Last week’s 30-0 loss is now in the past as the Colorado Buffaloes have a clean slate when they travel down to Tempe for their Pac-12 opener. From everything we heard this week, the Buffs aren’t pointing any fingers and are simply focused on Arizona State.
“In the wake of obviously the disaster last week, I think out players’ attitudes and our efforts and the urgency about getting things past us and moving forward is pretty evident right now,” Karl Dorrell said.
As for the biggest question mark for Colorado—its offense—there won’t be any drastic changes this week according to Dorrell. The second-year head coach said he’ll be more present in the offensive room and provide more game preparation help. “We think we’re off to a good start,” Dorrell said on Monday.
Without getting too into the numbers, CU’s offense, particularly in the passing game, has been rough. The Buffs are averaging just 91 passing yards per game, by far the lowest in the Pac-12. Oddly enough, Arizona State and junior QB Jayden Daniels hold the second-worst average at 213 yards a game. But at the same time, the Sun Devils’ rushing duo of Rachaad White and Daniyel Ngata has produced the most rushing yards in the conference and is averaging over 225 yards a game. It’s looking like any offense generated on Saturday by either team will be on the ground.
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A big bright spot for Colorado last week was a linebacker group that had three members (Nate Landman, Quinn Perry and Guy Thomas) record at least 10 tackles. This trio and a hopefully healthy Na’im Rodman on the D-line will be the Buffs best chance at slowing down White and Ngata.
Another comforting fact is that Colorado has played well against Arizona State in recent years. Former CU QB Steven Montez led the Buffs to one-score victories in both 2018 and 2019. The 2020 rendition was canceled due to COVID-19.
Saturday will mark the Buffs’ latest kickoff time so far in 2021 with an 8:30 p.m. MST start in Tempe.
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