Colorado fell to 0-5 overall and 0-2 in the Pac-12 Saturday with a 43-20 loss at Arizona, the Buffs’ fifth defeat this season by at least 20 points.
We know the result – and we certainly know what followed said result fewer than 24 hours later – but what does it mean? Let’s dive into the five biggest takeaways.
This defense is bad and is only getting worse
Arizona became Colorado’s fourth opponent in five games this season to surpass the 40-point mark, a statistical signifier made only slightly better by the fact that TCU, who beat the Buffs in the season opener, came up two points shy of that barrier.
The final point total only tells so much of the grisly story, though. The Wildcats moved the ball at will, with only one of their 11 drives going for fewer than 50 yards. They very easily could have scored more than the 43 points they tallied, as one of their possessions ended with a fourth-down stop on the Colorado one-yard line and another came to a conclusion not because of Colorado’s defense, but because less than a minute remained and Arizona went into victory formation.
It finished the night with an astonishing (and, if you’re a Buffs fan, disgusting) 673 yards and an average of 8.1 yards per play. As poorly as Colorado had played at times on defense in their first four games – and keep in mind, it gave up 173 points in those contests – it was never quite this unsightly. Before Saturday, the Buffs’ previous high in yards allowed was 515 (in a loss last week to UCLA). While the yards-per-play average against Arizona was slightly lower than the 8.2 yards per play Colorado gave up against the Bruins, the Wildcats’ offense also isn’t as explosive as UCLA’s.
In those first four losses, a porous run defense was the obvious culprit for why the Buffs were giving up so many points. On Saturday, though, it was their pass defense that was gashed. Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura’s 484 passing yards tied the record for the largest passing total by a quarterback against Colorado and the Wildcats’ 673 yards were the fourth-most a Buffs team has ever allowed in a game (it didn’t do well defending the run, either, giving up 5.2 yards per carry). It came without injured safety Isaiah Lewis, one of the team’s best defensive players, but that only offers up so much reassurance. There’s simply nothing this defense does particularly well or even adequately.
The offense looked somewhat competent
If you’re looking for something even slightly resembling a silver lining for Colorado, it can be found on the other side of the ball.
After looking so listless and unsalvageable in their first four games, the Buffs were actually pretty decent against Arizona. Their 340 yards were their second most in a game this season while their 5.6 yards per play was their highest average of the season. It was that much more encouraging after averaging 3.1 yards per play against Air Force, 3.9 against Minnesota and four against UCLA. They had 20 first downs, matching a season high, and had five drives that went for at least 30 yards.
It was far from a perfect performance, but at the very least, it was a much-needed first step or two in a more positive direction for a group that had, in some ways, come to define Colorado’s futility.
A young framework for a productive offense might be there
Perhaps what made the Buffs’ offensive output most notable went beyond the numbers themselves. It was who was most responsible for compiling them.
In the loss, Colorado’s leaders in passing yards (Owen McCown, with 186), rushing yards (Anthony Hankerson, with 68) and receiving yards (Jordyn Tyson, with 42) were all freshmen. McCown was far from perfect, completing only 46.7% of his passes and making some questionable decisions, but he showed some encouraging signs you want to see from such a young player – a calmness when being pressured by opposing defenders, athleticism and play-making ability, perhaps best embodied by an across-the-body pass on Colorado’s first touchdown drive, and a sense of toughness. After rushing for just 25 yards on seven carries last week against UCLA, Hankerson looked much better against the Wildcats, running with an unmistakable intensity and physicality, helping him burst through holes and gain extra yards through contact. Tyson’s receiving total came on a single catch, but it was an impressive play.
The Buffs’ offense isn’t anywhere close to where it needs to be, but at least with freshmen playing prominent roles, there’s much more of a realistic hope that better days are ahead.
The bye week’s coming at a good time
To address the elephant in the room as soon as possible, Colorado’s bye week gave university administrators a preferable time to make a coaching change. It had become obvious that Karl Dorrell wouldn’t last past this season and while you can question the merits of an in-season firing, if you’re going to make one, giving your interim staff and players an extra week to prepare and adjust is good.
Going two weeks between games should be helpful for that group of freshmen, who get extra time to gel and prepare for Colorado’s next matchup. For a group of players that have only been in college for a handful of months, the importance of that additional week can’t be overemphasized.
We might need to check Arizona's wide receivers for stickum
Seriously, those were some insane catches. Colorado’s secondary did a good enough job on its own of opening up Arizona’s wideouts, but even in moments in which it provided tight coverage or a pass was off the mark, the Wildcats’ receivers still found a way to improbably haul some passes into their grasp.
