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October 19th – at Washington State Washington State 41, Colorado 10
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Washington State quarterback Alex Gordon threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns, leading the Cougars to a 41-10 rout of Colorado. The Cougars raced out to a 21-3 first quarter lead, never looking back, handing the Buffs their third straight defeat.
Steven Montez, for the second game in a row, was ineffective. Montez went 16-for-30 for 129 yards and two interceptions before being pulled in the fourth quarter. Running back Alex Fontenot was a bright spot, going for 105 yards on 11 carries, but a porous defense and an ineffective red zone offense doomed the Buffs to a second straight rout on the road.
“We had a few turnovers and we couldn’t finish drives,” said Mel Tucker, who fell below .500 (3-4) for the first time as CU’s head coach. “We knew we would be able to run the ball but our passing game was inconsistent. Defensively, it just took us too long to settle down.”
“It is a little frustrating but you cannot let it get to you”, said running back Alex Fontenot, who had his second career 100-yard rushing game. “You have to keep the mentality of, when I am out there I am going to score, and just keep going.”
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Game Story … The Buffs won the coin toss, and took the ball to give their better unit a chance to make a statement early. It appeared to be a bad decision, but a 13-yard completion from quarterback Steven Montez to wide receiver Laviska Shenault on third-and-12 prevented a three-and-out to start the game.
A completion of nine yards to Tony Brown, followed by a 12-yard run by Brown, set the Buffs up at the Washington State 38-yard line. The next three plays, however, netted only seven yards. Kicker James Stefanou, who opened the season with ten straight makes, missed his second of the season (and second in a row), hooking a 48-yard attempt to leave it a scoreless game.
It didn’t stay scoreless for long.
The Washington State offense quickly marched 69 yards in eight plays on its first possession to take the lead for good. The Cougars also faced the possibility of a three-and-out to start the game, but converted a third-and-seven with a 13-yard completion from quarterback Anthony Gordon to wide receiver Rodrick Fisher to put the ball near midfield.
Two plays later, the Cougars had a first-and-goal at the CU four yard line, thanks to a 19-yard run by running back Max Borghi, and a 30-yard completion from Gordon to Easop Winston. Two plays later, Gordon hooked up with Borghi for a four-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead seven minutes into the game.
Less than two minutes of game clock later, it was 14-0.
On CU’s second play from scrimmage on the ensuing drive, Steven Montez threw an interception to Cougar defensive back Skylar Thomas, who returned the pick 19 yards to the Colorado 26-yard line. On third-and-six from the 22, Gordon hit Dezmon Patmon for a touchdown to make it a two-score game.
The Buff offense showed some signs of life on its next drive, but still failed to find the end zone. A seven-yard run by Laviska Shenault on a third-and-three kept the drive alive, with a 29-yard completion from Montez to K.D. Nixon and a ten-yard run by Jaren Mangham giving the Buffs a first-and-goal at the WSU seven. Three incompletions later, James Stefanou got the Buffs on the board with a 24-yard field goal. Washington State 14, Colorado 3, with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Washington State faced a third-and-ten to open its next drive. Could the Buff defense force its first three-and-out of the game?
Nope.
Anthony Gordon hit Brandon Arconado for 18 yards and a first down at the WSU 45-yard line. Two plays later, Max Borghi posted his second touchdown of the evening, going 47 yards for the score. The first quarter was not yet over, and it was already a 21-3 Washington State lead.
A pair of Alex Fontenot runs, totaling 27 yards – with a face mask penalty tacked on to the second run – put the CU offense at the Washington State 28-yard line. From there, however, the Buffs went backwards, with James Stefanou missing a 52-yard field goal to end the drive.
The Buff defense then posted its first stop of the night, with quarterback Anthony Gordon stopped by Buff linebacker Nate Landman for no gain on fourth-and-two at the CU 45-yard line.
