For Colorado, under second-year head coach Karl Dorrell, having a performance that relates back to 2012, the literal worst season in the history of the football program, warrants some serious soul searching.

That is exactly the situation Dorrell, his coaches and players find themselves in following Saturday's 30-0 loss to Minnesota, the worst shutout suffered by the Buffs at Folsom Field since a 48-0 loss to Stanford on Nov. 3, 2012.

Following a dismal second half performance offensively last week against Texas A&M, the Buffs picked up right where they left off — regressing, in fact — from that game.

On the afternoon, CU managed to muster just 63 yards of total offense and had a net total of -19 rushing yards.

Colorado's 11 offensive drives resulted in eight punts, two turnovers on downs and a Brendon Lewis fumble that ended CU's eighth drive of the game after one play and seven seconds.

In terms of postgame awards, punter Josh Watts may well have done enough to earn MVP honors, averaging 51.9 yards per boot on eight tries.

Watts would be followed closely by Ralphie VI and perhaps the three CU defensive players — Nate Landman, Quinn Perry and Guy Thomas — who posted double digit tackles.When your punter and live mascot had the brightest moments of the game, it's time for a sober look in the mirror, which is exactly what awaits Dorrell when he begins combing through Saturday's film.

“We have to get through the tape and see a lot of things," Dorrell said. "I think I have to, as a head coach, look at everything. I really do. It is one of those points in the season, given that performance, that we really have to reevaluate everything.”

Defensively speaking, the Buffs made as valiant an effort as possible given the ineptitude shown by the offense, holding Minnesota to 13 points in the first half, a touchdown in the third quarter and 10 points in the fourth quarter.

That said, the total of 40 minutes that the Gophers spent on offense surely had to have worn down the Buffs, playing in black jerseys on a hot day.

Six of the Buffs' 11 offensive possessions lasted less than a minute and 40 second, providing far from a reprieve for the defense.

Generally speaking, Dorrell sees issues at just about every possible area for the Buffs on offense.

The number back him up, if not make things even more depressing for CU.

Dating back to the start of the second half vs. Texas a&M, Colorado has had 17 drives, running a total of 66 plays for 90 yards.Five of those drives resulted in negative yardage, while eight total were 3-and-outs.

"Offensively, we’re struggling," he said. "We’re struggling in a number of areas. It’s not just the quarterback, it’s protection, it’s run game, it’s receivers, it’s backs — it’s everything. It’s one of those things where we’re going to have to wipe the slate clean and start all over and try to figure out how to do some semblance of offense and how to get some things back going for us."

While Dorrell was calm and direct in his postgame press conference, his head must be spinning at least in some sense, given how hapless the Buffaloes have been offensively.

In terms of his starting quarterback, starting lineup on offense and the calling of plays, Dorrell indicated that nothing is off the table.

"We really have to go back and turn every stone over and figure out what we can do to get a first down, to get some positive, efficient things offensively," he said. "Yes, I’m going to have to be more involved in figuring all those things out with the offensive coaches and trying to put our best lineup, our best people and assess the situation the way I need to."

"Right now, off the heels of the game, there’s a lot for me to think about. There’s a lot to fix, obviously.”

In Colorado's two games at Folsom Field so far this year, the student section has been at max capacity and overall, in terms of the crowd, the Buffs have averaged just shy of 46,000 people — a respectable figure.

For Dorrell and his program, which has now lost back-to-back games largely due to an all-but-non-existent offense, recognizing that enthusiasm for the Buffs is in jeopardy, if not sufficiently shaking, could lead to some serious variations to the status quo moving forward.

"We can get back, but it’s going to take a great deal of work," he said. "We know that we’re not the flashiest thing in town right now. I get that. We’re going to continue to work and get ourselves better, to get our fanbase to be excited again. But right now, I can’t blame them. We have to have a better product out there and that wasn’t good enough.”