Hey all, apologies for the lack of content last week. We had some tech problems with the CUI website which wouldn't allow us to post on our own site. To make matters worse, those goobers at OSU's student newspaper never got back to me for Fraternizing with the Enemy....The Daily Trojan, USC's student paper, has gotten back to me and I'm waiting on answers from their sports editors...that'll be up Thursday.
But let's start fresh this week. Some things that stick out to me about the Trojans.
First and foremost, for those of you out there that think that based on how this season has gone for USC so far, that they are a white dwarf heading for a supernova, or in other words, on their way out of being one of the big dogs in the Pac-12, I would advise hitting the brakes on thinking such thoughts.
The team's record does not reflect the talent that's on USC's roster. This game should be a tough matchup for CU.
Essentially, the main theme I've noticed from briefly digging through some stats is this: USC had one bad performance. Against Alabama. They were massacred, but that much is expected from Nick Saban and Co. Other than that, the Trojans average 500+ yards of total offense per game.
Their offense has clicked efficiently since USC's week one blowout loss to Alabama. The Trojans punted 10 times during that contest. They've not punted more than five times since.
Since Bama, only in its game vs. the similarly talented Stanford Cardinal did USC not put up at least 400 yards of offense.
Defensively, the Trojans give up 4.3 yards per rush to opponents and surrender about 205 passing yards per game.
This is the worst stat that I found: The Trojans average 25.3 yards per punt return. Special teams is the real weak spot on this Buffaloes team. It's the one area where the "Colorado returns 56 upperclassmen this season" factor does not apply. Granted, there are offensive and defensive starters who are on the Buffs' punt team...but good god, I can just see it now...USC's Jackson Adoree makes fools of our punt team. He's returned five punts this year for 118 yards. Forgive me for having doubts that Christian Shaver and Dylan Keeney are going to help contain him.
USC's D-line has four sacks between them. The LB core has three on the year. But the Buffs' D-line has recorded five and our LBs also have three sacks on the year.
Back to USC's offense. Tailback Justin Davis is averaging 6.3 yards per carry. He will enter Saturday's game having gone two straight weeks with 120+ rushing yards. Against Stanford, he was held to 63 yards, but ran for 4.5 YPC against The Cardinal.
Do I really need to say anything about WR Juju Smith-Schuster...I think it's inevitable that he has a few catches for 20+ yards. CU's secondary has been solid, but make no mistake...multiple times this year, against almost every opponent, there have been multiple would-have-been touchdowns thrown against the Buffaloes D. I've watched many overthrows by enemy QBs from the press box and on TV this season. The bolts need to be tightened a bit as Colorado enters more difficult Pac-12 play. There were a few times at Oregon and more than a few vs OSU that opposing receivers outran our corners. Defensive backs won't win the routes every time, but if these slipups happen against Southern Cal, albeit, they have been occasional slipups, bad things are going to happen.
But who knows, with how good our receivers have looked, a solid performance by our wide outs could likely cancel out any big breakaways that USC's receivers have. Bobo, Fields, Jr., MacIntyre and Ross have been so fun to watch. They'll be a deciding factor in many more games to come.
But let's start fresh this week. Some things that stick out to me about the Trojans.
First and foremost, for those of you out there that think that based on how this season has gone for USC so far, that they are a white dwarf heading for a supernova, or in other words, on their way out of being one of the big dogs in the Pac-12, I would advise hitting the brakes on thinking such thoughts.
The team's record does not reflect the talent that's on USC's roster. This game should be a tough matchup for CU.
Essentially, the main theme I've noticed from briefly digging through some stats is this: USC had one bad performance. Against Alabama. They were massacred, but that much is expected from Nick Saban and Co. Other than that, the Trojans average 500+ yards of total offense per game.
Their offense has clicked efficiently since USC's week one blowout loss to Alabama. The Trojans punted 10 times during that contest. They've not punted more than five times since.
Since Bama, only in its game vs. the similarly talented Stanford Cardinal did USC not put up at least 400 yards of offense.
Defensively, the Trojans give up 4.3 yards per rush to opponents and surrender about 205 passing yards per game.
This is the worst stat that I found: The Trojans average 25.3 yards per punt return. Special teams is the real weak spot on this Buffaloes team. It's the one area where the "Colorado returns 56 upperclassmen this season" factor does not apply. Granted, there are offensive and defensive starters who are on the Buffs' punt team...but good god, I can just see it now...USC's Jackson Adoree makes fools of our punt team. He's returned five punts this year for 118 yards. Forgive me for having doubts that Christian Shaver and Dylan Keeney are going to help contain him.
USC's D-line has four sacks between them. The LB core has three on the year. But the Buffs' D-line has recorded five and our LBs also have three sacks on the year.
Back to USC's offense. Tailback Justin Davis is averaging 6.3 yards per carry. He will enter Saturday's game having gone two straight weeks with 120+ rushing yards. Against Stanford, he was held to 63 yards, but ran for 4.5 YPC against The Cardinal.
Do I really need to say anything about WR Juju Smith-Schuster...I think it's inevitable that he has a few catches for 20+ yards. CU's secondary has been solid, but make no mistake...multiple times this year, against almost every opponent, there have been multiple would-have-been touchdowns thrown against the Buffaloes D. I've watched many overthrows by enemy QBs from the press box and on TV this season. The bolts need to be tightened a bit as Colorado enters more difficult Pac-12 play. There were a few times at Oregon and more than a few vs OSU that opposing receivers outran our corners. Defensive backs won't win the routes every time, but if these slipups happen against Southern Cal, albeit, they have been occasional slipups, bad things are going to happen.
But who knows, with how good our receivers have looked, a solid performance by our wide outs could likely cancel out any big breakaways that USC's receivers have. Bobo, Fields, Jr., MacIntyre and Ross have been so fun to watch. They'll be a deciding factor in many more games to come.
