Preview: Buffs look to get bowl eligible against USC on Senior Day
What: USC (8-2, 6-2) at Colorado (5-5, 2-5)
Where: Folsom Field (50,183), Boulder, Co.
When: Sat., Nov. 11, 2 p.m. MT
TV/Radio: Fox (Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman, Holly Sonders); Colorado Football Network (Mark Johnson, Gary Barnett).
It’s Senior Day at Folsom Field as the Colorado Buffaloes host USC in the final home game of the 20217 season. Twenty-one (21) CU seniors will run behind Ralphie for the last time in their careers. It’s also Hall of Fame weekend with 10 former CU standouts entering the Hall, including former football players Stan Brock, Chad Brown and Mark Haynes.
SERIES HISTORY: The Buffs are still looking for their first-ever win over USC as the Trojans lead the all-time series, 11-0. The first game between the schools was played in 1927. But there were two 36-year gaps between games (1927-63,
1964-2000) until CU and USC started playing annually in 2011 after CU joined the Pac-12.
SOPHOMORE QUARTERBACKS BATTLE: If you believe some of the speculation making the rounds, USC redshirt quarterback QB Sam Darnold’s college football career is winding down and, in a league desperate for capable quarterbacks, he will be the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft after just 1-1/2 seasons leading the Trojans offense. Darnold has thrown for 2,869 yards and 22 touchdowns while completing 63.6 percent of his passes.
However, he has also tossed 11 interceptions, tying him with Cal QB Ross Bowers for the most picks in the Pac-12. Nonetheless, Darnold ranks third in the conference in passing efficiency with a 147.2 rating and has a career 17-3 record. Montez is sixth in the Pac-12 in passing yards per game (240.4 ypg) and passing efficiency (142.6). Out of the five Pac-12 quarterbacks that have thrown 300+ passes this season, Montez has the fewest interceptions (7).
“(Darnold) pops out (on video) with his athleticism,” Mike MacIntyre said this week. “We have a lot of great quarterbacks in this league and a lot of guys that have played in the NFL at the quarterback position, but he's extremely athletic. He made a throw in the Arizona game that I was amazed. He sprinted out to his left, threw it back over here, over a guy's head right to a running back running down the sidelines 40 yards. Not many people can do that.”
UNDERRATED RUNNING BACKS: Colorado running back Phillip Lindsay (1,334 rushing yards; 133.4 ypg) and his USC counterpart, Ronald Jones (1,082; 120.2), might be the two most underrated running backs in the Pac-12. Both running backs have eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards in consecutive seasons. Lindsay, in fact, is the first CU running backs in school history to do that. Lindsay has accounted for 1,567 yards from scrimmage this season, 37.3 percent of Colorado’s total offense.
Lindsay has not fumbled this season and has touched the ball 287 times since his last fumble, which came on his last touch of the third quarter in the 2016 Alamo Bowl (a fumble he recovered). Lindsay ranks second in the FBS in yards from scrimmage (trailing only SDSU’s Rashaad Penny who has 1,738), fourth in total rushing yards with 1,334 and his 263 carries are 30 more than any other player in the nation. Overshadowed by Darnold, Jones has 410 rushing yards in the past two games.
“Having a running back like him, a selfless guy, makes it easier for us to block for him,” Buffs OL Jonathan Huckins said. “He makes a big run and comes up to us and thanks us. After the Arizona State game last year, he brought us in here for the press conference,. It just makes the difference. His attitude towards us and towards the game is unwavering. It's really a good thing to have, especially for us looking to him to get those yards after we block."
BUFFS DEFENSE: Junior linebackers Rick Gamboa and Drew Lewis are one tackle away from becoming Colorado’s first pair of players to record 100-plus tackles in a season since 2006, as well as the second pair of linebackers to do it since 1994. Gamboa has 103 tackles and Lewis 99. Gamboa’s career-high 17 tackles against Arizona State last weekend were the most tackles by a Buff defender since ILB Kenneth Olugbode posted 18 (10 unassisted) tackles in the 10-5 win at Stanford last season. Among Gamboa’s 17 tackles were six solo stops, two third down stops and one quarterback chasedown. LB Derek McCartney had a career-high 14 tackles at ASU.
Here are the statistical leaders for the Buffs defense going into Week 11:
Tackles: Rick Gamboa (103)
Tackles For Loss: Leo Jackson (10.5)
Sacks: Leo Jackson (5.5)
Interceptions: Evan Worthington (3)
Pass Breakups: Isaiah Oliver (10)
QB Hurries: Jacob Callier (11)
Fumble Recoveries: Five tied with 1
Forced Fumbles: Afolabi Laguda (3)
NOTES
-- Because Colorado spends a lot of time recruiting in California, MacIntyre acknowledged a victory over USC would carry a little more significance than wins over other schools. "All wins are important, but getting a win against USC in that recruiting mecca – it's a fertile, fertile recruiting ground—would definitely carry more weight,” MacIntyre said. “That's one of our big recruiting areas. There's 100 or more Pac-12, big-time football players within driving distance of their campus, and it might even be more than that. It would make a big difference for us."
