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FINALLY: MacIntyre’s first Pac-12 win
Nov 17th
by B.G. Brooks,
CUBuffs.com contributing editor
BOULDER – It took seven tries before the Colorado Buffaloes could present coach Mike MacIntyre with his first Pac-12 Conference win, but the Buffs accomplished it – plus a lot more – Saturday afternoon at cold and windswept Folsom Field.
CU slapped California 41-24, ending the Buffs’ 14-game Pac-12 losing streak (six this season, eight last) and keeping their postseason hopes flickering for at least another weekend.
Maybe just as important, said MacIntyre, “I think it validates, to the players, their hard work is paying off . . . this validates staying the course, you keep working, keep working, you keep planting the seeds; you keep watering the seeds and eventually they start to sprout. No way we are there yet, by any stretch, but this is a good step in the right direction.”
Improving to 4-6 overall and 1-6 in the Pac-12, CU needs two more wins to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2007. Two games remain – next Saturday on Senior Day vs. Southern California at Folsom Field (kickoff time to be set Monday) and Saturday, Nov. 30 at Utah.
As October neared an end, MacIntyre said he wanted his team to make November a month that mattered in CU football. “Some people thought I was crazy when I said that a while back,” he said. “I thought we could win some games here, and I still do, I still think we can win some more left; they’re going to be real tough, against real good football teams.
“But, now there is a little bit more to play for. Senior Day is awesome for the seniors, but now the seniors actually have a little bit more to play for, and so do the players out there. So, when they come back Sunday, I guarantee they will be a little bit more tuned up and a little bit sharper. I wish they were always that way, but they’ll be a little bit better on their Ps and Qs. They’ll be watching a little bit extra film, and they’ll be excited about what’s going on.”
The Buffs’ 485 yards in total offense against the Bears marked their most productive game since getting 509 in the season-opening win against Colorado State. The bulk of CU’s total Saturday was produced by freshman quarterback Sefo Liufau, who enjoyed his most productive passing day since becoming CU’s starter six games ago. He completed 23 of 36 passes for a career-high 364 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception.
MacIntyre said Liufau “played really, really well. He got hit on the arm on the one interception, but came back and made some really good plays. I think maybe ya’ll are starting a little bit of what I see (in Liufau). Hopefully he’ll just keep improving, and I know he will. There is no way he’ll get big-headed.”
Liufau, said junior receiver Paul Richardson, “showed what he is capable of. Each and every week he is getting better . . . Sefo is growing up; he gives us hope.”
Liufau’s explanation of his best night to date was simple: “I think I got into a really good rhythm. I felt like the offense overall was just clicking. Obviously, there was one or two times where our drives sputtered out, but I think overall the offense tonight was really good.”
The fleet Richardson did his part, as did Nelson Spruce. Over half of Liufau’s completions went to “P-Rich” (11 catches, 140 yards) and Spruce (8 catches, career-high 140 yards). Richardson’s 11 catches tied the school single-game record, and his 140 yards put him at 1,201 – a single-season school mark.
Richardson called setting the record “good for the university. I’ve said it before: they bring guys in each year hoping that they can do better than the guys in the past. We have to rewrite history in order to get this program back to being successful.”
Liufau’s three TD tosses were to tailbacks Michael Adkins II (63 yards) and Tony Jones (11) and tight end Kyle Slavin (10). CU tailback Christian Powell ran for a 2-yard score and Spruce returned an on-sides kick attempt 46 yards for CU’s final TD with just over 6 minutes left in the game.
“I was extremely surprised,” Spruce said. “I caught it, and normally you would fall on it. But I kind of froze up and then I saw the sideline and just took off . . . it was a lot fun out there today. With the wind blowing and having all the heaters on the sidelines, it was kind of a different game. We were able to get that win to stay bowl eligible. We talked about how we were going to win these last three games . . . this was a great win for us.”
If CU could celebrate the end of its long conference losing streak, Cal saw its streak extended. The Bears, who now have allowed 40-plus points in eight games this season, have lost 13 consecutive Pac-12 games and 15 straight to FBS competition. They dropped to 1-10 overall and 0-8 in the conference.
The Buffs closed out the first half by scoring twice in just under 2 minutes to take a 24-10 lead at intermission. That pair of swift scores came on an 11-yard pass from Liufau to Jones and a 2-yard run by Powell, who finished with 60 yards on 18 carries. Adkins ran nine times for 39 yards and Jones’ eight attempts netted 22 yards.
