Buffs hoping for another steady performance by Brendon Lewis at California

Given the offensive turnaround that Colorado experienced last weekend against Arizona, generally speaking, a satisfaction among CU's players and coaches with respect to how the offense performed carried over to the fanbase.

Now, the grains of salt on that note are fairly obvious: the Buffs defeated Arizona, which has proved to be among the most hapless FBS programs in the nation going on three straight seasons.

Additionally, the Buffaloes only led Arizona, 6-0 at halftime, with two promising drives stagnating and requiring Colorado to settle for three points off the leg of Cole Becker.

It took a special teams touchdown by Trevor Woods, who blocked a punt and took it to the house in the third quarter, followed by a Carson Wells pick six a little over a minute later, before the offense finally scored a touchdown of its own.

That being said, and considering the abysmal offensive showings that the Buffs had managed over a four-week span leading into last Saturday, beating Arizona 34-0 was a much-needed breathe of fresh air for the Buffs.

In particular, getting Brendon Lewis going at quarterback proved to be critical.

The Buffs' second-year freshman signal caller, who, going into last weekend, had failed to eclipse 100 yards of passing in three of the team's four FBS games, finished the day with a pair of touchdowns through the air, 248 yards and a 63% (12-of-19) completion rate.

From the get-go, Lewis and Colorado's offense in general looked to be operating more efficiently.

Lewis hit Brenden Rice down the left sideline for a 31-yard gain on the Buffs' second snap of the game and would later connect with him for a beauty of a 62-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.

For quarterbacks coach Danny Langsdorf, the early completion to Rice was doubtless impressive, but seeing Lewis find Montana Lemonious-Craig over the middle for a 25-yard gain in the first quarter looked to be a good opening omen, too.

"I really felt, early in the game, not only the deep ball (to Rice), but the explosive pass that (Lewis) hit Montana on the shallow cross, I thought that was something that we had missed before and the fact that hit that with that coverage and that (defensive) look, I thought, ‘Okay, he’s seeing things well,’" Langsdorf said.

"It was exciting — I was excited for him and kind of felt early in that game that he was on pace to play very well and he did."

For Colorado, last Saturday's game against the Wildcats marked an essential point of no return: if the Buffs couldn't beat pitiful Arizona at home, then little home remained in terms of defeating anyone else for the remainder of the season.

Naturally, when Karl Dorrell alluded to "subtle changes" being made offensively during CU's bye week and in the practices before the Wildcats came to town, little enthusiasm was generated.

However, whatever changes Dorrell did oversee, to his credit, the Buffs' offense on the whole operated far more effectively, from the offensive line, to Lewis himself as well as in the playcaller's room with Darrin Chiaverini.

"We really felt good about that progress that we worked on with getting him more foundationally set and doing somme really, really good things for us offensively," Dorrell said after the win.

“I think there is a definite combination of us doing a better job of helping putting him in better situations and then him taking a good practice week into the game," Langsdorf added. "It’s a combination of both."

As Langsdorf alluded to, Lewis' solid play at Folsom Field seemed to have been a continuation of a good week of practice.

What's more, his vision improved significantly, as six different wide receivers caught passes against the Wildcats.

Lewis also orchestrated a nice extension of a play in the second quarter, escaping the collapsed pocket, rolling right and eventually hitting a wide open Alex Fontenot at the last possible moment to heave the ball, which went for a gain of 43 yards.

“He had a really good week of practice," Langsdorf said. "I’m trying to help him get in the best position to have success and I think he did a great job of reading coverages and (had) a good pre-snap picture of what he wanted. And then he executed it."

"...He’s gotten better and it came together for him for sure in that game. That was one of his best games that I’ve seen him play.”

As Dorrell pointed out after the Arizona win, Lewis still has a ways to go when it comes to shedding his hesitation to throw the ball and continuing to prove himself.

All things considered, coming off his most competent performance of the season, Lewis should bring a good deal of confidence with him to Berkeley as the Buffs get set to face the 1-5 Cal Bears.