Woelk: MacIntyre's Buffs Continue To Answer Questions With Big Responses

BOULDER — Very simply, the Colorado Buffaloes did what good teams do on Saturday.

It's been awhile since anyone has been able to say that about the Buffs.

But when head coach Mike MacIntyre sat in front of a packed press conference Saturday afternoon in the wake of Colorado's 47-6 win over Oregon State and said, "We're a good football team," nobody argued.

Instead, there were only nods of agreement. In a game the "experts" said the Buffs were supposed to win convincingly, they did just that.

"We're a good football team," MacIntyre said. "We don't have kids anymore, we've got some men. They listen, they come prepared to practice, they ask questions. … They're taking their coaching. They say all the time, 'Players make plays, players win games.' They're understanding that now."

The Buffs were dominant Saturday. Dominant against a team they barely beat a year ago, dominant against a team those same experts a month ago said would battle Colorado for the bottom of the Pac-12 basement.

Memo to the conference landlords: the 4-1 Buffs have moved their equipment out of the basement. They are 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 2007, when they were still a member of the Big 12, and have won back-to-back Pac-12 games for the first time since joining the league in 2011.

They are also 4-1 overall for the first time since 2005, the last time CU played for a conference championship, and as of late Saturday night, found themselves atop the Pac-12 South standings.

"Obviously, Colorado was the far superior team today, from top to bottom, coaches, all the way through," said OSU coach Gary Andersen. "We got thoroughly beat today."

Throughout last week, maybe the biggest question surrounding the Buffs involved how they would react after their emotional 41-38 win at Oregon. There was a question as to how the Buffs would respond to their recent success.

(OK, that might have been the second-biggest question. The other, the one that involves quarterbacks Sefo Liufau and Steven Montez, has at least another week before we'll get any kind of answer. The only response we'll offer is MacIntyre has a problem half the coaches in America would love to have today.)

But as for the "letdown" question, the Buffs politely answered it during the week, saying they didn't expect such an occurrence — then delivered a thundering response on Saturday in front of 46,839 fans, the largest crowd in the MacIntyre era and largest at Folsom Field since the 2012 game vs. UCLA.

Letdown? It was more of a beatdown, the kind of response that confirmed what Buffs fans had been hoping was true.

Colorado's offense is explosive, one that can build momentum before opponents have time to catch their breath. The Buffs' defense is stifling, one that can squeeze an opponent until all the air is gone. And overall, they are no doubt a team that has the full attention of the Pac-12 — particularly the seven opponents remaining on the schedule.

Those teams will watch film and see:

An offense that produced five consecutive scoring drives in the first half after failing to score on their first possession of the game this year. Just when the Beavers had begun feeling good about themselves after a defensive stop and a field goal to take a 3-0 lead, the Buffs delivered exactly the kind of heavyweight punch MacIntyre has been talking about.

Touchdown (75 yards in seven plays) and a 6-3 lead. Touchdown (86 yards in 10 plays) and a 13-3 edge. Touchdown (87 yards in five plays) and a 20-3 lead. Touchdown (66 yards in 11 plays) and a 27-6 lead, then field goal (44 yards in nine plays) and a 30-6 lead.

Then, just to make sure there was no hope left on the Beavers' sidelines by halftime, CU's defense delivered the crushing blow. A Kenneth Olugbode hit on OSU running back Artavis Pierce popped the ball in the air, which fellow linebacker Rick Gamboa gladly snatched and returned 20 yards to the end zone.

That sent the Buffs into the locker room with a 37-6 lead and the Beavers looking longingly at the CU sideline and wondering how long it might be before they can produce the same kind of turnaround season.

CU's defense was solid all day. Along with holding a conference foe without a touchdown for the first time since 2005 (a 34-0 win over Oklahoma State), the Buffs were also particularly stingy in their own territory. Oregon State ran 30 plays in Colorado territory and those plays produced just 51 yards.

"Oregon hurt us there last week," CU defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt said. "We worked on that. We've still got a lot of work to do. But our guys take pride in what they're doing out there and they wanted to have a better day at that today."

The question Sunday will be how the rest of the nation views the Buffs. A week ago, the Buffs received votes in both the Associated Press and coaches' poll.

But while Buffs fans would love to see their team back in the top 25, nobody in a CU uniform is worried about such things.

"That's not up to us," said wide receiver Shay Fields, who produced three touchdown catches from Montez in the first half, part of a seven-catch, 169-yard day. "We're just going to keep playing ball."

Fields' response echoed the sentiment throughout the locker room. The Buffs have spent the season worrying about "controlling the controllables." Everything else is just noise.

"Play Colorado football — that means take care of yourself," MacIntyre said. "Then you go out there and see what happens. There's a lot of great football teams in our league."

And, before you begin to think the Buffs might get caught up a little too much in two Pac-12 wins, MacIntyre delivered to the media virtually the same message he delivered to his players in the post-game locker room:

"It's just two games. We have a lot more to go. But I think we're headed in the right direction."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu