For the first two months of the 2021 college football season, there were few coaching positions across the country that were easier than the defensive coordinator preparing to face Colorado in a given week.

That's far from an exaggeration. In passing yards per game, yards per game and total offense, the Buffaloes were quite literally in the basement in those regards amongst all 130 Football Bowl Subdivision programs.

Through their first nine games, the Buffs have failed to score more than two touchdowns in five of them.

A 30-0 shutout suffered against Minnesota in week three as well as a somewhat recent 26-3 loss at California serve as particularly pitiful examples of the offensive ineptitude that has plagued Colorado for most of this season.

Second-year freshman quarterback Brendon Lewis has four games as a starter under his belt in which he failed to pass for 100 yards.

The Buffs' lack of a potent passing game had significant implications for the offense in general, especially the ability of CU's tailbacks to get anything going.

For much of this season, Colorado has been one-dimensional offensively, handing opposing coordinators and defenses an easy assignment to prepare for.

Knowing Lewis was struggling led to defenses that played CU to focus on stopping the run, many of which did to good effect.

The Buffs managed just 35 yards on the ground against Cal, 80 against Southern Cal and an astoundingly bad -19 against Minnesota.

However, with all that being said, Colorado has looked far from inept offensively over its last two games.

Against Oregon and Oregon State, Lewis has gone 40-of-57 (70%) with 394 yards and seven total touchdowns (six through the air, one rushing).

At Oregon, Lewis completed passes to 11 different receivers; against the Beavers, nine Buffaloes caught balls from him.

While Karl Dorrell believes there is still room to grow offensively for his team, the emergence of a respectable attack through the air has started to put opposing defenses on notice.

“Early in the season, there really wasn’t a lot of respect for the passing game because there wasn’t a lot of productivity," Dorrell said. "Even looking at our stats right now, we’re still not very good in the conference, but the last two games are showing a trend in a different direction — a positive direction."

As the Buffs continue to prove that they are a threat in the passing game, it has in turn opened things up on the ground.

Redshirt sophomore tailback Jarek Broussard finally had the kind of performance akin to what earned him Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2020, rushing for a season-high 151 yards against Oregon State.

A component within his solid game undoubtedly was that the Beavers' defense was guessing considerably more than CU's previous opponents.

“I would say the difference that I see defensively is that we’re not getting (as many) stacked boxes anymore," fellow redshirt sophomore running back Deion Smith said. "Before, it felt like whenever you would go to the line of scrimmage, you’d see the whole team in the box — all 11."

"Now it feels more spread out because we are throwing the ball and we are getting it out in space. I feel like there is more space, there’s more lanes and less people in the box.”

An obvious part of the puzzle, looking at Colorado's recent offensive turnaround, has been the improved play of the linemen, now coached by William Vlachos following the dismissal of Mitch Rodrigue.

Since Dorrell made that move, things have started to come together for the Buffs.

Lewis has been protected effectively of late, taking just one sack over the last two games compared to the six times California sacked him in the game immediately prior to Rodrigue's firing.

Players have also noticed a change upfront.

"Their momentum is also pushing us," Smith said. "I’ve definitely noticed a difference and I feel like they just play with a lot more confidence and even more swag to them.”

Colorado has scored 66 points over its last two games, more in total than what was managed in five of six prior games against FBS opponents.

Soon, if not already, opposing defenses will need to start respecting the Buffs' pass game and defending against it accordingly.

For Dorrell, it's all well and good if teams don't.

"We’re hoping teams continue to just load (the box) and do the things they were doing earlier, because there is a lot more confidence in our passing game, which means that we’re getting one-on-one opportunities and our receivers are starting to be very dynamic in beating man coverage," Dorrell said.

"We hope the trend continues, where (defenses) are going to give us chances to make plays, because we’re making those plays and our guys are confident that they’re going to make those plays (against) anybody.”