-- Connections: USC secondary coach Ronnie Bradford played at Colorado (1989-92) and was a key contributor on the 1990 national championship team. His block of a Notre Dame extra point in the final minutes of the Orange Bowl preserved CU’s 10-9 victory. Bradford attended Adams City High in Commerce City, Colo. Also, USC special teams quality control assistant Mike Tuiasosopo was CU’s D-Line coach in 2011-12.
-- Steven Montez and Phillip Lindsay could become the first CU QB/RB duo to join the 2,500 passing yards/1,500 rushing club with 96 and 166 more yards, respectively. Montez’s school record of 172 consecutive passing attempts without an interception over a seven-game span ended on the last play of the game at Arizona State when he was picked off on a batted ball in the end zone on a “Hail Mary” thrown. It was the ninth streak of 100 passes or more without an interception in Colorado history. During the streak, Montez was 100-of-172 passing for 1,391 yards and 10 touchdowns (58.1 completion percentage, 145.3 rating). Lindsay is currently second on CU’s all-time list in yards from scrimmage with 4,519, just 49 yards away from all-time leader RB Rodney Stewart (4,567).
-- Lindsay needs 374 rushing yards in the final two games (a hefty average of 187 per) to break Eric Bieniemy’s school record for most career rushing yards. Lindsay needs just 32 yards to pass Rodney Stewart, who holds the second-place spot with 3,598 rushing yards from 2008-11. So, at worst Lindsay will likely leave CU as the school’s second highest all-time leading rusher.
-- The 24 points allowed by Colorado in the fourth quarter of last week’s 41-30 loss at Arizona State was the most given up in the fourth quarter since Kansas scored 35 in a 52-45 win in Lawrence on Nov. 6, 2010.
-- Looking ahead, the Buffs have their only bye of the season next Saturday (Nov. 18) before closing out the regular season at Utah on Nov. 25.
-- Placekicker James Stefanou is enjoying a sensational freshman season. The Lou Groza Award semifinalist is 31-of-31 on PAT kicks and 16-of-18 on field goal attempts. His 16 field goals made are tied for the seventh-most in a single season at Colorado, and the most by a freshman. Stefanou’s 79 points are the 14th-most by kicking (most by a frosh, kicking and overall). The only CU freshmen to have a 1.000 percentage on multiple extra-point kicks are Patrick Blottiaux (7-of-7 in 1988) and Jason Lesley (2-of-2 in 1995). Just six freshmen have led the team in scoring. Stefanou leads RB Phillip Lindsay (78) by 1 point in the scoring race.
COLORADO DEPTH CHART
OFFENSE
QB – Steven Montez (Noyer)
RB – Phillip Lindsay (Bisharat)
Z WR – Shay Fields (Winfree)
X WR – Bryce Bobo (Shenault)
H WR – Devin Ross (Nixon)
Y WR – Jay MacIntyre (Winfree)(Utilized when in 4 wide set)
TE/HB – George Frazier (Bounds)
LT – Jeromy Irwin (Kaiser)
LG – Gerrad Kough (Tonz)
C – Jonathan Huckins (Tonz)
RG – Aaron Haigler (Tonz)
RT –Josh Kaiser (Miller)
DEFENSE
LDE – Leo Jackson (Franke)
NT – Javier Edwards (Tuiloma)
RDE – Chris Mulumba (Franke OR Frazier)
OLB – Derek McCartney (Mathewes)
JACK – Drew Lewis (Landman)
MIKE – Rick Gamboa (Jones)
OLB – Terran Hasselbach OR Jacob Callier (Coleman INjured)
BUFF – Evan Worthington
CB – Trey Udoffia (Blackmon)(Isaiah Oliver injured)
FS – Afolabi Laguda (Fisher)
SS – Evan Worthington (Moeller)
CB – Dante Wigley (Udoffia)
INJURIES:
CB Isaiah Oliver – leg (day to day)
S Ryan Moeller – unspecified (day to day)
OLB Tim Coleman – sprained ankle (day to day)
TE Dylan Keeney – back spasms (Out - limited to non-practice rehab)
OL Tim Lynott Jr. – torn ACL (Out for season)
OLB Shamar Hamilton – knee (Out for season)
WR Jaylon Jackson – ankle (Out for season)
S Jaisen Sanchez – torn pec (Out for season)
ILB Jacob Stoltenberg – torn ACL (out for season)
PAC-12 WEEK 11 SCHEDULE (Nov. 10-11 )
Washington at Stanford, 8:30 p.m. (Fri.)(FS1)
USC at Colorado, 2 p.m. (Fox)
Washington State at Utah, 3:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)
Arizona State at UCLA, 7:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)
Oregon State at Arizona, 8:15 p.m. (ESPN2)
(All Times Mountain)
PAC-12 SOUTH STANDINGS:
USC 6-1 (8-2)
Arizona 4-2 (6-3)
Arizona State 4-2 (5-4)
UCLA 2-4 (4-5)
Utah 2-4 (5-4)
Colorado 2-5 (5-5)