Could the CU offense take advantage? A pair of Fontenot runs, going for eight and 17 yards, again put the ball deep into Cougar territory. Two runs by Jaren Mangham, totaling 12 yards, put the Buffs in the red zone at the WSU 18-yard line. On third-and-seven at the 15, however, Steven Montez threw his second interception of the first half, with this pick posted by George Hicks in the end zone.
The Buff defense then posted the first three-and-out of the night, with Nate Landman stopping Max Borghi for no gain on third-and-two at the WSU 28-yard line – hurrah!
The CU offense responded … with a three-and-out of its own.
The Washington State offense then closed out the first half with an impressive drive. Max Borghi contributed an eight yard run and an eight yard reception, with a 25-yard completion from Gordon to Brandon Arconado setting up the Cougars at the CU 15-yard line. Washington State had a first-and-goal at the CU three-yard line, but three incompletions forced the Cougars to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Blake Mazza with five seconds remaining.
At the break, it was deja vu for CU and its fans. The weekend before, the Buffs trailed No. 13 Oregon, 24-3, at the break. Against the Cougars, the score was the same …
Halftime score: Washington State 24, Colorado 3
The Buff defense forced a punt out of the Cougar offense to open the second half, but even that success came with an asterisk. On the punt return, Chase Newman was ejected for targeting, setting the Buff offense back at their own ten-yard line to start its drive.
The Buffs did move the ball – again – but failed to score – again. A pair of Alex Fontenot runs, for 15 and 25 yards, coming between a 13-yard completion to tight end Brady Russell, set the Buffs up at WSU 40-yard line. There, on first-and-ten, Steven Montez missed a wide open Laviska Shenault in the end zone, and the drive thereafter fizzled.
A three-and-out from the Buff defense, including the first CU sack of the game, by outside linebacker Alex Tchangam, gave the Buffs the ball back near midfield.
A 24-yard completion from Steven Montez to Laviska Shenault put the ball at the WSU 11-yard line. Two plays later, on third-and-five at the Cougar six yard line, Shenault took the snap in the wildcat formation. The six-yard touchdown run not only made it a 24-10 game with five minutes remaining in the third quarter, the touchdown represented the Buffs’ first breach of the end zone in two full games … the last touchdown coming on a 15-yard run by Tony Brown with 5:11 remaining in the third quarter against Arizona.
Could the Buffs make a game of it?
Uh … no.
The Washington State offense, which hadn’t scored a touchdown since the first quarter, needed only seven plays to cover 81 yards to make it a three-touchdown game once again. A 44-yard touchdown pass from Gordon to Brandon Arconado finished off the drive 2:42 of game clock after it began. Late in the third quarter, Washington State was back in charge, with a 31-10 lead.
A quick three-and-out from the Colorado offense to close out the third quarter pretty much ended any hope of a UCLA-like comeback by the Buffs.
With the game over, the Buff defense waived the white flag. Nine plays and 65 yards later, Anthony Gordon had his fourth touchdown pass of the game, this one on a one-yard scoring pass to Davontavean Martin. Washington State 38, Colorado 10, with 11:31 to play in the game.
The Colorado offense then held the ball … for less than a minute before punting after another three-and-out, ending the night for Steven Montez.
Washington State then called off the dogs – not. Anthony Gordon remained in the game, only to be intercepted by junior safety Derrion Rakestraw, giving the Buffs the ball back at their 25-yard line.
Tyler Lytle came in to try his luck at leading the CU offense, but his participation lasted all of one play. Lytle threw an incompletion on first down, and was injured on the play. Red-shirt freshman Blake Stenstrom then came in … and threw an interception on his first play.
The Cougar starters remained in the game, but were unable to post another touchdown, settling for a 36-yard field goal. Washington State 41, Colorado 10, midway through the fourth quarter.
Not even trying anymore, the Buffs’ next possession consisted of: Deion Smith for loss of four; Deion Smith for loss of one; Deion Smith for gain of two.
