Junior wide receiver Maurice Bell runs the ball down the field during the first quarter of the game against the UCLA Bruins. Nov. 7, 2020 (Casey Paul/CU Independent)
The Pac-12 football season may have gotten off to a slow start in terms of canceled games, but head coach Karl Dorrell and the Colorado Buffaloes are optimistic about jumping off to a 2-0 record against conference opponents and interrupt Stanford’s twelve-year streak of home opener wins on Saturday. The Buffs head to Palo Alto after putting up an impressive 48 points against UCLA in a virtually empty Folsom Field last Saturday, while the Cardinal dropped its season opener to No. 11 Oregon in Eugene.
While the Buffs saw a lot of new faces making a significant impact in last week’s win over the Bruins, they spared no time looking forward to how they could improve upon the effort this week against a Stanford team that is consistently a bowl game threat; having been to the Rose Bowl three times in the last decade.
“As a team, we’re just ready to move on to the next game and be 1-0 again,” said sophomore wide receiver Dimitri Stanley, who had a career-high six catches against UCLA. “Right now we’re (back) to 0-0.”
From a personnel standpoint, the Buffs are now fully committed to sophomore kicker Evan Price following the retirement of James Stefanou. Dorrell made a point of noting that the coaching staff has full confidence in the Colorado native who has filled in over the last several years when Stefanou has been injured. It was also Price who was responsible for the game-winning kick as time expired against Stanford in Boulder last year.
The Buffs, however, have a few question marks heading into Saturday. Senior wide receiver K.D. Nixon, who was absent from the Buffs’ opener against UCLA remains day-to-day, and freshman wide receiver LaVontae Shenault, the younger brother of Jacksonville Jaguars WR and CU stand-out LaViska Shenault Jr., is expected to be back in the rotation this week.
Dorrell acknowledged that traveling to California adds an extra layer of complexity to an already messy situation as Santa Clara County and California’s testing protocols differ in their severity compared to Boulder County.
“Instead of just thinking about the football aspect of things, you’re concerned about potential depth issues in case (someone tests positive),” Dorrell said after practice on Wednesday. That said, he remains optimistic, mentioning that “our guys have done a great job of taking care of themselves when they’re not right here in our facility… we’re just hopeful we can continue this streak.”
To complicate things even more, Stanford starting QB Davis Mills, who started six games for the Cardinal last season, was a late scratch for their matchup last weekend against the Ducks after testing positive for the coronavirus, and it remains unclear whether he will be eligible to play this weekend.
Dorrell and the Buffs, however, don’t plan to take any absences on the Cardinal’s side of the ball for granted. Stanford’s backup QB, Jack West, had a solid evening last weekend in what was only his second career start; West managed to complete 13-of-19 passing attempts for 154 yards and zero interceptions.
“They’re a really good football team,” said defensive line coach Chris Wilson. “They have great balance in the run game and great protection.”
CU is slated to kick off against Stanford in Palo Alto at 1:30 p.m. MST on ESPN.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Kieran Murphy at kieran.murphy-1@colorado.edu.
