BOULDER — No-huddle offenses are almost becoming the norm in college football, but California’s up-tempo system is a particular concern this week, Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre said Tuesday during his weekly news conference.
Colorado (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) plays Saturday at California (2-1, 0-1). The 2 p.m. conference game will be televised over the Pac-12 Network.
“They play really fast,” MacIntyre said of the Golden Bears. “It’s simple but it’s true: as soon as the snap is over and you’ve made the tackle, (our defense) has to get up fast, look at the (defensive) signal and then you have to move to your position.
“They’re going to snap the ball extremely quick. They want you to get misaligned half the time. Cal does a good job of that.”
California, led by sophomore quarterback Jared Goff, ranks third among Pac-12 teams in passing offense. The Bears are throwing for 335.3 yards per game, completing 63.3 percent.
California is a different team than the Bears team that lost 41-24 to Colorado in Boulder a year ago. Like with CU, California has a second-year coach, Sonny Dykes.
MacIntyre and Dykes coached against each other in the Western Athletic Conference when MacIntyre was at San Jose State and Dykes at Louisiana Tech.
“Everybody talks about the passing game, but the thing (California) is doing better this year than they did last year is they’re running the football,” MacIntyre said. “They’re averaging 187 yards rushing.
“If they run for close to 200 yards, they’re going to be hard to stop.”
Tom Kensler: tkensler@denverpost.com or
