Back on Sept. 2, after the Colorado football team surprised then-No. 17 TCU on opening day, first-year head coach Deion Sanders applauded the discipline his team displayed that day.
Despite playing their first game together, the new-look Buffs had just six penalties for 35 yards in the 45-42 upset of the Horned Frogs.
With only two games remaining in Sanders’ first season as head coach, however, that remains the low mark for penalties for the Buffs (4-6, 1-6 Pac-12), as a lack of discipline has become a common problem thatap holding them back from taking another step forward.
During a 34-31 last-second loss to No. 23 Arizona on Saturday at Folsom Field, CU was flagged 11 times for 83 yards.
“Thatap discipline on the field, discipline off the field,” Sanders said. “If you’re undisciplined off the field, you’re going to be undisciplined on the field. Those little moments and those little penalties are costly, because at the end of the day, they add up.”
CU, which visits Washington State (4-6, 1-6) on Friday (8:30 p.m., FS1) is the most-penalized team in the country, at 9.5 per game. The school record for one season is 116 penalties and the Buffs are on pace for 114.
To CU’s credit, it had been better the previous two weeks, getting flagged seven times at UCLA on Oct. 28 and eight times against Oregon State on Nov. 4. But, Saturday was the fourth game with at least 10 penalties and several of them had significance.
A flag on tackle Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan for being an ineligible receiver downfield wiped out a 13-yard pass from Shedeur Sanders to Travis Hunter and set up second-and-20 early in the second quarter. CU punted three plays later.
Five plays after that punt, Arizona’s Noah Fifita threw incomplete on third-and-goal at the 6. But CU’s Deeve Harris shoved Fifita late and was flagged for roughing the passer. Instead of settling for a field goal, Arizona got first-and-goal at the 3 and scored a touchdown on the next play, tying the game at 14-14.
A pair of false starts – by far CU’s most common penalty this year – put the offense in tough situations, too. In particular, one on Kareem Harden late in the game, turned a third-and-6 into third-and-11 just two plays before Alejandro Mata missed a 44-yard field goal.
“Those costly little penalties, those little knucklehead plays are gonna cost you every time,” Sanders said.
Showing improvement
After Shedeur Sanders was battered around and sacked seven times at UCLA on Oct. 28, Coach Prime called out the offensive line and had a heart-to-heart meeting with the group.
The line hasn’t been perfect, but better since then. After allowing four sacks on Nov. 4 against Oregon State, the Buffs allowed three against Arizona, tying the season low (USC also had three on Sept. 30).
“Just do the math. I feel like itap improvement,” Coach Prime said. “So I praised the line all game long. I was challenging them to go to another level during the game, but I praised them all game long out there on the field for the protection. They gave us a clean pocket at times. At times (Shedeur) had to scramble; you’re going to do that because the opposing team is going to blitz sometimes. But overall, I really think they’ve improved tremendously.”
Notable
CU is a 5.5-point underdog for Friday’s matchup. … The Buffs have lost three in a row in Pullman, Wash., dating back to a 35-34 victory on Sept. 22, 2012. … Washington State has lost six in a row since a 4-0 start to the season.