Powell’s TD came after Cal fumbled the kickoff following Jones’ score. With the wind swirling through Folsom, Will Oliver kept his kickoff low – a line drive that bounded off the chest of Cal up man Lucas King and was gathered in by CU’s Isaac Archuletta at the Bears 49-yard line.
Eight plays later – not including a costly roughing the passer call on Cal that salvaged CU’s drive on third-and-12 – Powell ran left and untouched into the end zone, giving the Buffs their two-touchdown halftime lead.
CU never trailed, going up 3-0 on Oliver’s 27-yard first-quarter field goal (he had missed from 40 on the Buffs’ opening drive), then increasing the margin to 10-0 on a 10-yard Liufau pass to Slavin. It was Slavin’s second career TD.
Cal pulled to 10-3 on a 42-yard Vincenzo D’Amato field goal with 8:25 left before halftime. Less than 2 minutes later, the Bears tied the score at 10-10 on a 55-yard sprint by Khalfani Muhammad. The Buffs answered with their two quick scores and had their first halftime lead in Pac-12 play this season.
Bears QB Jared Goff, a true freshman, completed only 11 of 21 first-half passing attempts for 79 yards and finished with 23-of-45 for 173 yards – his second-lowest total of the season. MacIntyre said CU’s secondary had learned from getting “toasted,” and also said the Buffs “had a great pass rush. He was under duress and that helps the secondary tremendously.”
Cal pulled a special teams switch with Goff in the first half, using him to pooch punt for the first time in his career. He punted three times for a 40.3 average, with one punt downed inside the 20 and a pair of touchbacks. On fourth down of their first second-half possession, the Bears went back to regular punter Cole Leininger.
CU and Liufau dodged a bullet early in third quarter when Liufau suffered his sixth interception of the season. With his arm hit in mid-release, his fluttering pass was picked off by Cal linebacker Jalen Jefferson at the CU 38-yard line. But the Buffs allowed the Bears only three yards on four downs and escaped any damage from the turnover.
Cal coach Sonny Dykes pulled Goff on the Bears’ fourth series of the third quarter, replacing him with redshirt freshman Zach Kline. Nothing changed; the Bears went three-and-out, giving the Buffs possession at their 23 after a Leininger punt.
Liufau promptly drove CU to the Cal 7-yard line, where the drive stalled and Oliver kicked his second field goal of the game – a 24-yarder that pushed the Buffs up 27-10, with that score holding for the rest of the third quarter.
In the first 3 minutes of the final quarter, CU all but put the ‘W’ away on the 63-yard catch-and-run from Liufau to Adkins. He scrambled out of at least four tackles, sprinting and weaving in front of the Buffs bench on his way to the end zone.
Oliver’s PAT made it 34-10 with 12:22 remaining, and Cal’s challenge went from daunting to nearly impossible. Dykes went back to Goff at QB on the next series, and Goff drove the Bears 52 yards in 10 plays, with running back Brendan Bigelow scoring on a 1-yard run. That pulled Cal to 34-17, but the on-sides kick attempt backfired when Spruce fielded the ball cleanly and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown.
After Oliver kicked CU ahead 41-17, Cal got its final TD on a 26-yard Bigelow run, making the score 41-24 with 1:21 left. And this time, the Bears executed the on-sides kick, but Goff was intercepted in the end zone by corner Kenneth Crawley.
The Buffs had less than half a minute remaining before they could finally sing their fight song following a 2013 Pac-12 game. They did so in front of the student section, then went to the opposite side of Folsom Field and encored before the CU band.
“I was so happy for them,” MacIntyre said. “Our coaching staff has worked tirelessly and really hard keep those young men together and focused. And then, I would like to thank our fans. I thought it was an exciting atmosphere. That’s a stepping block for us going into the future.”
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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Arizona QB runs over Buffs
Oct 27th
Behind a career-high 192 yards rushing by QB B.J. Denker and another 119 by tailback Ka’Deem Carey, low by his standards, the Wildcats waltzed to a 44-20 win at Folsom Field.
Denker ran for 192 yards against CU
Arizona (5-2, 2-2) amassed 670 yards in total offense – the third most in school history – with 405 of it on the ground. CU (3-4, 0-4) dropped a game below .500 and left its homefield still looking for its first conference win of the Mike MacIntyre Era.
“We just have to keep fighting and keep moving forward,” a disconcerted MacIntyre said. “It’s disheartening for the kids. They’re battling and just (short) a few plays here and there.”
The Buffs open November with a pair of difficult road games – at UCLA next weekend (5:30 p.m. MDT, Pac-12 Networks), followed by a trip to Seattle to play Washington on Nov. 9.
