BuffZone writer Pat Rooney discusses three topics regarding CU Buffs athletics as the football team tries to build off a win against Wyoming when BYU visits Folsom Field.
Big D challenge
Kaidon Salter quieted the quarterback talk. Now Colorado will look for a similar settling-in performance out of the defense.
While the early quarterback carousel consumed the headlines, the Buffs’ most consistently glaring issue through the first third of the season has been their porous defense.
Although Big 12 teams haven’t all played equal competition to this point, CU’s defensive numbers have been ugly regardless of the context. The Buffs are surrendering 409.3 yards per game, more than any Big 12 team except the trainwreck that has engulfed Oklahoma State.
Lowly Wyoming helped Salter get back on track. The same can’t be said of the defense, which surrendered a season-low 347 yards but still proved vulnerable to big plays. Cowboys running back Samuel Harris ripped off a 50-yard run, setting up Wyoming’s only first-half points on a field goal. Wyoming quarterback Kaden Anderson finished just 11-for-25, but he had completions of 41, 32 and 23 yards.
The Buffs defense won’t have another Wyoming to try to get right against. BYU has gotten fat off weak competition but the Cougars certainly have looked good doing it, averaging 452.0 yards per game (fourth in the Big 12). CU’s defense hasn’t stirred confidence it can stop anyone consistently, and it will face its biggest test of the season so far on Saturday night.
Cleaner act
Wyoming allowed the Buffs to regain some confidence, but the Cowboys overall were a far cry from the sort of competition the Buffs will take on over the next month. Still, CU played a much cleaner game in an encouraging sign regardless of the competition.
Three early and questionable pass interference calls aside, some of the dead ball penalties that have thwarted the Buffs, like delay of game and false start calls, were cleaned up against Wyoming. Outside the early pass interference penalties, the Buffs were flagged only twice — Anquin Barnes’ targeting penalty early in the second half, and a lone false start against Kareem Harden, who had come off the bench to replace an injured Jordan Seaton at tackle.
Live-action penalties like holding and pass interference are going to happen from time to time, but matters like false starts and delay of game calls are almost entirely mental. CU’s margin for error isn’t so wide that it can afford to lead the Big 12 in penalties and penalty yards, as the Buffs did last year (100 penalties total, for an average of 67.8 yards per game). Even with the flurry of pass interference calls against Wyoming and a few dead ball penalties against Houston, the Buffs have been better in that department so far this year, averaging five penalties per game for 45.8 yards per game.
Tipping off
The CU men’s basketball team opens its 16th preseason under head coach Tad Boyle on Wednesday (the women’s team opens practice on Thursday).
There are plenty of question marks surrounding Boyle’s Buffs, which I’ll dive into more this week and throughout the preseason. But my early two cents on a few matters.
I think UC Riverside Barrington Hargress will give the Buffs much-improved play at point guard. Although the talent involved is mostly raw, I think the Buffs’ array of young forwards, along with Elijah Malone, will make CU at least a little more prepared for the physical interior battles in the Big 12. And although it still will be an uphill climb to escape the league’s basement, the Buffs will be a far more entertaining and interesting bunch than the group that staggered to an 0-13 start in Big 12 play last year.
The biggest concerns? That’s easy. Someone needs to step up as a leading rebounder. And the Buffs need to find a consistent 3-point threat.