In the two weeks since Karl Dorrell dismissed former offensive line coach Mitch Rodrigue, replacing him with William Vlachos, the Buffs' big men have turned in arguably their best two performances of the season, culminating with CU's 37-34 double overtime win over Oregon State Saturday.
The Rodrigue-led offensive line had allowed 22 total sacks of Brendon Lewis through seven games, with a season-worst six sacks given up to California leading to Rodrigue's firing on Monday of last week, as CU geared up for a road trip at Oregon.
Despite an eventual 52-29 loss to the top 10-ranked Ducks, Lewis was sacked just one time by a stout Oregon defense that, in its most recent game before CU, a 34-31 win over UCLA, had four sacks and 11 tackles for loss.
Saturday's win over Oregon State featured the first time all season that Colorado's offensive line denied its opponent a single sack.
The well-protected Lewis took advantage, going 15-of-24 for 170 yards and three passing touchdowns.
All things considered, Vlachos has gotten off to a pretty impressive start as CU's interim offensive line coach.
The stats support the assertion that he's managed to get the Buffs' o-linemen playing effectively and with confidence.
“They have responded very well," Dorrell said of his offensive linemen. "It’s kind of — they wiped the slate clean in a way and moved forward with the new process of how we’re doing things. They’re much more communicative right now. They’re doing a lot of stuff that they haven’t done in the first six or seven games of the season."
But Lewis receiving enhanced protection is far from the only proof in the pudding.
On the ground, Colorado enjoyed its best performance of the 2021 season (against an FBS opponent) in terms of total rushing yards, with 222.
For comparison's sake, last week at Oregon, CU rushed for 117 yards, averaging less than four yards per carry.
Against the Beavers, the Buffaloes averaged five yards per carry and notably, Jarek Broussard eclipsed 100 yards of rushing for the first time this season, finishing the night with 24 carries for 151 yards.
His o-line opened up a chunky hole for him to exploit late in the game, allowing Broussard to burst upfield for a 49-yard gain on the fourth quarter drive that saw the Buffs take a 27-24 lead over OSU with about two-and-a-half minutes left in the game.
While Lewis has performed better in recent weeks as compared to how he'd played earlier in the season, and playmakers around him have stepped up, the improved performances by CU's offensive line have undoubtedly facilitated a lot of the overall growth shown by the offense.
"I (feel) like offensively, we’re really starting to hit our stride a little bit, probably for the first time this season, where we’ve put together two back-to-back games that kind of resemble what our potential could be there” Dorrell said after Saturday's win.
Dorrell noted that Colorado's offensive linemen have meshed well under the new leadership of Vlachos and elevated graduate assistant Donovan Williams.
In particular, he's noticed that players are being more vocal in real time about what they're seeing from opposing defenses, which in turn has allowed Colorado's coaches to troubleshoot and make changes more effectively.
With three games left to play in 2021, Colorado's offense is trending in the right direction. The offensive line's performance has been a major component in that.
"They’re giving us a lot of feedback with what’s going on out there," Dorrell said. "William and Donovan have done a great job of continuing that communication and problem-solving and making the proper in-game adjustments."
"I think those things that have been evident have been very impactful for us to continue to have some consistency offensively."
