Colorado Buffaloes Football: Monday Notebook

Mangham enjoying the Colorado committed life

Analytics: Colorado's Top Offensive and Defensive Performers vs UCLA

Just another day in the office for CU Buffs Football

With our partners at Pro Football Focus, CUSportsNation.com gets an in-depth look at analytics of the Buffs. Here are five takeaways from PFF's information from the UCLA-CU game.

1. Buffs graded well in pass pro but not in run blocking. PFF's grading system scales from 0-100, with 60-69 being average. Their analytics were high on how the Buffs did in pass protection, as Brett Tonz, Colby Pursell, Aaron Haigler, and Frank Fillip had grades of 80+. However, in run blocking, Fillip had the best grade for CU of the linemen who played a significant amount of stats, and his grade was 61.8. That's simply not good as a unit. The Buffs still got the job done on the ground though, averaging 4.4 yards per carry and running for 209 yards.

2. Montez was incredible when blitzed. This is great to see. When UCLA brought a blitz, Steven Montez was 7-of-9 for 103 yards and a touchdown pass. His overall offensive grade when blitzed was a 95.8, which is simply incredible. This shows just how comfortable Montez is in this offense.

3. Colorado was best running left. 157 of Colorado's 209 rushing yards came from runs to the left side of the offensive line. Off the left end was the best for Colorado, as they ran eight times for 72 yards and a touchdown. William Sherman and Brett Tonz manned the left side of CU's line.

4. Drew Lewis was CU's best defender. He had the best grade of CU's defensive players at 77.8. He had five quarterback pressures, which was the best on the team. He also had six defensive "stops," which are tackles that constitute a "loss" for the offense.

5. UCLA didn't throw often at CU's cornerbacks. Colorado's cornerback who was thrown at the most was Ronnie Blackmon with just three targets. To compare, middle linebacker Rick Gamboa was in coverage on eight of UCLA's passes.

On Friday night, Laviska Shenault Jr. caught 12 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown and also powered in a rushing touchdown. He leads the country with 145.3 receiving yards per game, 9.5 receptions per game, and he would potentially lead the nation in receiving yards but most teams have played five games already but the Buffs have only played in four. Still, Shenault is fifth in the country in receiving yards at 581.

In looking at the analytics, here's how Shenault stacks up compared to the rest of the country.

- Has the best overall offensive grade of all receivers in the country who have at least 20 targets (90.3 grade)

- Has the most yards after catch in the country (399, next best is 330, and again, Shenault has only played in four games)

- Has the best percentage of targets caught in the country (90.7%)

- Tied for first in the country in avoided tackles after a reception (13)

The Heisman hype is real for Shenault heading into week six.

Colorado was bullied by Arizona State on the road in 2017, and the Buffs will get to enact revenge on the Sun Devils in Boulder.

ASU started the season off with wins at home vs UTSA and Michigan State, but then lost on the road against San Diego State and Washington in tight contests. Last Saturday, they blew out Oregon State in Tempe, 52-24.

Depending on which betting site you look at, Colorado is a 2 to 3 point favorite as of Monday morning.

The game will kick off at 2:00 PM MT and can be seen on the Pac-12 Network.

Colorado is one of just 14 unbeaten teams in the country. What Buff fans may like even better than that is the fact that there are just four winless teams left. Nebraska is one of them. The Buffaloes are the only remaining unbeaten Pac-12 team.

Colorado is ranked at No. 21 in the Associated Press Poll and No. 22 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

CBSSports.com has Colorado ranked at 24 in their poll; the Sun Devils are No. 47 .

Colorado is No. 20 in ESPN's Power Rankings.