Denker, a senior who debuted as Arizona’s starter last season against CU, also completed 21 of 32 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown, giving him 457 yards in total offense – the sixth-highest output in school history. His 192 yards rushing is believed to be a school record for a QB.
“We couldn’t tackle the quarterback . . . we must have missed him seven times. Probably 200 yards of offense off of missed tackles on the quarterback,” MacIntyre said. He also said Denker “threw the ball better than I’ve ever seen him throw in every game I’ve watched him play . . . he came through, he did a great job.”
Arizona coach Rich Rodriquez said Denker’s performance “was big . . . they were loading the box to stop Ka’Deem and were going to have to take the ball up high. Obviously, B.J. running was a key.”
“I think we just weren’t keyed in to some of our responsibilities,” said CU defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe of Denker’s performance. “It was a big thing to make sure we don’t get him running, but obviously we allowed him to run.”
Carey, a junior who rushed for a conference record 366 yards last November in a 56-31 rout of the Buffs, scored four touchdowns Saturday night, giving him nine against CU in their last two meetings. He entered the night as the nation’s leading rusher, but his 119 yards were 42 below his average (161.0).
“We stopped Carey pretty good,” MacIntyre said. “He ran over us a few times, but he’s going to do that against everybody.”
Carey had a long run of 30 yards, but Denker’s long jaunt of 54 was a career-best, and Carey’s backup – Daniel Jenkins – had a 56-yarder en route to a nine-carry, 87-yard performance.
Slowing Carey was of little solace to MacIntyre, who said he was “very concerned” about his defense. “We played as hard as we can play. We just have to keep coaching them . . . there’s some good offenses in this league.”
CU freshman quarterback Sefo Liufau, making his first Pac-12 start, finished 17-for-32 for 212 yards and a 75-yard touchdown to Paul Richardson, who made seven catches for 132 yards. The Buffs managed 349 yards in total offense, 137 of them on the ground.
MacIntyre said Liufau “missed a couple of guys he could have hit (but) I thought he did some good things. He has to keep improving.”
Buffs placekicker Will Oliver kicked a pair of field goals, including a career-best 53-yarder. Oliver said his long kick “was the worst kick of the three . . . it’s always good to break PRs, but I missed the 52 (yarder), so it kind of takes away from it. It still feels good; I’m glad they trust me.”
But on this night, with the Wildcats running free and largely unchallenged, the Buffs needed sixes rather than threes against an opponent their coach believed they could not only compete against but defeat.
“We should have won the game,” MacIntyre said.
Indeed, the Buffs played the Wildcats toe-to-toe through the game’s first 271/2 minutes, even taking a 13-10 lead on Liufau’s 75-yard TD pass to Richardson and a pair of Oliver field goals that were set up by Arizona turnovers.
CU linebacker Woodson Greer recovered an Arizona fumble that led to Oliver’s 53-yard field goal – a career long – and tied the score at 10-10 with 14:50 left in the second quarter. Just under 5 minutes later, after Oliver was wide left on a 52-yard attempt, Denker was intercepted by Buffs safety Jered Bell, who returned the pick 26 yards to the Wildcats 49.
Seven plays later, CU had to settle for another Oliver field goal – this one a 48-yarder that pushed the Buffs in front for the first time, 13-10, with 5:07 left before halftime.
But the first half ended with CU failing to finish what had been a promising start and setting a disastrous tone for the second half.
Allowing the Wildcats two touchdowns in the first half’s final 2:28, the Buffs found themselves trailing 24-13 at intermission. Arizona got the first of those two scores on a 7-yard run by Carey, capping a nine-play, 75-yard march. Then, after Arizona’s defense forced a CU three-and-out, Carey ran 30 yards and Denker connected with slot receiver Nate Phillips, who got a step on Bell, for a 44-yard TD pass.
Those two late TDs were the Wildcats’ lone hints of offense after they had marched 88 yards on their opening possession and taken a 7-0 lead on Carey’s 1-yard dive – the 14th play of the drive.
CU tied the score on the long Liufau-Richardson scoring pass, then Jake Smith’s 37-yard field goal sent Arizona up 10-7 with 4:34 left in the first quarter. From then until their surge to end the half, the Wildcats were relatively tame – but the Buffs couldn’t take advantage.
Arizona ended the first half with a season-high 361 yards in total offense (210 rushing, 151 passing). Meanwhile, CU mustered 189 and converted only four of 11 third-down attempts. After rushing for just nine yards in the first quarter, the Buffs finished the half with 42. Carey’s first half work: 97 yards on 17 carries and two TDs. Denker added 44 yards on seven rushes but was just discovering his stride.
