Colorado Edges Closer in Pac-12 Play, But Falls Once Again

BOULDER--
The University of California Golden Bears find themselves in a very unique situation this week. They are in first place in the Pac-12 North Division. That's right, Cal. Not Oregon. Not Stanford. Not Washington. The California school that's in Berkeley.

Last year, the Bears went 1-11 under first year head coach Sonny Dykes. Colorado's Mike MacIntyre did somewhat better with a 4-8 record. Both Cal and Colorado are MUCH better teams this year than last. The difference so far this year is in the records. Cal is 4-1 while Colorado is just 2-4.

Colorado fans need to realize how little things can make a big difference in winning and losing. Is Cal atop the Pac-12 North because of their stifling defense? Certainly not. In fact, Cal is the only team in the history of college football (and probably pro and high school) to give up a combined 115 points in two games and actually win both those games. Colorado scored 56 on the Bears, and Washington State scored 59 last Saturday, but Cal walked away with three and one point victories.

Does that mean that California is much better than Colorado? Absolutely not. If you JUST look at the records, Cal is a very good team and CU is pretty mediocre. If you look at the reality of what is happening on the field, Colorado is every bit as good as Cal. The difference right now is that Cal has turned the corner and learned to finish games on top.

Colorado is very close to doing the same thing. It's a process. The Buffs have lots of young players and a young offensive coordinator who is still honing his chops at the Pac-12 level. Brian Lindgren has turned the Buffs offense into a group that can puts lots and lots of yards on the opposition. That is good. But he and his unit still go through times of miscommunication, poor play calling, and avoidable turnovers. Unfortunately, those mistakes are often just enough to have the Buffs on the losing end when the game ends.

It will get better. In fact, it is already so much better. Two years ago the Buffs were losing by an average of 32 points a game in conference play. Last year, the number was down to 25 points a game. Although the Buffs actually won one conference game each of the last two years, the overall pattern was the Buffs being smoked early and often when they took the field against Pac-12 opponents.

That is not the case this year. Colorado put up big yards against Arizona State, but a few mistakes kept putting them in the hole and they ended up losing a game by 14 they easily could have won. Against Cal, five breakdowns on defense led to losing a game by three points the Buffs should have won by 20.

Against Oregon State, the Buffs put themselves in a 14 point hole to begin the game. The came back to take the lead, but then had one of those quarters in which the offense could not do anything right. They came back yet again but could not overcome the double digit lead at the end.

Many fans are frustrated that the Buffs are coming up just short this season. They really need to remember how much fun it is to be still in the game when it ends. The Buffs are playing conference foes tough week in and week out for the first time since they joined the Pac-12. After three conference games, the Buffs have twice fallen by 5 points or less. Better yet, the 22 points in deficit in three games is three points less than the average conference score last year.

Look at those numbers again:

• 2012 -- outscored in Pac-12 play by an average of 32.
• 2013 -- outscored by 25 on average.
• 2014 -- outscored by 7.3 after three games.

That's almost an 18 point positive difference from last year!

Buff fans should enjoy and appreciate how far these Buffs have come from just two short years ago. The Coors Events Center has quickly become the best place to watch college basketball in the Pac-12 over the last three years because of the raucous fans. Wouldn't it be great if CU students and football fans could do the same for Folsom Field?

Large and vocal crowds would do a great deal to push the Buffs around the corner toward becoming a winning program once again. And fans who have been staying away from Folsom should get out there to see the games in person. Pac-12 games are a blast to see from the stands. Many of the best players in the country play in the conference.  Get out to see them and support your Buffaloes.

Colorado Earns Respect as Buffs Prove They Can Score Big Points in Pac-12 Play

In the first three years that Colorado was playing in Pac-12 games, their opponents scored 40 or more points 22 times. In fact, their Pac-12 opponents scored 50 or more 8 times during from 2011-13.

During that same time span, Colorado only scored more than 40 points twice in Pac-12 play. That 22-2 difference pretty much sums up that the first three years in the league were extraordinarily tough. Mike MacIntyre was the head coach in only one of those first three years, but his Buffs have made steady improvement and are now poised to shoot it out with their conference foes.

The Pac-12 is an offensive league. Points are scored at a high rate and no team can ever be counted out. Arizona scored 36 points in the 4th quarter to come back and beat California.  Utah gave up a 21 point lead to Washington State to lose by one. Colorado was twice up by 14 points against Cal only to lose the game by three points in double overtime. The "Berkeley Shootout" saw 115 points scored and 14 touchdown passes.

Colorado showed against Arizona State that they could move the ball up and down the field against a very good Pac-12 team. Turnovers and mistakes led them to lose after dominating the last three quarters against the Sun Devils. Against California, the Buffs again put massive yards up, but this time put up a score to match with 56 points. Unfortunately, Cal scored 59, but the game confirmed that the Buffs finally possessed the offensive firepower to put big points on the board in conference play.

The next step for Colorado is continuing improvement toward eliminating big plays by the competition. Take away five defensive breakdowns for Colorado against Cal and the Buffs win by 20 or more.

California scored 35 points on plays of 25, 26, 40, 75, and 92 yards. Those 258 yards in five plays represented 44% of the Golden Bears' yardage on the day. They also led to almost 60% of the Bears' points.

By comparison, Colorado's ball control offense moved the ball in much smaller chunks. The yardage on their longest 5 touchdowns combined was only 96 yards total. Those scores covered 30, 25, 22, 12 and 7 yards. The yardage on those 5 touchdowns represented only 15% of their total offense of 630 yards.

What the Buffs have going for them is that their offensive style allows them to control the ball and the clock. If opposing defenses play deep to take away the long ball, the Buffs are adept at chipping their way down the field. If opponents play too close to the line, the Buffs can go over the top to score. Going forward, that style of ball control gives the Buffs their best chance to win. As they continue to improve and their running game becomes more reliable, the Buffs will be harder and harder to stop.

The Buff defense is still giving up a lot of points, but other league teams are working much harder to score them. In years past, the Buffs were usually going against 2nd and 3rd stringers (or 4th!) in the second half. This year, Cal and ASU had their starters in the entire game. The Buff D has also developed a swagger that has not been seen in Boulder for a long time. It's good to see and a sign of better things to come.

If fans only look at the final scores, it might seem hard to see the great improvements made by the Buffs in 2014. It is necessary to watch the games to see how improved they are. They are hitting harder as a group and scoring more points as well. They are scratching and clawing to become relevant in the best conference in the country. Before our very eyes, they are learning to compete to the final whistle. And before long, they will be learning to win in the Pac-12 on a consistent basis.

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Seeing the Buffs play this year, especially in person at Folsom Field, will also give Buff fans a chance to see Nelson Spruce obliterate the record book for receivers at Colorado. Just as casual fans turned out to watch Chauncey Billups play hoops at CU, they should also do the same for Spruce. They should also cross their fingers that Spruce blesses Colorado with one more year before going off to the NFL.