Fall Camp Primer – Offense


Posts Tagged ‘Nelson Spruce’

CU improved from 87th in total offense in 2013 to 37th last year … Will the jump to elite status come this fall?

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Spruce is a potential All-American, but who else will step up? … Will CU’s tight ends finally see the ball?

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Spring Position Battles

//posted 2.21.2015

A unit-by-unit look at the battles taking place for starting positions for the 2015 Colorado Buffaloes …

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No. 25 Utah 38, Colorado 34

//posted 11.29.2014

A pick-six with ten minutes gives Utah game-winning points … “I think the word I’d use is ‘gut-wrenching’ ” …

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Four turnovers prove too much for Buffs to overcome, spoiling another positive overall effort

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Washington 38, Colorado 23

//posted 11.1.2014

Buffs race out to 20-10 lead, but lapses by all three units lead to 28-3 run by Huskies to end the game

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Colorado fought back from a 17-0 first quarter deficit, out-scoring No. 25 UCLA 17-0 in the fourth quarter to force overtime at 31-31. After the teams traded field goals in the first overtime, and the Buffs had posted a field goal in their second overtime possession, Bruin quarterback Brett Hundley scored on an eight yard run to give the Buffs their second double-overtime loss of the season, 40-37.

The Buffs went toe-to-toe with the Bruins for much of the game, finishing with 500 yards of total offense … to 509 for UCLA. The Buffs went for a season-high 233 yards rushing, with Michael Adkins going for 107 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown. But it was not enough to overcome the 309 yards rushing posted by the Bruins, with two players going for over 100 yards. Running back Paul Perkins had 19 carries for 180 yards and two touchdowns, including a 92-yard score on UCLA’s second play from scrimmage. Brett Hundley, in addition to passing for 200 yards and a touchdown, had 12 carries for 110 yards and the all-important eight yard score to bring CU’s upset bid to an end.

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No. 22 USC 56, Colorado 28

//posted 10.19.2014

Colorado fans thought they had seen the best USC quarterbacks had to offer. In 2011, Trojan quarterback Matt Barkley torched Buff defense for a school record six touchdown passes. To prove the 2011 effort was no fluke, Barkley threw for six touchdowns against Colorado again in 2012.

Cody Kessler, seen as a game manager even by the USC faithful, was arguably no Matt Barkley.

Against Colorado, though, he was even better.

Kessler threw for a school-record seven touchdown passes, completing 19-of-26 passes for 319 yards and seven scores in No. 22 USC’s 56-28 rout of Colorado (yes, Buff fans, Kessler had as many touchdown passes as he had incompletions). Kessler’s favorite target was Nelson Agholor, who had six receptions for 128 yards and three scores. Javorius Allen, the Pac-12’s leading rusher, had 15 carries for 128 yards and one touchdown.

For Colorado, Sefo Liufau completed 23-of-35 passes for 143 yards, with two touchdown passes to Nelson Spruce. Liufau also had two costly interceptions in the first quarter, when USC sprinted out to a 28-0 lead, never looking back.

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Colorado went over 400 yards in total offense for the fifth straight game, something not seen in Boulder since 1996, but the 431 yards of total offense were not enough to overcome mistakes and some questionable officiating, with Oregon State escaping Boulder with a 36-31 victory.

The game was close on the scoreboard and on the stats sheet. Oregon State had 445 yards of total offense; Colorado 431. The Buffs had the edge in first downs, 25-22, and both teams went 6-for-14 on third down attempts. The Buffs did have one costly turnover, an interception which led to an eight yard touchdown drive by the Beavers in the first quarter.

Sefo Liufau went 32-for-49 for 308 yards, two touchdowns and that costly interception. Nelson Spruce, the nation’s leader in catches, yardage and touchdowns, was held to six catches for 35 yards. Tyler McCulloch helped to pick up the slack, with four receptions for 76 yards and two touchdowns. Michael Adkins, who had 14 carries for nine yards in the previous four games, had 13 carries for 79 yards and a touchdown to lead the Buffs’ rushing attack.

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Sefo Liufau crushed his previous career bests with 449 yards passing and seven touchdowns, but it was not enough, as Colorado fell in two overtimes to California, 59-56. Liufau hit Nelson Spruce 19 times – a week after Spruce set the all-time record for catches in a game with 13 – for 176 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for a team-best 79 yards.

The offensive fireworks, which led to leads of 14-0, 21-7, and 28-14, though, were not enough to stop the offensive onslaught from the Bears. The Colorado secondary surrendered touchdown passes of 92, 26, 10, five, 40, and 25 yards as Jared Goff duplicated Liufau’s 449 yards passing and seven touchdowns. Three missed field goals by Will Oliver figured into a game in which Colorado ran a school-record 110 offensive plays.

The loss left the 2-3 Buffs (0-2 in Pac-12 play) wondering what might have been … and what was still to come in the 2014 season.

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Colorado 21, Hawai’i 12

//posted 9.21.2014

Colorado jumped out to a 21-6 second quarter lead against visiting Hawai’i, but then almost spoiled a record-setting afternoon by wide receiver Nelson Spruce, hanging on to defeat the Rainbow Warriors, 21-12, before 39,478 sunbaked fans at Folsom Field.

Nelson Spruce had 13 catches on the afternoon, breaking the school-record of 11 (done nine times previously, including three times by Paul Richardson), going for a personal-best 172 yards. Spruce also set a school-record by collecting a touchdown reception in his sixth straight game.

But it was almost all for naught, as the Buffs were shutout in the second half by the Rainbow Warriors. It took an exceptional effort from the Colorado defense – which held an opponent out of the end zone for the first time since 2010 (a 24-3 win over Colorado State) to preserve the win. The Buffs held the Rainbow Warriors to only 286 yards of total offense, the best for the CU defense since holding Utah to 274 yards in the 2011 finale.

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No. 16 ASU 38, Colorado 24

//posted 9.14.2014

Colorado out-gained No. 16 Arizona State, 545 yards to 426 yards, but three turnovers doomed the Buffs to a 38-24 loss to the Sun Devils in Boulder.

Sefo Liufau went 31-for-46 for 278 yards and three touchdowns, but also had two interceptions. Christian Powell, thanks to two long runs, became the first Buff to rush for over 100 yards in 2014, with 11 carries good enough for 118 yards. Nelson Spruce had a pair of touchdowns for his third consecutive game, collecting seven catches for 97 yards.

After being out-gained by the Sun Devils, 222-22 in the first quarter, the Buffs had 523 yards of total offense to 205 for the Sun Devils in the final three quarters, but were never able to get closer than two touchdowns in the second half.

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