Boulder – It is rare for an offense to score three points in a loss and walk away with a sense that it can move the ball on almost any team in the nation.
Yet that’s exactly how the Colorado offense felt after a 23-3 defeat in late September in muggy Miami. That game, ironically, was the birth of the high-powered CU offense that rolled through Oklahoma State and Texas A&M the past two weeks.
“They walked out of that game going, ‘You know what? We can play,”‘ Buffs offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. “Everybody saw how close we were to really accomplishing something special.”
Said wide receiver Evan Judge: “Though the numbers weren’t there, the outlook was and the mind-set was. I think we took away some confidence from that game. We weren’t so much outplayed, we just kind of shot ourselves in the foot all the time. We took that as a positive. We knew we could play with a lot of people in this country.”
All of what has followed – and whatever is to come – has been a result of the offense standing toe-to-toe with the Hurricanes and realizing the yards and points would pile up once the mistakes were reduced.
In the two games that followed, CU scored 75 points and gained 940 yards. The Buffs turned the ball over just once in those two games, and committed 19 penalties. CU had 17 penalties in the Miami game and eight turnovers in its first three games.
In the red zone, CU has scored touchdowns on five of seven trips in the past two weeks, compared with five in 12 trips through three games. And all because of a shot of confidence.
“We’re doing some things we haven’t done in a couple of years, and it’s mostly because of confidence,” head coach Gary Barnett said.
Even the coaches benefitted.
“We understand the players that we have and how to utilize those players in their best role,” Watson said. “It’s us using our guys and targeting them at the right places to make plays.”
Saturday, CU takes its new-look offense into Texas, where the Longhorns boast the nation’s fifth-ranked defense. Texas has allowed just 240 yards per game, only 3.52 yards per play and 13.4 points per game. Having played against the likes of Miami, the Buffs think they can relax and play their game.
“Now we can worry more about the scheme instead of the players,” Judge said. “We’ve already seen those kinds of players before. It’s not like we’re seeing them for the first time. So, we can just worry about our thing and their scheme.”
Footnotes
After cutting Monday’s practice to an hour and holding it inside Balch Fieldhouse because of inclement weather, Colorado has been catching up on missed time with longer workouts. … Offensive specialist Bernard Jackson has been getting plenty of quarterback work in – on the scout team. He has mimicked Oklahoma State’s Bobby Reid, Texas A&M’s Reggie McNeal and Texas’ Vince Young to help CU’s defense get prepared each week for running quarterbacks. … Colorado’s game Oct. 22 game against Kansas at Folsom Field is set for a 5 p.m. kickoff and will be televised on pay-per-view.
Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
