The defense didn’t surrender a touchdown. The offense ran the ball with a purpose rarely seen by Colorado in three previous seasons under head coach Deion Sanders.
And the special teams? Despite a game-saving effort on the final play of the night, the Buffaloes’ kicking units were not special at all.
CU opened the season Thursday night in thrilling fashion, winning 14-13 at Georgia Tech thanks to a gutsy late drive engineered by Julian Lewis and a blocked field goal by cornerback Boo Carter as time expired.
The Buffs will have a few extra days to recover and prepare for the home opener next week against Weber State. While the defense displayed the improved aggression and physicality promised throughout the preseason, and the run game performed well in the CU debut of coordinator Brennan Marion’s Go-Go offense, special teams likely will be a focus for the next week.
“The young men played their butts off,” Sanders said. “Made some mistakes on special teams. Effort plays. When they’re blocking a field goal and they run a kickoff back for a touchdown, thatap great effort. Because you have the correct personnel because you go over it and over it and over it and over it, and I do that myself. But they made it happen, so hats off to them.”
The special teams foibles began on the game’s first play, when DeKalon Taylor opted to return the opening kickoff from deep in the end zone and only managed to get to the 12-yard line. The struggles certainly didn’t end there.
CU took the lead on Lewis’ 20-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Williams with 37 seconds remaining, but up to that point CU’s only previous lead lasted for just 14 seconds, as Micah Welch’s touchdown early in the second quarter was followed immediately by a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown by Georgia Tech’s Rahkeem Smith.
Buffs kicker Daniel Gerlach had a potential tying field goal from 39 yards out blocked in the fourth quarter. CU’s special teams were responsible for holding and facemask penalties. And Carter made a fair catch of a Georgia Tech punt at the 5-yard line on a boot that appeared destined for the end zone.
Carter’s final play glossed over some of those miscues, but the Buffs won’t be able to consistently get away with so many special teams errors, particularly in Big 12 play.
“It wasn’t my first one. I did one in practice before,” Carter said of his dramatic block. “Just the mental prep. I had to dive for this one. Perfect timing.”
Any coach will say itap far more preferrable to correct mistakes after a win than a loss, and thatap the boat the Buffs find themselves in heading into the home opener. One of the more encouraging aspects was how the Buffs out-toughed Georgia Tech. CU has been labeled a finesse team under Sanders, but the addition of tough-minded coordinators like Marion and defensive leader Chris Marve is helping to change that dynamic.
“You’re talking about another team (Georgia Tech) thatap also a physical team, and a head coach thatap a big line guy. He don’t play about the front,” Sanders said. “To go out there and to do this when you guys are talking about the run, the run, the run — and we’re a small team, which I don’t know where that came from — you’re certainly happy with the results.”