The final possession for the Buffs had freshman running back Joe Davis sophomore receiver Jaylon Jackson posting stats on offense.
Final score … Washington State 41, Colorado 10
“We need to be able to score touchdowns, especially against team like this who can move the ball and score”, said Mel Tucker. “That has been an issue for us the past couple of weeks. Obviously, we are moving the ball but we can’t finish drives and we missed a couple field goals. Those are things that we have to get cleaned up.”
For the game, Washington State rolled up 497 yards of total offense, to just 320 for Colorado. The Buffs had an advantage in rushing yards, 179-128, but running the ball was not the Cougars’ calling card (WSU came into the game averaging only 86 yards rushing per game – 127th in the nation – but had that amount by halftime).
In all, Colorado had five drives into Washington State territory, but came up with only ten points.
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Game Notes …
— Washington State took the lead in the overall series, with a 7-6 advantage (3-1 in games played in Pullman);
— Two players made their first career starts, senior guard Jack Shutack and freshman safety Mark Perry. Shutack became the first former walk-on player since 2014 to start a game (safety Ryan Moeller), and the first offensive lineman walk-on to start a game since Keenan Stevens in 2009);
— Cornerback Tarik Luckett became the 14th scholarship freshman to see action, the most scholarship true freshmen to play for the Buffs since 15 suited up in Jon Embree’s first season as head coach, 2011;
— Ales Fontenot, with 11 carries for 105 yards, moved up from 96th to 81st on the career rushing charts, with a career total of 611 yards (568 for the 2019 season);
— Steven Montez fell to 15-19 as a starter for Colorado. His 34th career start moved him into fourth position in all-time starts, and his 31 consecutive starts moved him into a tie with Gale Weidner (1959-61) for the most consecutive starts in Colorado history.
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Here are some YouTube video highlights of the game:
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36 Replies to “Washington State 41, Colorado 10”
I hope Tyler Lytle is okay….haven’t heard much on his injury or haven’t looked into it deeply enough.
If Tyler is capable….. I hope MT doesn’t wait to pull the hook on SM if he’s as far “OFF” as he was last Saturday……Sometimes a team will re-juice if a new QB comes to the rescue.
GO BUFFS
Lytle is listed as “day-to-day” with a shoulder injury.
Not likely to have a quarterback with a shoulder injury to his throwing arm see his first serious game action until he is 100%.
“Shoulder Injury” is a wastebasket term that can cover a multitude of possibilities….. is it a torn labrum ? …. torn ligament ? … rotator cuff tear ?
It seems teams are a bit secretive when it comes to being specific about injuries. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see. GO BUFFS !
I hate saying this, but reality is-this team will not win another game this season.
Geeeeeeeeeez. I hope it ain’t so, Darin…….but you might be pretty damn correct.
In a world where he looks in the QB cupboard……………………………..and it is bare
Buffs
Shit.
Perfect
The Buffs only way to win this game was to control the ball and finish drives. We know we don’t have the pass rush or the DBs to stop that team. Our OL was getting the job done. In the 3rd quarter our line was pushing Wazzu 5 yards down field. Fontenot averaged 8 yards a carry! So what does Jay Johnson do, gives Fontenot 11 carries, calls sweeps and passes on 1st down in the 2nd half. Mel should have stepped in and said we are running every down until they stop us. Jay Johnson has called one good game all year (ASU). And Montez … oh man, this make 4 years in a row where he starts the season looking like a NFL pick and finishes looking like a guy with zero confidence, mechanics gone. In years past this has been when he was getting killed by his own OL but that’s not the case right now. The O line has been fine and he’s had a running game, and he has WRs. I’m hopeful for Tucker and the future based on his enthusiasm, pedigree and him embracing what CU has to offer the way MacCartney did, but right now it looks no different than 2012-2018 (forgetting about 2016). And I’m not buying the bare cupboard thing. Definitely thin and so injuries have killed us, but not bare. Yesterday was on Jay Johnson and Montez. Mell’s going to need to hire a real O Coordinator.
