Boulder – Reading into some of the assessments of Colorado’s offense Saturday, it not only was stagnant against Montana State but apparently hadn’t moved much in the past five weeks.
“At this point, when you start playing games, progress should be where it already should be,” running back Mell Holliday said. “As far as knowing what to do and how to do it? We should have been there.”
Asked how far away the CU offense is from being where players and coaches think it should be, Holliday said, “From the way it looks here? Everybody has a long way to go. Personally, I’m disappointed I didn’t reach my personal goals, and I had two messed-up plays, and that’s two too many.”
Colorado’s offense gained 216 total yards. Holliday led the rushing attack with 50 yards on 12 carries. Quarterback James Cox was largely ineffective. The Buffs tossed Bernard Jackson in for an ill-fated quarterback draw play, and no receiver caught more than two passes.
“We’ve got to put guys in better positions to make plays,” offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich said. “That starts with me.”
Helfrich said most of what ailed the offense can be fixed before the Colorado State game.
“Throwing and catching should be a pretty simple thing,” Helfrich said. “I’m not putting it on those guys in those kinds of deals, but we had several situations today where it was a one-man breakdown deal.”
Punting not settled
Colorado’s punting game has had question marks since last season ended, back to the last college game of John Torp, one of the nation’s best punters.
Saturday did nothing to ease those concerns.
CU punters were sketchy all day, and coach Dan Hawkins used Isaac Garden, Matthew DiLallo and Mason Crosby in search of anyone effective. None was.
Garden hit four punts for an average of 34.8 yards; DiLallo kicked twice to average 40.5 yards; and Crosby kicked once for 43 yards.
“Certainly it was not as consistent or as productive as we want it to be,” Hawkins said. “Not at all. That’s part of the reason we were rolling guys in there a little bit.”
No tips from Henderson
Former CU safety Tyrone Henderson was on the field, but he said he didn’t tell Montana State much of anything on the subject of what CU was going to do.
“I didn’t give the team a lot of insight, but in the end we didn’t need it,” Henderson said. “It was just great game-planning on our coaches’ part.”
Henderson was suspended by Colorado prior to the start of preseason camp and later dismissed from the team. He transferred to Montana State.
Fumble?
One of the game’s biggest turning points occurred in the second quarter, when MSU wide receiver Michael Jefferson appeared to fumble after a catch, which CU scooped up and returned to the Bobcats’ 7-yard line. The play, however, was reviewed and overturned.
“I know I didn’t have it,” Jefferson said. “But I’m not going to take that for granted.”
