What to watch for when CU takes on #5 Texas A&M

BOULDER — It’s game day!

Colorado will play #5 Texas A&M at Empower Field in Denver on Saturday, with kickoff scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on FOX. The Aggies are 17.5-point favorites, setting the stage for what could be an all-time upset for CU… if it can pull it off.

Here’s what we’re looking for on Saturday.

Can Colorado run the football?

If Colorado pulls off the upset, it will be because of the running game.

In seven games since the current coaching staff took over, the Buffs have hit 250 yards on the ground five times. That’s a good benchmark for Saturday’s game. If Colorado can get to 250, it’ll have a good chance of winning. If not, well, the Buffs will need to catch a few breaks.

While Texas A&M has a stout defense on paper—led by DeMarvin Leal, one of the absolute best defensive tackles in the country—it was leaky in the Aggies’ first game of the season. Kent State, which ranks just outside the top-100 in ESPN’s Football Power Index Rankings, picked up 226 yards on the ground in College Station last weekend. While the Golden Flashes had runs of 39 and 26 yards, the rest were under 20 yards. This wasn’t a case of a couple of fluky big-gainers skewing the numbers.

(It’s also worth noting that defensive lineman Michael Clemons is back in the lineup after missing game one with a suspension.)

Just because Kent State was able to run for five yards per carry against the Aggies doesn’t mean that Colorado will, but it’s proof that success on the ground is possible.

Colorado’s offensive line was up-and-down in Week 1, and that won’t be good enough this time around. The plan is to rotate about seven players into the game as part of the coaching staff’s continued effort to identify the best five-man starting lineup, and there’s little room for error.

Jarek Broussard got off to a slow start last week before kicking into gear late in the first quarter. Ashaad Clayton flashed the talent that made him a four-star recruit and Alex Fontenot looked like himself after missing last season with a hip injury.

The pieces are in place for success on the ground.

Will Brendon Lewis step up?

Part of the reason for Colorado’s slow start on the ground in Week 1, was Northern Colorado’s willingness to blitz from the second and third levels of the defense.

Freshman quarterback Brendon Lewis didn’t make the Bears pay for that decision.

While quarterbacks coach Danny Langsdorf applauded Lewis’ ability to see pressure and adjust running plays in his first start, Lewis will need to take advantage of those blitzes with his arm in his second start.

Lewis didn’t play badly—he completed 10-of-15 passes for 102 yards, a touchdown and no turnovers—he absolutely left yardage on the field. Lewis was wary of throwing the ball more than about 10 yards from the line of scrimmage and unwilling to give his receivers chances to make plays.

If a receiver was wide open, Lewis got him the ball (except for one missed touchdown pass). If he wasn’t open, Lewis was content to run around in the backfield and throw the ball away.

Against A&M, Lewis can’t afford to waste what the defense gives him. He needs to take a step forward in Week 2, and go down swinging if he’s going to go down.

Can the defense force turnovers?

On the other side of the ball, the key will be forcing turnovers.

A&M has a handful of playmakers that will make life difficult for CU in both the passing game and the running game. But there’s a potential weakness at the most important position.

Freshman quarterback Haynes King is coming off the first start of his career, and he took a very different approach than Colorado’s young gunslinger; instead of playing it safe and avoiding turnovers, King zipped the ball all over the field… and occasionally to players in the wrong uniform.

While his 21 completions on 33 attempts for 292 yards and two touchdowns are impressive, his three interceptions in three-and-a-half quarters leave plenty to be desired.

King tried to force some passes into tight windows, or windows that had already closed up. The problem became more severe when the pass rush got into his face.

The Buffs have enough talent in the secondary to take advantage of King’s mistakes. There could be plenty of mistakes on Saturday if Carson Wells and the rest of CU’s pass-rushers can create some chaos.

Just how good is Colorado’s front-seven?

Colorado may have one of the best defenses in the Pac-12 and Saturday’s game will go a long way in telling us just how good it is.

With linebackers Carson Wells, Nate Landman, Robert Barnes combining with defensive linemen Jalen Sami and Terrance Lang, the Buffs should be stout up front. They’ll need to be, since A&M has one of the top right tackles in the sport in Kenyon Green and at least two incredibly explosive running backs.

Stopping the run is priority No. 1, as it always is under the current regime. But stopping the run against A&M is going to a true test of what this group is capable of.

If the Buffs can slow down running back Isaiah Spiller, they’ll force the ball into the hands of the freshman quarterback, which should be the goal.

The problem is that virtually nobody has slowed Spiller down. He put up 113 yards on 17 carries last week and he averaged over 100 yards in 10 games last season.

Can the return game provide a spark?

Upsets typically involve a couple of explosive, game-changing plays, and those oftentimes come from special teams.

Luckily for the Buffs, they’ve got a couple of the most explosive returners in the Pac-12.

Dimitri Stanley stole the show last week when he returned three punts for 68 yards. That’s an average that would take second all-time for a single season in the Pac-12, if he’s able to keep it up. Stanley’s contributions led to an additional 20+ yards of field position whenever the ball was kicked to him, significantly enhancing the offense’s chances of producing points.

Brenden Rice is Colorado’s primary kick returner and while he only had the chance to return one kickoff in Week 1, he brought it back 44 yards.

Colorado will need to click in all three phases of the game to pull off an upset, but they’ve got the weapons in the return game to help make that happen.