The Buffs had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad night on Friday.
CU traveled to Houston for a matchup with the Cougars to open their conference slate, and got worked on both sides of the football. The offense couldn’t leave neutral, and the defense couldn’t stop its own bleeding.
After Colorado’s embarrassing outing, it’s time to channel our inner frustrated parent. Let’s begrudingly go over their report card, and it ain’t pretty.
Let’s start with what you’re here for: the quarterbacks.
Starter Ryan Staub wasn’t good against Houston, plain and simple. His stat line of 204 yards on 54% completion, with one touchdown and two interceptions, isn’t great already. However, when you factor in that his one touchdown and a big chunk of those yards came in garbage time, it gets even worse.
Maybe Houston’s defense scheme confused Staub. Maybe he just wasn’t ready for the moment. Maybe (probably) he didn’t get the protection he was counting on up front. However you slice it, Staub looked lost against Houston. Colorado’s offense couldn’t move the football for most of the game, going three-and-out over and over again. Needless to say, this offense has a lot of improvement and reflection to do, and it all starts with Staub.
Still, it wasn’t all bad for Staub. In the two-minute drill before halftime, he led a successful drive to bring the game within three points. Staub took the ball in himself on a 19-yard run, putting his body on the line by taking an Elway-style helicopter shot in the process. That’s the kind of physicality and dedication you want from your quarterback and Staub deserves credit for that.
Colorado needed Staub to come out and show everyone that he was this team’s best option at quarterback going forward, and the exact opposite of that happened. Now, Coach Prime and the Buffs will be fielding questions about the team’s QB situation for at least another week.
This category is being buoyed big time by the performance of Coastal Carolina transfer Simeon Price, who’s proved to be worth his weight in gold for the Buffs this season. Price is an angry runner, who picks his hole and hits it with a dedication and confidence that we haven’t seen yet in the Deion Sanders era. Without Price’s 38-yard house call in the second quarter, CU would have been toast. Price finished the game with 51 yards and a touchdown on five rushing attempts, which is a pretty stellar stat line.
As for the other running backs, it’s an entirely different story. Taking out Price’s numbers, CU only gained 45 yards and no touchdowns on 18 rushing attempts, good for an average of 2.5 yards per attempt. If Colorado wants to win games moving forward, they’re going to need a way to run the ball with more consistency.
Granted, it’s not all the RBs’ fault. The offense line struggled against Houston’s Willie Fritz-led defense, which should be taken into account. Still, those numbers need to improve if CU wants to be the winning team they envision themselves as.
Photo by Andrew Wevers/Getty Images
Staub didn’t do the pass catchers any favors on Friday night, but they didn’t do Staub many favors when the Buffs needed them most.
Despite racking up 204 yards on 19 catches, CU’s receivers likely all have a couple of plays they want back. The Buffs had two drops in Houston, both in crucial moments. It wasn’t the receiver’s fault that Colorado got worked by Houston, but the position group certainly left some room for improvement.
On the bright side, it was good to see CU’s receivers all make themselves present within the offense. Both Omarion Miller and Joseph Williams had 50+ yards on three catches, and Drelon Miller and Micah Welch had multiple catches and tallied 20+ yards. These receivers can make plays when the ball gets to them on time and accurately, but that hasn’t happened a whole lot this season.
The Buffs got worked up front. There’s no easier or more eloquent way to put it.
The Cougars were able to find their way to the backfield often on Friday, racking up three sacks and an astounding seven TFLs against the Buffs. Staub was running for his life for most of the night, and CU’s running backs were having to run through contact before they even got to the line of scrimmage on a sizable chunk of their touches.
Jordan Seaton and Xavier Hill have done a good job holding down the left side, but lots of work needs to be done so this unit can function at full efficiency. We’ll have to see how they bounce back against a surprisingly stout Wyoming defensive front this Saturday.
The passrushers are another group that can’t be blamed for Colorado’s loss.
The group tallied two sacks and four TFLs. Those numbers don’t pop off the page, but they did exactly what they needed to do to give the Buffs a chance: find their way into the backfield and pressure Weigman until he makes bad choices. Unfortunately, CU’s soft pass defense made life easy for Weigman, so it didn’t matter at the end of the day. Still, the group did what was asked of them. Tackling could use some improvement, though.
Of all the areas that need improvement, Colorado’s run defense might take the cake. The Buffs got gashed by the Coogs on the ground, giving up 209 rushing yards on 53 attempts.
UH running back James Conner proved too elusive, tallying 89 rushing yards and a touchdown on 22 attempts. Weigman did the rest of the damage on his own, running for 83 yards and two touchdowns. This is college too, so the yardage of Weigman’s sacks are subtracted off that.
The Buffs couldn’t bring down Weigman or Conner, as the two bounced off the Buffs like pinballs all night. Houston relied on their run game to move the chains with ease and kept Colorado off the field for nearly the entire second half. Colorado is going to have to find a way to get more stout up front, whether it’s rotating guys on the interior defensive line and linebacker, or another solution. However you cut it, it’s going to be hard to win games when your opponent can completely run over you like Houston did to CU.
Not only did Weigman look unstoppable on the ground on Friday, he also looked unstoppable through the air, which isn’t necessarily a great look for this secondary.
CU gave up 222 yards through the air on 15 passes, as UH receiver Stephon Johnson gashed the Buffs for 117 yards alone. Weigman was getting pressured in the backfield, but was able to constantly find weak spots in CU’s secondary to move the chains. Considering that Houston isn’t exactly known for their passing prowess, this performance is especially concerning.
Special teams was the only silver lining from Friday night. Fans saw a lot of punter Damon Greaves after the offense stalled out time and time again, and he didn’t disappoint. Greaves’ ability to pin opposing teams within their own 10-yard line is astounding, as it seems to happen more than not. Also, shoutout to Isaiah Hardge. He’s been flying around on the punt unit, making big stops and forcing fair catches.
Kickoff specialist Buck Buchanan is the touchback machine that was promised to us. We’ve hardly even seen a Buchanan kickoff with a playable ball this season. After the last two seasons where touchbacks were extreme rarities, Buchanan’s massive leg is a much-needed and appreciated addition to this squad.
Placekicker Alejandro Mata is what we’ve known him to be the last two seasons. He’s essentially automatic within 40 yards. Mata is a perfect three for three on field goals this season, and eight for eight on extra points. Mata didn’t see much action in Houston, but he hit both his extra points when his number was called.
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