One could say the cupboard is bare at the qb position. Pretty important. And yes there are others. Have a peek.
Buffs
After much thought and consideration, I know why our football team is so bad. It is the inverse relationship between CU football and CU basketball. It is real, folks. There can. E no other explanation. That is all.
Go Buffs
We have to get those things cleaned up. Said every coach, everywhere.
Man, I hope Tucker can do that because no coach in boulder has been able to for about 20 years. This is starting to look like a return to 2012.
I am worried about SC coming to town. I don’t know if the Buffs are playing worse, or if it is just they are now playing better teams, but the last two weeks have been brutal.
Maybe they can stop the bleeding by Friday ?
It was more fun being in games than being destroyed. Again. Here’s to hoping for a much better performance next week. And the rest of the season.
Go Buffs.
Well….lesssee….once again it is about the time of year a lot of Buff fans, including myself, are now looking forward to basketball season. Enough mocking of Nebraska. Welcome to the tent folding of 2018 part deux except that there wont be 5 wins……maybe 4….maybe if we can beat Stanford. Forget about beating UCLA.
Minced, shredded, chopped, diced and baked at 450 degrees in “all phases of the game.” The O line has never really improved that much. Nebraska’s D line is almost as bad as our own. I say almost because ours couldn’t rush a buffet line last night. It looked like they were waving handkerchiefs at WSU’s O line. Is Mustafa really that good that he made the entire D look adequate? Montez was throwing softball lobs instead of darts. I still dont want to climb on Montez back too much. He has been beaten down his entire college career by crappy O coordinators and schemes including the current one. Even our fantastic receivers werent getting open like they should.
And then there was the Buff D backs. I know one of the CB’s is a freshman but they might as well been watching the game from the 10 dollar seats. I have to put that partially on the coaches as well. I know Mel has a DB background but maybe he still has an SEC hangover and hasn’t got used to intricate PAC 12 passing schemes yet.
I used to joke about Osborne going down to the bayou and finding a voodoo woman who put a curse on the Buff football program. I am starting to take that seriously except that I think CU cursed itself when it allowed journalistic ghouls to bully it by canning Barnett for no good reason and handing out 2 million dollars to a woman without a perp who was handing out condoms.
Can Mel break the curse? I honestly believe he is a good head coach but he is not in then SEC anymore. Damn the torpedoes full speed ahead football doesn’t work these days without a roster full of 4 and 5 stars. The only way I see success in the future is if Mel finds the next Lincoln Riley for an O coordinator and the next Jim Leavitt for the D. Our kids are still a ways from performing at their 3 star level and climbing out of the 3 star level otherwise aint gonna happen.
Nah ep no curse. Oh wait maybe it was/is the Bohn curse. He hired all those coaches during the decade plus from hell. Rick fired his last one. Now it is Ricks Deal. Rick ain’t no loser bud.
Buffs.
Note: Write it down……………………..AND NEXT YEAR A FRESHMAN QB WILL LEAD THEM AND THE MIGHTY BUFFS WILL PROSPER.
Lets be honest right here.
THE CUPBOAD WAS/IS BARE.
And I am not sure this next class is going start the refill process.
I feel bad for Montez. All those different coaches. Hope he did better in class than he has done on the field.
You watch those top teams and they all have a REAL QB. There is such a stark contrast from them to Montez. Perhaps we just expected too much of him. Hopefully the 4 star recruit sticks and starts next year. (Middle note: Perhaps then the OC can put together real plays. Not so sure he is the guy. The OC that is.)
As i posted previously. This team is young.
29.5 % of the two deep are Sophs
29.5 % of the two deep are Frosh
5 of the 10 sr starters are transfers of some kind.
Sheesh Not even a bone. Okay maybe a small one. Bare Bare Bare.
