After beating Arizona State on the road two weekends ago, Colorado's offensive line gained confidence in itself as a cohesive unit, earning praise from the likes of Mel Tucker and Chris Kapilovic, who while pleased with the overall effort against the Sun Devils, do expect and demand to see more up front.

In talking with coaches and players, it seems fair to say that the performance given by the o-line in Tempe is going to be the bare minimum expectation for the position group going forward.

Tucker's post-practice remarks

Perhaps Tucker put it best when asked about consistency in the o-line's play.

“I’m beginning to see that and it’s because they way they work and the way they’re coached," he said. "They believe in what they’re doing and it doesn’t change — what’s required does not change, it’s consistent. (The key) is performing up to their level.”

Arizona State was the second game this season that saw CU's starting offensive line play every single offensive snap (70) together. The lineup of Arlington Hambright, Colby Pursell, Tim Lynott, Will Sherman and Kary Kutsch were together for all of Colorado's 78 offensive plays vs. Nebraska, as well.

While "next man up" certainly applies to the offensive line as much as any other position for Colorado, there is something to be said about the rapport building between the above five guys — something that is strengthened even further when they're able to play as many snaps together as possible.

"If we’re not on the same page then the play is dead before it even starts," Sherman said. "This year we’ve definitely honed in on letting each other know what we’re doing, making sure we’re all on the same page just so we can get high effective play.”

Tucker personally saw a difference in the o-line's play vs. ASU, a spark of sorts that wasn't exactly present during the Buffs' previous games against Air Force and Nebraska, games in which Colorado's run game was all but nonexistent.

Those two games saw CU average 2.85 yards per carry on the ground. Dating up to the ASU matchup, the Sun Devils' defense was allowing an average of 2.8 yards per carry to enemy rushers, a reality that on paper seemed poised to present a challenge to Colorado.

But ultimately the Buffs' o-line won the battle in the trenches, albeit with some attrition. Alex Fontenot averaged 3.6 YPC and while that statistic isn't exactly flashy, it was enough to help move the chains and open up the passing game.

“I saw them strain in the run game," Tucker said of the o-line's performance vs. the Sun Devils. "I saw guys begin to move people against their will — really dig down and get it done, make a conscious effort with pad level and power to be able to run the football and move the pile. They’re very well-coached, they work very hard and they have pride.”

“It gives you a lot of confidence in being able to do anything if you can run the ball," Sherman added.

Colorado's starting five on the o-line seem to be trending upwards in terms of effectiveness, but the road ahead is long and a focus of the group during bye week was to keep pushing to be even better.

“We’re not going to get complacent or comfortable," Sherman said. "You look back at the games, at Air Force and ASU and even Nebraska, there were opportunities in the first half where we could have gashed (defenses) a lot so we’re going to try to move forward and take advantage of those opportunities from here on out.”

Sherman and the Buffs will look to do just that Saturday afternoon/evening vs. Arizona. The Wildcats' defense is ranked 119th out of 130 in total defense (to be fair, CU's is 117th) although they are noticeably better against the rush (ranked 52nd).

Colorado and Arizona kickoff at 2:30 p.m. MST on Saturday, Oct. 5.