The University of Colorado football team has a tough task ahead on Saturday in their game vs. Oregon. CUI football beat writer Sean Kelly and multimedia managing editor Matt Sisneros debate whether the Buffs’ offense or defense will be more vital to getting a win.
Sean Kelly: When you are playing Oregon, the game will always hinge on offense. Death, taxes and Oregon putting up points are some of the few things you can count on in life. Like it or not, the Ducks are going to score on Saturday. So, the only way Colorado has a chance to beat them is to keep up with them. Luckily for CU, with the way Oregon’s defense is playing, the Buffs have a real shot to do just that.
The Ducks are dead last in the Pac-12 in total defense and passing defense, giving up 475 and 301 yards, respectively. As we all know, this plays right into the Buffs’ hands. Sefo Liufau is going to dominate this secondary.
While there’s no doubt that Liufau hasn’t had the same numbers as last year, that’s more of a testament to the emergence of CU’s run game than anything else. When Liufau has been asked to throw, he’s had flashes of brilliance, specifically in the CSU game. His touchdown pass to Devin Ross was spectacular, and his poise in getting the ball to Nelson Spruce in the waning seconds of regulation was downright impressive. The bottom line is, for the most part, Liufau has done what he needed to do this season. On Saturday night, he needs to throw the ball.
Liufau has the weapons in Spruce, Shay Fields, Ross and even Bryce Bobo to torch this secondary. The Ducks won’t be able to cover all of them. This offense has shown the ability to sustain drives and put up points with its passing game, and I don’t see that changing Saturday. On top of that, all three starters are deep threats, specifically Fields. I have a feeling someone is going to get loose downfield for a huge touchdown this week, and if that happens Folsom Field is going to lose it.
It seems like the perfect storm for Colorado. Regardless of what’s happened this year, the Buffs’ biggest strength is still their passing offense — which is also Oregon’s biggest weakness. Liufau should be able to utilize his weapons to exploit the Oregon defense. If that happens, Colorado should have no problem keeping up with the Ducks and — like I said — the only way to beat Oregon is to outscore them.
Matt Sisneros: Well yeah, Oregon’s defense has been bad so far. Scoring points shouldn’t be a problem. That’s why this game is on the defense’s shoulders. Our offense will put up points on this suspect Oregon defense. The problem, as in years past, will be stopping the potent Oregon offense.
The Buffs’ defense so far has been stellar. CU’s defense is only giving up 16.5 points a game and is creating plenty of turnovers, but they’ve yet to be tested. The Ducks’ offense is going to be the biggest test so far this season, and it will be a real measurement of the readiness of the CU defense to play against Pac-12 opponents.
Oregon running back Royce Freeman is a beast in the backfield. Stopping him is going to be a challenge. If the Buffs can stop him from breaking loose, and keep him out of the endzone, that’s a big step into what would be CU’s biggest Pac-12 win ever.
The next step is creating some turnovers. Oregon has already committed six turnovers to CU’s three, all of which were in a terrible showing against Hawaii. Since that game, Colorado hasn’t committed a turnover or given up a sack. If CU forces turnovers like they have been, they win. Keep Oregon off the scoreboard, force field goals — not touchdowns — and the Buffs win.
SK: Fair, but there’s one thing better than not letting Oregon score — not letting them on the field. You can’t score if you’re not on the field. That’s one of the biggest impacts that CU’s offense can have.
Last year, the Buffs proved they can sustain drives. Here’s a crazy stat — Colorado led the Pac-12 last year in average time of possession per game. Yeah, I know. Shocking. That could be partly attributed to how fast the defense was letting teams score, but I like to think of it instead as coach Mike MacIntyre instilling a system that can control the ball.
Like I said before, CU’s passing attack can help keep drives going, but the Buffs have added a new facet to their offense this year. Colorado finally has a running game. We won’t find out if Michael Adkins is playing until tomorrow, but let’s just assume for a second that he is. If the three headed monster of Adkins, Philip Lindsay and Christian Powell gets rolling, the Ducks have a huge problem. Oregon could get run straight outta Folsom. It won’t matter how explosive the Ducks’ offense is if Colorado pounds the ball and dominates possession.
It’s not like Oregon is shutting down the run, either. The Ducks are giving up 173.5 yards per game on the ground, at an average of 4.8 per carry. CU is going to run the ball a lot on Saturday, and in doing so will dominate possession. That’s not to mention the added impact of opening up the defense to help out Liufau. The bottom line is this — the game will be won by CU’s offense. The Buffs are not only going to put up enough points to keep up with the Ducks, but also help keep Oregon’s offense off the field entirely.
MS: If we lead in average time of possession, wouldn’t we have been keeping them off the field? That didn’t result in wins because we couldn’t keep them off the scoreboard. Last year we weren’t keeping their offense off the field — we were keeping their defense on the field by allowing them to score. I couldn’t care less about time of possession.
I’d like to score on the first play of every drive and have a time of possession of five minutes if we could. As long as we’re keeping them off the scoreboard, time of possession is irrelevant. Look at the elite Oregon offenses of years past. They often had less time of possession than their opponents. It doesn’t matter if we keep their offense off the field if they can reply with a touchdown quickly. We need to keep them off the scoreboard, not off the field.
Contact CU Independent football beat writer Sean Kelly at sean.kelly@colorado.edu
Contact CU Independent multimedia managing editor Matt Sisneros at matthew.sisneros@colorado.edu