It does appear that several of the upper classman………on offesnse———-have mailed it in Starting with the qb and at least one of the “superstar” receivers…You could see it in their faces and reactions…………….more than once……………frustration with no way out…………….so ill just hang around.
Go buffs. 5 to go………….3 at home…………..Good Luck and we will be rooting you on
Notes: Beat CSU …………..yea ha……………………be he kornholers……………….double ye ha
Note 2: Not sure the winter weight room work was……………………….?? That’s where you win games eh? LIttle more football stuff might have been helpful.
Note 3; Yup the cupboard was bare. Coaching staff is “new” and perhaps, just perhaps not the staff (OC?DC) for the next couple of years.
Note: 4 next year
those 59% frosh and soph 2 deep will be soph and jrs………….AND A FRESHMAN QB WILL LEAD THEM
Back to the bare cupboard? So soon? So rick and Mel were lying when they said this isn’t a rebuild? Ready to win now? Coaching transitions are often shaky in year 1. But again, I would like to see you point out any roster transition that was in better shape than this one, since Gary took over for rick.
I don’t have the answers to what ails this team. Hopefully Mel does, or we may be looking for a new ad and head coach when rick goes to run the pac 12.
Go Buffs
The roster is bare.
Mickeys record with any even the ones he transitioned to himself. The D and its coach won 2016 and mickey took and accolades and ran away. When the D coach was gone it was back to the same ol Mickey……………….Then Mickey was gone….yup right yup.
Note:
Buffs
HCMT and Rick said what needed to be said. Call it what you like.
I call what they said honesty (about the talent level). I call what you say excuses and playing the blame game. Exactly what a losing program does.
Yes, being young is an excuse. Look at Alabama and Clemson in their 2-deep:
Alabama: 20.4% Frosh, 25% are Sophs. And Clemson? 20.4% Frosh, 31.8% are Sophs. And poor Alabama; on defense they start 4 true Freshman and when they go to a dime package they start 5 (that’s 45.4% in their one deep). And poor Arizona State is a mess because they start a true Freshman at QB. What if they had a 5th year senior QB who has a projected number one pick at wide receiver? Imagine what they could do? Yes, Alabama and Clemson has a myriad of excuses why they can’t win because they are (que the violin) just too young.
Or maybe Bama and Clemson really are no excuses program that recruits talent and has young guys ready to play right away (i.e. coaching). Like winning programs do. Losing programs (and losers) make excuses and blame others for their own faults.
Mel Tucker Quote from his first meeting with his team: “I have called 185 games as a d-coordinator, there is enough talent in this room to win. I’m not here to blow smoke up your ass.” So, A. either there was enough talent (that was healthy when playing Air Force) to win, or B, he was making fradulent statements to his players. Has to be one or the other.
Here is Rick George: “We are not interesting in rebuilding, we expect to win now.” So again. either it is A: There was enough talent in place, or B: he was speaking out of his ass. Go back and read Stu’s Lance Carl interview. A quote from Carl: ” We don’t think of it that way at all. We don’t think of this as a rebuilding process at all.”
Of course CU doesn’t have young talent (or depth) like Bama or CLemson. But Bama and Clemson do have young guys ready to play who are not out of position 7 games into the season. They also don’t make excuses. Neither has Mel Tucker. But all his kool-aid slurpers who were drooling it all over these pages sure are.
Go Buffs. I wish HCMT nothing but success and think he can get there. But if he doesn’t, and CU doesn’t start getting competitive in conference, Rick George’s ramping up the degree of difficulty of the non-conference schedule could mean more 2-1 and 1-2 starts. And if we go 2-7 or 1-8 or 3-6 every year in conference, CU will be in the weeds for another decade.
Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. And better coaching. Lets get it done Mel.
CU basketball starts 11/8.
Hmm so you would have HCMT walk in and tell the team hey yur not that good and I’m gonna get my own guys? You must have been a philosophy major. Well they aren’t that good and the qb position is empty don’t ya know. Good players want to play good teams. Not so good players are happy playing Mickey schedules. Rick is totally doing it right.
