Darrin Chiaverini comments on Colorado's early-season offensive struggles

BOULDER — Offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini knows his Colorado offense has underperformed.

“With a young quarterback making his first college starts, there’ll be some growing pains,” Chiaverini told reporters on Wednesday. “There’s no question we’ve struggled.”

Over the past 10 quarters of football, Colorado’s offense has produced 13 total points.

The Buffs couldn’t build upon a 7-0 first-quarter lead in a 10-7 loss to No. 5 Texas A&M in Week 2. Then, the Buffs were held scoreless at home for the first time since 2012 in a 30-0 loss to Minnesota. Last week, the Buffs fell 35-13 to Arizona State.

When asked if he’s feeling the heat that comes with running an offense that has fallen short of expectations, Chiaverini said it’s the nature of the game.

“At the end of the day, we’re all in this together,” Chiaverini. “When we’re playing well, I’m going to get a lot credit. If we’re not playing well, maybe a lot of criticism. Same thing with Coach (Karl) Dorrell. He’s the head football coach. So when the team’s not playing well, he gets criticism. When they’re playing well, he gets credit. We’re all in this together—as coaches, as players.”

Increasing offensive production is the only way to turn the criticism into credit.

“I know everybody’s quick to judge but we have to understand where we’re at and where we’re trying to go,” Chiaverini said. “It’s going to take week-to-week progression and having no growing pains and taking the next step.”

As Chiaverini noted, the biggest problem on the field so far this season has been the play of true freshman quarterback Brendon Lewis.

The dual-threat passer made his first career appearance in the 2020 Alamo Bowl in a blowout loss to Texas. He competed with incumbent starter Sam Noyer and Tennessee transfer JT Shrout for the starting job. But Noyer transferred to Oregon State over the summer and Shrout tore his ACL during a scrimmage in August.

“It’s not like when we had Steven Montez or some other veteran guys that have played three or four years,” Chiaverini said. “When you have a young quarterback and some young pieces around him, it’s going to take some time and I know people get frustrated—I get frustrated with him—but you’ve got to stay the course and you’ve got to keep coaching him and keep working with him.”

Chiaverini said that the coaching staff has had conversations about putting Colorado’s other healthy scholarship quarterback, true freshman Drew Carter, into the game. The conversation has always ended with a decision to keep Lewis as the primary option, obviously, with Carter getting a few snaps in garbage time.

Chiaverini also noted that it’s Dorrell’s decision whether to play Lewis or Carter.

“I’ve seen a lot of growth from Drew, week to week. I’ve seen a lot of growth from camp to now that we’re in season and he is getting better,” Chiaverini said. “Right now, Brendon is our starting quarterback and he is getting better too. But at the end of the day you need game reps, not just practice reps. These guys need game reps and they’re getting them. It was trial by fire but we’re getting better an that’s the key.”

The youth goes beyond Colorado’s quarterbacks.

After K.D. Nixon transferred to USC, Colorado was left with a young—but talented—group of receivers. Check out the snap-count leaders at the position, through four games:

1. Brenden Rice (148) — freshman
2. Daniel Arias (140) — junior
3. Dimitri Stanley (110) — sophomore
4. Montan Lemonious-Craig (86) — freshman
5. Ty Robinson (71) — freshman
6. Chase Penry (52) — freshman

It’s tough to build an effective passing with inexperience at quarterback and at wide receiver. Still, Colorado needs to do better than a passing attack that has produced 85 yards per game. No other Pac-12 team has under 200.

“There’s no question we’ve gotta get it going,” Chiaverini said. “Coach Dorrell, obviously, as an offensive coach—he was my coach. I’m a former receiver and obviously love to throw the football but we’re developing these guys. We’re young at receiver.”

While struggles in the passing game were to be expected—although maybe not to this degree—the running game was supposed to be among the best in the Pac-12.

Running back Jarek Broussard was the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year in 2020, but he’s struggle to get going so far this season. Through four games, he’s managed 188 yards and two touchdowns.

“He’s not getting as many touches as he did last year, you’re playing more running backs,” Chiaverini said. “I remember last year you guys are talking about ‘he gets too many touches,’ so we’re balancing it out.”

Broussard carried the ball 16 times per game in 2020 and has only carried it 11 times per game in 2021. This explains part of the dropoff.

But his per-carry average has also fallen from 5.7 yards per carry to 4.3 yards per carry.

Colorado’s offensive struggles are clear, and this week could be a big one in determining what the rest of the season looks like.

If the Buffs lose to USC on Saturday, they’ll be 0-2 in conference play, essentially ending any hope at a Pac-12 South crown.

But the Trojans have been flailing for weeks and are coming off a 42-27 home loss to Oregon State. CU has lost all 14 meetings in the history of this matchup, but this could be the weakest USC team of the bunch. CU has a bye next week and faces conference bottom-feeder Arizona afterward.

A win would keep CU alive for at least two weeks, and probably three. The tone of the season would change for at least that long.

But a bye week after a loss is a dangerous time. Changes to the staff, including changing the offensive coordinator or shifting play-calling duties, could be on the way. So could a quarterback change.

Dorrell has already taken back some control of the offense. Last week, following the loss to Minnesota, he said he’d be spending more time in the offensive meeting rooms.

“He’s in there and we have honest conversation,” Chiaverini said. “He’s been great. We have a great relationship. We go back 20-something years, so he can say things to me and it’s not going to offend me in any way. We have a great relationship. I enjoy the input.”

Through four weeks, the offense hasn’t graded out well. A win against USC could be just what the Buffs need to get back on track.

“I’m excited every morning I get to come to work because you get a chance to change young men’s lives,” Chiaverini said. “They’re learning how to grind in games against good competition. We’re playing good football teams, so we’re getting a lot of trial by fire but I see improvement.”

That improvement will be on display on Saturday.