Game at a glance
Matchup: Colorado Buffaloes (1-1) vs. Colorado State Rams (1-1),
Kickoff: 5:05 p.m. MDT Saturday.
Where: Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver. Capacity: 76,125; Turf: Grass.
TV: CBS Sports Network.
Radio: 760 AM. Pregame starts at 10 a.m.
Odds: Colorado by 3.
Coaches: Colorado — Mike MacIntyre (7-19, 3rd season); CSU — Mike Bobo (1-1, 1st season)
Series: Buffs 66-22-2, including 8-6 in games played in Denver.
Key matchup
CU run game vs. CSU defense
CU comes into this week with the nation’s ninth-ranked rushing offense (302.5 yards per game), with 390 yards coming last week against UMass. The Buffs are sure to utilize their running back crew — Michael Adkins II, Phillip Lindsay, Christian Powell and, possibly, Patrick Carr — to try to wear down the Rams. CSU gave up 4.9 yards per rush in 2014 and then allowed 180 yards on 41 carries (4.4 average) against Minnesota last week. If CU finds success in the run game, it’ll go a long way to helping the Buffs get a win.
The Massachusetts football team felt fairly confident it could score enough points to give itself a chance against Colorado last Saturday.
Upon their arrival in Boulder, however, the Minutemen discovered that this CU defense isn’t the same one they hung 38 points on a year ago.
“They had a pretty good handle on what we were going to do,” UMass quarterback Blake Frohnapfel said after his team was whipped by CU, 48-14. “They’re a pretty athletic bunch.”
It’s been a long time since anyone’s had anything good to say about a CU defense, and while it’s only two games into the season — with the Buffs’ toughest competition still to come — whatever credit the defense is getting is well-deserved.
“We’re just getting better every week,” defensive end Derek McCartney said. “We worked really hard on defense and we’re definitely heading in the right direction.”
CU’s defense has yielded at least 36.5 points and 439 yards per game in four consecutive seasons. A year ago, CU opponents piled up 39.0 points and 461.0 yards per game and 6.55 yards per play.
So far this season, under the direction of new defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt, the Buffs are giving up just 21.0 points and 349.5 yards per game and 4.89 yards per play.
On Saturday, they held UMass scoreless during the final 42 minutes.
“Holding that team to 14 was really good, because there’s not going to be many people holding that team to 14 the rest of the year,” Leavitt said. “They’re going to score points.”
CU has to play some of the nation’s top offenses in the coming weeks, but as it prepares for Saturday’s showdown with rival Colorado State (1-1), it carries a measure of confidence it hasn’t had in a while on defense.
“Leavitt is an awesome coach,” cornerback John Walker said. “We are just buying into what he’s saying. It’s a lot at one time, but we are getting comfortable with each other as the season goes on.”
One of the most noticeable differences is how CU is competing in the trenches. In recent years, the opposition hasn’t had any trouble running the ball against the Buffs. Hawaii and UMass, however, couldn’t find much room to run.
CU comes into this week with the Pac-12’s third-ranked rushing defense, while getting stellar play from several defensive linemen. In the past, CU was often blown away at the point of attack, but Jordan Carrell, Justin Solis, Jase Franke and other defensive linemen have displayed an ability to shed blockers and make a play.
“For the most part we’ve done a good job of stifling the run,” MacIntyre said. “That kind of makes them one-dimensional in a way.”
When Hawaii and UMass went to the air, they found a little more success, but neither quarterback — Max Wittek of Hawaii and Frohnapfel — had particularly good days against the Buffs.
Leavitt, naturally, isn’t getting too excited. It’s a nice start, but he’s got high standards, and the Buffs are nowhere near reaching those standards.
“I think they’re doing some good things,” Leavitt said. “All coaches will always say you’ve got a ways to go and we do. They’re just learning right now and they really don’t know the whole system. There’s still a long way to go.”
Leavitt’s list of needed improvements is long, starting with tackling. CU has already had some missed tackles lead to big gains.
Leavitt added, “We have to get better at pursuit angles. We’ve got to get better lining up; we’ve got to get better getting off blocks; get better attacking the ball, getting on top of shoulders, run-through lanes are not real good.”
The positive, as far as the Buffs are concerned, is that they finally feel like they are physically able to compete with the opposition. Now, it’s a matter of correcting mistakes.
“Fortunately, anything we’ve seen that we have not liked, we’ve been able to address and we can fix,” safety Ryan Moeller said. “That all, thankfully, can be fixed with film and practice and Q&A.”
The Buffs are sure to be tested against CSU, which features All-America receiver Rashard Higgins.
Hawaii’s Marcus Kemp caught six passes for 116 yards against the Buffs and UMass’ Tajae Sharpe had 11 catches for 138 yards. Higgins is certainly capable of at least equaling that production, and the Buffs are aware of that.
Keep doing what they’ve done to this point, though, the MacIntyre believes his defense will continue finding success.
“In today’s football, good quarterbacks and good receivers are going to make a few plays,” MacIntyre said. “If we can keep stopping the run where they can’t do both on us, I think we’ll keep playing good defense and we’ll keep the scoring down.”
Brian Howell: howellb@dailycamera.com, on Twitter: @BrianHowell33.
