
Dish Network: Channel 406-02 (with Hopper), Channel 592 (without Hopper)
AT&T U-Verse: Channel 1763 (HD) and 763 (SD)
Comcast Xfinity: Channel 430 (SD)
CenturyLink: Channel 1686 (HD) and 686 (SD)
Also available on Sling TV and fuboTV with subscriptions
Online Live Stream (with Pac-12 Network subscription)
Radio: AM 850 KOA and AM 760
Sirius XM: 972
Online Audio Through CUBuffs.com
Download the CU Buffs Gameday App to enhance your game day experience. Just search “CU Buffs Gameday” on Apple or Android in the app store.
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Big Picture
— The Buffs are 2-0, but have yet to play a game at Folsom Field. The last time the Buffs opened 2-0 away from Boulder to open a season? … 1920;
— Colorado is 702-501-36 all-time (.581). The Buffs are 25th in all-time victories; 36th in all-time winning percentage;
— Colorado has never played New Hampshire in football. The only sport where the teams compete is in skiing. In last spring’s NCAA national championship races, the Buffs finished second in the nation; the Wildcats finished ninth;
— Not to jinx anything, but Colorado is 0-6 all-time on September 15th. Some of the unfortunate results: 1984, Buffs fall on the road, 27-20, to Oregon (forever remembered by CU fans as the “Ed Reinhardt game“); 1990, CU falls, 23-22, to Illinois, in the Buffs’ only loss in the national championship season; 2007, in the first-ever “blackout” game, the Buffs fell to Florida State, 16-6; 2012, in one of the lowest moments in recent CU history, the Buffs were annihilated on the road by Fresno State, 69-14;
— The Buffs are looking to open 3-0 for the second straight season, and the second time since 2008;
— The 33-28 come-from-behind win over Nebraska last weekend was just the third win for the Buffs under Mike MacIntyre when trailing after three quarters (3-33);
— The game will be telecast regionally on Pac-12 Mountain, with Jim Watson handling the play-by-play, former Colorado linebacker Chad Brown on the color, and Scott Ferrier on the sidelines. KOA radio will have Mark Johnson with the play-by-play, and former CU head coach Gary Barnett handling the commentary
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Buffs v. Wildcats
— Colorado is 5-2 all-time against teams from the Football Championship Series (FCS). Colorado lost two of the first three all-time games against the lower division, losing to Montana State in 2006 and Sacramento State in 2012. The Buffs have won four straight against FCS teams, most recently defeating Northern Colorado, 41-21, last season;
— The Buffs do not have another game against an FCS team until 2024, when the Buffs are scheduled to face perennial FCS power North Dakota State;
— New Hampshire has qualified for the FCS playoffs for 14 straight seasons, the longest active streak in the nation. This is the 20th season in Durham for head coach Sean McConnell;
— New Hampshire defeated an FBS school last season (Georgia Southern, 22-12). Prior to that win, the Wildcats had lost seven consecutive games v. FBS opponents. New Hampshire has never played a Pac-12 team;
— Colorado has played teams from Boston (UMass; Boston College), but the Wildcats from Durham, New Hampshire represent the furthest east opponent the Buffs have ever played;
— New Hampshire was surprised at home last weekend by Colgate, 10-3. It marked the first time the Wildcats lost a non-conference game at home … since 2000. New Hampshire had won 13 consecutive home openers;
— New Hampshire has won seven or more games for 14 consecutive seasons, including a 9-5 record last season;
— Colorado is paying $400,000 to New Hampshire for its trip to Boulder (compare: Colorado State is getting $2 million for its trip to Gainesville to play Florida (as part of the $7 million buyout for getting Jim McElwain … who didn’t even last long enough as coach to be on the sidelines for this game).
