COLUMBIA, Mo. — Don’t look now, but Colorado’s regular season will be half completed after Saturday night’s home battle with Baylor. There’s no time to waste in recapturing some steam after last weekend’s 26-0 dud at Missouri left the entire Buffaloes roster feeling deflated.
“It is so important that we regain the momentum, like right now,” CU senior cornerback and team captain Jalil Brown said Saturday. “We have to get back to the basics. We have shown we can be a good team, but we need to play consistent now. We have to have the leaders go around and get into the young guys’ ears.”
After Colorado (3-2, 0-1 Big 12) faces Baylor (4-2, 1-1), the Buffs will remain at home for an Oct. 23 date with Texas Tech. Coincidentally, Texas Tech (3-2, 1-2) played Baylor last weekend at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, a neutral site.
The host Red Raiders prevailed in a 45-38 shootout, meaning that Colorado had better add some juice to its offense in a hurry to keep up with those two wide-open teams after failing to produce a point in Columbia.
“We have to regroup,” CU running backs coach Darian Hagan said, “because that (Missouri) team we just played, they weren’t as physical or as fast as Georgia (which the Buffs beat 29-27). They weren’t nearly as fast as Cal (which CU lost to 52-7). Guys just didn’t do what they were taught to do.”
Senior wide receiver Scotty McKnight, another team captain, said throwing downfield more often would help loosen things up. Colorado averaged just 8.1 yards per completion against Missouri. Only one went for longer than 17 yards — a 22-yarder to McKnight to end the first half.
“That’s what we’ve talked about as a unit, to take more shots (downfield),” Mc- Knight said. “That’s definitely something we feel as a receiver crew. We feel we can make plays downfield. When we have the opportunities, we have to make those plays.”
After committing a plethora of pratfalls on special teams, look for those units to draw more attention this week. Blunders included a blocked field goal, a partially blocked punt and allowing a successful fake punt by Missouri.
“I think we should put more emphasis on special teams in practices and in the meetings as well,” senior cornerback Jimmy Smith said. “(But) I don’t think it comes down to our coaches. I think it comes down to our players on special teams. That’s definitely going to change this week. Our leaders are going to get ahold of that. We’re an up-and-down team. We need to be more consistent.”
There’s not enough time during the week for Colorado to reinvent the wheel. Senior linebacker B.J. Beatty said the Buffs must remember what worked in the second half against Hawaii and then against Georgia, and build on those things.
“The next two games are big for us,” Beatty said. “We have to just bring it every week. We can’t let this loss hurt us for the next game. We have to refocus. You have to have a short memory.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