Needing a defensive stop to open the second half, the Buffs got a partial stop. Three plays – two of them runs by Denker that netted 65 yards – put the Wildcats inside the Buffs’ 10 with first-and-goal. But CU held Arizona to a field goal – a 26-yarder by Smith – then responded with its own 75-yard drive (nine plays) and pulled to within seven (27-20) on Michael Adkins II’s 1-yard plunge and Oliver’s PAT.
Back came the Wildcats . . . Carey scored his third TD of the night – another 1-yard dive – and Smith kicked Arizona ahead again by two touchdowns (34-20) with 7:55 left in the third quarter.
Back came the Buffs . . . just not far enough. Liufau, with the help of a personal foul (facemask) on Arizona cornerback Jonathan McKnight that nullified an interception, drove CU to the Arizona 4-yard line but no further. Liufau’s fourth-down pass to the end zone fell incomplete.
“The coaches have the best interest and know what’s best for the team,” Liufau said of the fourth-down gamble. “You never question the coach; you know, if they want to go for a field goal, onside kick, whatever the call may be. I think it was a great decision.”
After it was made, just over 3 minutes later, the fourth quarter began with the Buffs still trailing by 14 points.
And the end was beginning . . . CU attempted a fake punt at its own 15-yard line, with punter Darragh O’Neill trying to skirt left end but being hammered after a 3-yard gain to the 18. Carey needed two runs to cover that distance, scoring his fourth TD on a 6-yard run up the middle.
MacIntyre defended the fake punt call “because if you saw us playing defense, we couldn’t stop them and I thought it was a good place to try . . . he (O’Neill) was supposed to read it. We’ve had five on this year and we’ve punted all five. We thought we had a chance, he thought he had a chance and we didn’t get it.”
After Smith’s extra point the Wildcats were cruising, 41-20, with 14:30 remaining. He added a 28-yard field goal to make it 44-20 with 9:10 to play, and Arizona needed no more points to put this one away.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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Buffs wallop Charleston Southern 43-10
Oct 19th
Game Story by B.G. Brooks CUBuffs.com contributing editor
BOULDER – Stepping away from their Pac-12 Conference schedule on a perfect mid-October Saturday, the Colorado Buffaloes eventually stepped out of Folsom Field with a 43-10 romp past overmatched Charleston Southern.
The Buffs’ Big Stepper was tailback Michael Adkins II.
Adkins, a true freshman from San Diego, accounted for a freshman school record four touchdowns on runs of 23, 5, 33 yards and 34 yards. Entering Saturday’s game, the Buffs had scored one rushing TD in their previous five games.
“We always say we want to be about 50-50 (run-pass), it depends on how the game goes,” said Adkins, who finished with 137 yards on 13 carries. “But running today definitely was a factor.”
And how. Tailback/fullback Christian Powell also scored on a 2-yard run as the Buffs enjoyed their most productive running afternoon of the season (218 yards). Adkins’ four TDs eclipsed the school freshman record set by Herschel Troutman in 1994 and equaled by Powell last season.
The Buffs’ top rushing effort this season had been 154 yards in a 44-17 loss at Oregon State. In the two games before Saturday, they had totaled 94 yards against Oregon and 99 against Arizona State. Adkins’ carries had steadily risen in the three previous games, with his 98 yards on 14 attempts at OSU the previous high mark for a CU back this season.
“My carries have been increasing every week so I just took advantage of the carries I got,” Adkins said. “Our line blocked well and I just kept grinding and kept finding the holes . . . it gave me a lot of confidence. I didn’t score in my first two games, so scoring today gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.”
The Buffs broke a three-game losing streak, evened their record at 3-3 and won their first game under first-time starting quarterback Sefo Liufau. CU returns to Pac-12 competition and remain at home next weekend, hosting Arizona (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network) in a game that suddenly looms as perhaps the schedule’s most pivotal.
With Saturday’s win, CU’s goal now becomes to win its first Pac-12 game under first-year coach Mike MacIntyre next week and exit October 4-3 overall. That leaves five conference games in the season’s final month for the Buffs to get two wins and reach six for bowl qualification – something that hasn’t happened since the 2006 season.
“If we get the one next week,” said MacIntyre, “it means November matters in Colorado.”
A true freshman from Tacoma, Wash., Liufau made his college debut last weekend at Arizona State, replacing junior Connor Wood in the first quarter of CU’s 54-13 loss. Liufau finished 18-of-26 for 169 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions, in that game.