That airforce loss and the airforce loss…………frigging home games hurts. hurts bad. I put some responsibility on coaches here cause after a bye week one should expect a different attitude. Cockyness killed the turtle.
Anyway. Little too early to judge the staff but not too early to judge the seniors or juniors………………but most aren’t in the two deep anyway…………………why is that?
Go Buffs
If he didn’t think they had talent and he said it anyway, then he was blowing smoke up their ass and instantly lost credibility with the players. Doesn’t bode well for the future. If he didn’t think they had talent, then he could have said we will be the best conditioned, best disciplined team and to trust the process. That’s all. That would be honest. But he didn’t say just that. He said , and I quote: “there is enough talent here to win (based on 185 games called as a d-coordinator-his words). He further stated he wasn’t bowing smoke up their ass. Go watch the video. So again,either he was being honest about the talent level, or he was being a fraud in his very first meeting with his team. Not that hard to decipher. Pick what is true. I pick that he was being honest. You say he was lying to his team. A lying coach is another sign of a losing program. I see HCMT not being cut from that cloth.
And yes, Go Buffs.
Lying is such a harsh word.
He didn’t say win the division he didn’t say win the conference. They have won 3 games.
Liar is such a harsh word. Almost as harsh as not in the information loop.
He didn’t lie. He told the truth. I am sure, in fact I know he tells them this every game. He did the right thing then being kind and knowing what he had. He does the kind thing each game. Knowing what he has. Have you seen his glowing comments about Montez over and over and over. Get a clue bub. He knows what he has got. Especially in the qb room.
A s Aaron Neville and LInda Rpnstand sang so eloquently:
“I ain’t got much………………………buy you know I love you”…………………..HCMT 2019
AND A FRESHMAN QB SHALL LEAD THEM OUT OF THE DARKNESS
Ultimately, a breakdown in all areas last night but to my eyes the bulk of the responsibility for this result rests on the offensive side of the ball. I appreciate the physical tools Steven Montez possesses. That being said, I do not think he is now – or has ever been – any better than average. Every time last night , ESPN showed a close up of him, the look on his face was a mix of bewilderment and panic. His decision-making helped bury them at Oregon a week ago Friday and it did so again last night.
Play-calling not necessarily helping him either. As an East Coast Buff who has still not figured out how the hell to get the Pac-12 Network, I only get to see them on TV when they are on FS1 or ESPN, so I don’t see every game. It looked to me last night as if the Buffs were doing a fairly effective job running the ball – especially on first down. I’m simply a fan. I’m neither a football coach nor do I play one on TV, but I never quite understood last night why we did not just commit to running the ball more, especially when it seemed fairly obvious early on that Montez’s Oregon game had made the trip to WSU.
Brutal couple of weeks for the kids and the coaches. Here’s to hoping they pull out of it and somehow steal a win or two from the next three games (USC at home, UCLA on the road, and Stanford at home) because the season-ending double dip of Washington and Utah does not bode well for our Buffs.
We’ve all been asking the same question over the last 3 years. Why doesn’t the staff (both former and current) give the younger QBs a chance – see what they can do. Honestly, even an average game manager behind center could have lead this team to a 6-1 or 5-2 record at this point. Don’t ask them to do too much, just get the ball in the hands of the playmakers – simple. Surely there is someone on campus that can do this. There isn’t. I’ve heard, first hand, from individuals close to the program that our starting QB for next year is not on campus yet. Watch the transfer portal carefully (next year starter to ease transition for Lewis) then turn the reigns over to the type of QB HCMT wants to lead this program.
We all hoped, especially with some of the playmakers we have this year, we could get to a bowl this year. Would help boast the recruiting and get the younger players some playing time. Turns out, they are already getting that playing time. Truth be told, last staffs recruiting efforts (besides Chev) has been worse than imagined. Former commit, who wasn’t receiving enough love after committing so flips to the Cougs, just torched us for the second year in a row. Our backup QB decides to move to safety right after fall camp. No depth at any position (except many RB – looking good for the future). We are what we are – basement dwellers in a below average P5 conference.