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Injury Report
In addition to the players who have been previously listed as out for the season (OL Isaac Miller, knee; TE Jared Poplawski, shoulder; DL Jalen Sami, knee; S Jaison Sanchez, knee; and LB Jacob Stoltenberg, knee), the official injury report for New Hampshire is as follows (under HIPPA protections, not all injuries are reported. For example, cornerback Chris Miller has been nursing a hamstring injury since Fall Camp. He is likely to get some playing time this weekend):
— WR Jaylon Jackson … foot … suffered injury in practice August 14th; rehabbing … Out
— P Alex Kinney – collarbone … broke collarbone in first quarter v. Nebraska … Out /3-4 weeks
— RB Jarek Broussard – knee
— WR Jaylon Jackson – foot
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Statistically speaking
— The Colorado offense has 991 yards of total offense after two games this season, the second-highest total for a Mike MacIntyre Buff team (1,175 total yards after two games in 2016);
— Colorado remains fairly well positioned in offensive categories, coming in at 17th nationally (3rd in the Pac-12) in passing yards (344.5 ypg.); 32nd (4th in the Pac-12) in total offense (495.5 ypg.), and 43rd (3rd in the Pac-12) in scoring offense (39.0 ypg.);
— With significant output by the Nebraska offense, the Buffs fell considerably in defensive statistics. The Buffs are now 109th in rushing defense (216.0 ypg.); 97th in total defense (424.5 ypg.), but are in the middle nationally in scoring defense (20.5 ppg.). The Buffs rank in the bottom half of the Pac-12 in most defensive categories;
— The Buffs are 20-8 under Mike MacIntyre in games in which they score at least 30 points.
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Player Notes
— Quarterback Steven Montez “dropped” to No. 12 in the nation in completion percentage (73.3%) after being 1st in the nation last week. Montez remains in the top 20 nationally in passing yards (8th; 689); total offense (10th; 358.0); and passing efficiency (18th, 178.6);
— Wide receiver Laviska Shenault remains first in the nation in receptions per game (10.5) and receiving yards per game (194.0). Shenault is also 4th in the nation in all-purpose yards (199.0/game);
— Laviska Shenault has 388 receiving yards in two game. The only other Buff with that many receiving yards in back-to-back contests was Paul Richardson in 2013 (208 v. CSU; 209 v. Central Arkansas). His 21 receptions in two games is tied for fourth most (Nelson Spruce owns the top three rankings in this category (best: 32 in 2014 – 12 v. Hawai’i; 19 v. Cal);
— CU had 11 new starters in the lineup against CSU. Against Nebraska? No new starters, as the same 22 who lined up against the Rams in the opener started against the Cornhuskers;
— Seven players have been selected as captains for this season: linebacker Rick Gamboa (who was also a captain last year); receivers Kabion Ento, Jay MacIntyre and Juwann Winfree; safety Nick Fisher; offensive tackle Aaron Haigler; and punter Alex Kinney. Haigler is a junior – the other six are seniors.
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Pac-12 Notes
— Five teams from the Pac-12 were ranked in the third week of the Associated Press poll … No. 9 Stanford … No. 10 Washington … No. 20 Oregon … No. 22 USC … and No. 23 Arizona State. Three other Pac-12 teams are receiving votes: No. 26 Utah; No. 31 Colorado; and No. 38 Washington State;
— Should have seen it coming … No Big Ten team has ever won a regular season game in Sun Devil Stadium. When Arizona State defeated No. 15 Michigan State, 16-13, the Sun Devils raised their all-time home record against the Big Ten to 10-0;
— But … Cautionary tale for Arizona State fans, celebrating the 2-0 start under Herm Edwards. The Sun Devils opened with a 7-0 record in 2007 under first-year head coach Dennis Erickson. After that? The Sun Devils went 24-31 over the next 4 1/2 seasons, with Dennis Erickson being fired, finishing with a 31-31 overall coaching record in Tempe;
— CU sophomore wide receiver Laviska Shenault was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player-of-the-Week for his ten catch, 177-yard effort against Nebraska. Both numbers set new standards in the 70-game series against the Cornhuskers. The previous highs: nine receptions (D.J. Hackett, 2003) and 116 receiving yards (116 yards, Blake Mackey, 2004);
— In addition to Laviska Shenault leading the nation in receptions and receiving yards, the Pac-12 has some other national leaders. Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshaw II leads the nation in completions per game (36.0), while Cal defensive back Jaylinn Hawkins leads the nation in interceptions (1.5/game);
— In team statistics, Arizona State leads the nation in rushing defense (32.5 ypg.); Utah leads the nation in passing defense (68.0 ypg.) and total defense (143.5 ypg.); while Oregon State leads the nation in punt returns (46.0 per return).
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