Contact CU Independent football beat writer Justin Guerriero at justin.guerriero@colorado.edu and follow him on Twitter @TheHungry_Hippo.
Sefo Liufau is gone for the season and Saturday night, the Colorado Buffaloes offense seemed to disappear with him. The Buffs were scoreless for the majority of their matchup with the No. 24 Washington State cougars, who cruised to a 27-3 victory.
All eyes were on redshirt freshman Cade Apsay, who was impressive in his first showing last week against USC after taking over for the injured Liufau mid-game. But Apsay and his offense were unable to get in any sort of groove. He threw two interceptions and completed 26 out of 40 passes for 238 yards in the loss.
Apsay was able to connect with senior wide receiver Nelson Spruce quite a bit, as Spruce caught ten passes for 120 yards in the game.
The Buffs’ offense has been notorious for starting games slowly, and Saturday’s game seemed to be a painful continuation of this trend. Only this time, the common misfortune and inefficiency that has plagued the offense lasted the entire game.
Punt, interception, missed field goal: these were the happenings Buffs’ fans watched on loop Saturday night. Kicker Diego Gonzalez shanked two field goal attempts to go along with Apsay’s picks. And when field goals weren’t being missed and interceptions weren’t being thrown, little noteworthy play happened. In the entire game, the Buffaloes managed only three drives over three minutes.
The final scoreboard is misleading, in terms of how the Colorado defense performed. The Buffs’ defenders played valiantly, allowing no more than ten points in a quarter, keeping the potent Cougars offense (mostly) at bay. Junior defensive back Tedric Thompson recorded an interception in the loss, while junior defensive back Chidobe Awuzie had a number of impressive plays.
CU’s defense did have a hard time containing Washington State running back Gerard Wicks, who ran for 123 yards on 13 carries for a frightening 9.5 yards per carry average. As a team, the Cougars rushing game averaged just over seven yards per touch.
Compare that to the Buffs’ 2.8 yards per carry on the ground. Despite that, sophomore tailback Phillip Lindsay was fun to watch, as he was a rare bright spot offensively, running for 78 yards on 16 carries. After being used sparingly in the offense for the last few weeks, Lindsay was quite effective against the Cougars. He touched the ball in 19 total plays.
Washington State quarterback Luke Falk was injured in the third quarter of the game. He was carted off the field after being sacked by defensive lineman Samson Kafovolu. Falk completed 27 of 35 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown in the win; his back up Peyton Bender did a good job of spreading out the Colorado defense. The two quarterbacks passed to nine receivers multiple times.
For the Buffs, this loss means hopes of making a bowl game in 2015 are dashed. The Cougars (8-3, 6-2 Pac-12), on the other hand, continue to assert themselves as legitimate players within the Pac-12 Conference. Saturday’s meeting was a showdown between two teams who have often been compared to one another. Both however, were looking to create new identities for themselves.
The Buffaloes hope to salvage their season with a win next week, as they take on the formidable Utah Utes Saturday on the road. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. MST.