In his first start Saturday, he was 14-of-20 for 198 yards. Liufau’s TD pass covered 60 yards, most of them courtesy of fleet junior Paul Richardson in the second quarter. Richardson finished with eight receptions for 122 yards.
“It feels good,” Liufau said of his home debut and first start. “It was fun being out there with the guys and just playing and having fun.” He called he confidence gained from the win “a tribute to the team – the O-line blocking, the receivers running the routes. Paul had a great play there . . . I definitely got confidence as I kept going.”
The game against previously unbeaten CSU, the FCS’ No. 24-ranked team, was arranged last month to replace Fresno State on the CU schedule. The Fresno State contest was postponed due to the mid-September floods that ravaged Boulder and Boulder County.
“I’m thankful that Charleston Southern wanted to play us,” MacIntyre said. “Or we couldn’t have played today.”
CSU, which entered the afternoon 7-0, was without its first two quarterbacks and started freshman Kyle Copeland, who was playing in only his third game and had thrown two incompletions in his only two attempts. Copeland’s final passing stats: 7-of-14 for 48 yards, one TD, one interception.
CU outgained CSU 416-196 in total offense, with the Buffs adjusting to the Buccaneers’ option attack and holding them to zero points and 46 total yards in the second half.
“(CU) is just a better team than us,” said CSU coach Jamey Chadwell. “We had seven wins before today and I don’t think that’s going to change. The only difference is that won’t play quite as good of a team. They made some good adjustments during the second half, and as for us, we’re going to keep doing what we do.”
The Buffs got out of the first half with a 22-10 lead largely made possible by a timely fumble recovery by Nate Bonsu and Richardson’s runaway speed.
Bonsu got the loose ball following defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe’s strip of CSU quarterback Kyle Copeland at the Buccaneers’ 12-yard line in the second quarter. Two plays later, Adkins took a handoff headed off left tackle, weaved to his right and scored from 5 yards out.
Will Oliver’s PAT staked CU to a 15-3 lead that ballooned to 22-3 after a three-and-out CSU series and a 60-yard pitch-and-catch executed by Liufau and Richardson.
Credit Liufau with keeping the play afloat; he fielded a bouncing center snap, collected himself and spotted Richardson crossing right to left in front of the formation. “P-Rich” took the short pass, reversed his field and outran two Buccaneers in pursuit to the right pylon.
Oliver again kicked the extra point and CU seemed comfortably ahead 22-3. The Buffs had opened the game with a 65-yard, six-play scoring drive, getting 52 yards on the ground – the last 23 by Adkins. They went ahead 8-0 when holder Darragh O’Neill ran for the two-point conference.
But after CU had surged in front 22-3, CSU collected itself for its second 9-plus minute drive of the half – the first ended with a field goal when an apparent TD pass on a well-designed pitch was reviewed and overruled – and scored on a 7-yard Copeland to Colton Korn with six left before intermission.
The disallowed TD proved pivotal. The play initially was reviewed and not overturned, but MacIntyre called a time out to allow another look and said he was told by an official that the ball being bobbled by tight end Nathan Prater was missed on the first look.
Chadwell said he was upset because “they took a time out, they reviewed the play (and) it was fine. Then the other review took an hour. They (officials) didn’t go by their protocol . . . I just felt like it was huge deal momentum-wise, because that could have meant a touchdown for us.”
CU, which was leading 8-0 at the time, finished the half with 164 yards in total offense, while CSU had 150. Liufau attempted only six first-half passes, completing four for 74 yards – Richardson’s long TD was for 60 – and being sacked once. Copeland, playing in only his second game and 0-2 in passing, was five-for-eight for 27 yards and a TD. The Buccaneers controlled the ball for 21:51 to 8:09 in the opening half.
The Buffs scored on their first possession of the second half, opening a 29-10 lead after a 13-play, 64-yard march capped by Christian Powell’s 2-yard run. Exactly 3 minutes later – at 4:11 – Liufau and his offense failed to capitalize on a Jered Bell interception near midfield, and the quarter ended with CU clutching its 19-point lead.
With 11:22 to play, Adkins’ 33-yard jaunt and Oliver’s extra point sent the Buffs comfortably ahead 36-10. Just over 5 minutes later, Adkins broke loose again and broke three tackles en route to his record-setting fourth rushing TD.
Wood replaced Liufau and Tony Jones replaced Adkins with just over 3 minutes remaining, with CU taking possession near its 15-yard line and ending the game near midfield.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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