I’m resetting expectations (believe me, as I walked back to my car after the win in Tempe, I was thinking Coach Tucks presence alone was the missing link) and back on the 3 to 4 year plan. It takes time to build the trenches that are required to play the time of football HCMT wants to play. At least we are now going after these players (not drafting an undersized player and hoping to develop and add 40 lbs – not going to happen). I’m hoping we could pull one major upset to end the year (next Friday would do the job for me) to get the bad taste out of our mouths and look forward to the future. Would also be nice to land 1 or 2 more high quality recruits that point the needle in the right direction. Next year, need the grad transfer QB to fill in the roll we needed this year – solid leader, manage the game, lead us to a statement win (at A&M would be nice). Hell, Illinois beat Wisconsin today, a win at A&M shouldn’t be asking for too much.
I saw this tweet by Jarod Norelius — “since firing Barnett after the 2005 season, has a record of 58-110, for a winning percentage of 34.5%. Take out the fluke 2016 season, and it is 45-106, 29.8%. Prior to that. CU was 642-369, 63.5%.”
Yikes – I knew it was bad (I was in Houston for the 70-3 beatdown when it all started — 1 and only Buff game a left before the game ended), but seeing it makes me want to wake up from this nightmare right now.
I feel we have our guy with HCMT. He’s got a plan and working towards it every hour of every day. We just need the Jimmys and Joes to be able to run their Xs and Os. I feel this staff knows everything is in place and they just need to go get that talent.
Go Buffs!
I’m with ya
Buffs
In what world does Coach tucker live in that 6 picks in 6 quarters doesn’t get you benched? Are our backups that bad?
Montez, he’s 1 year of hope, followed by 4 years of mediocrity.
I’m ready to see the Lytle.
Though our run D was average but not terrible the real problem obviously is the secondary, which couldn’t stop St. Mary’s Of The Blind on a good day… Onu must be wondering WTF with SMU 7-0 and the Buffs headed for the basement again. All about recruiting and depth, CU is lacking the later but I’m hopeful. But WSU did to us what they do to everybody, throw for a bunch of yards. I just wish we could at least match them TD for TD if we can’t defend. So frustrating…
This game was, unfortunately, a continuation of unfavorable dynamics. Yes, there are problems with the D. I picked WSU to score 42. But I picked CU to post 28 on offense. There are leadership failures at the coaching and QB levels. After 6 picks in a game and a half, why is Montez in the second half of the game? What is he doing in the game after he loses his composure and shoves a Cougs player? Why does the D have to be down, sometimes by multiple scores, until the D coordinator knows what adjustments to make? This has become a train wreck. Tucker needs to take charge, bench Montez (at least for the beginning of the USC game), and set the tone that this can no longer continue. If nothing is done, not only will this season look like 3-9 but doubt will be cast on whether tough decisions will be made
Well he was still in after all those picks because…. There’s no one behind him.
That series with lyttle getting injured on his first play, followed by stenstrom throwing a near pick six on his first play says it all.
This goes back to my comment about CU quarterback talent being at the bottom of the conference, perennially for decades. In addition to linemen this has to get better.
I have always been a Montez fan but to watch him now is to watch a guy who has 0 confidence when throwing the ball. Every time he throws, he falls backward and the ball either has no power or sails high.
Add to that a defense that is the worst they have ever had, which is saying a lot, and it’s hard not to acknowledge that this is the worst team in the PAC-12.
This defense is no where near as bad as some of those embree teams, come on. But yeah, I fully expect some turnover on defensive coaching staff.
Overall I think the defense is worse than last year when they had more pass coverage talent. Run D has been better though. Middle of the field is a sieve. The D had just enough to hold things together until they started playing more talented teams and started getting banged up.