BOULDER — had just walked away from his news conference in the waning hours Thursday night, having twice lamented the 13 penalties his football team committed in a 20-10 victory over UCLA at Folsom Field. He was then tossed a lifeline.
“It was actually only 12 penalties, Mike,” a reporter told MacIntyre.
“Oh, well. That’s completely different,” the Colorado coach responded. “You should have corrected me.”
Indeed, it wouldn’t be a stretch to chalk CU’s contribution to the flag fest as an aberration. The Buffaloes entered the game as the Pac-12’s least penalized team. Lack of discipline, focus and composure had rarely been a problem for CU, which somehow survived all of its miscues to improve to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the Pac-12, a record that puts the Buffs in sole possession of first place in the South Division.
“We haven’t done that in the past and we will not do it again,” MacIntyre promised.
But while a few wind sprints and some stern words may be enough to correct the out-of-character penalty problem, CU’s offensive woes may require deeper soothing.
The offense that was clicking so efficiently through the first half of the season has hit the skids. The Buffs have managed just one offensive touchdown in each of the last two games, and their only offensive touchdown Thursday against the Bruins was set up by the interception that linebacker Kenneth Olugbode returned deep into UCLA territory.
“I don’t know what was going on,” said redshirt freshman Tim Lynott, CU’s starting right guard. “I think we were playing uptight. We had a great week of practice, so it was kind of weird how we came out playing uptight. We need to improve on that.”
Particularly troubling of late for CU has been the brick wall that has stalled the Buffs in the red zone. CU has scored only three touchdowns in its last 11 trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, a stretch that has included four missed field-goal attempts.
//player.performgroup.com/eplayer.js#ac3044fa2ecbb034fb372c1b9a.11hrrvnxxgcho15mv6dsnvd13y
Leaving that many points on the board during its final three-game stretch, which begins with a road game against Arizona next Saturday and closes with home games against Washington State and Utah, would certainly put a strain on CU’s Pac-12 title hopes.
“If we want to be Pac-12 champions, we have to go out there and execute,” said running back Phillip Lindsay, who was the lone bright spot for CU’s offense Thursday with 149 total yards and a touchdown. “Offense isn’t doing that right now. Defense is bailing us out a lot right now. That will only take us so far. We have to go back in and get back to square one with everything.”
MacIntyre pointed out that a fumble at the Bruins’ 1-yard line on one drive and a 15-yard penalty from the same spot on another drive erased would-be touchdowns in the second half, scores that may have changed the optics of the offense’s ineptness.
Still, facing strong defensive lines from Stanford and UCLA the past two games, the offensive line has struggled to protect , a factor in the senior quarterback averaging only 139 yards passing the past two games.
“We just have to work harder this week,” said CU wide receiver Bryce Bobo. “We have to make more connections from quarterback to wide receiver and do a better job of blocking.”
CU’s title dream is reaching crunchtime. A berth in the Pac-12 title game. A once unthinkable trip to the Rose Bowl. It’s all on the table as the last leaves of fall float to the ground in Boulder.
The Buffs know it could all slip away if they don’t get their high-tempo offense back on track.
