Buffs Film Room: Brendon Lewis and the Buffs defense have a big day over Arizona

After starting strong with performances against Northern Colorado and then No. 5 Texas A&M, it appeared to many that the Buffs were off to a strong start in 2021. Despite the promising start, Colorado’s inexperience offensively led to inefficiency and a combined 27 points in the next three games against Minnesota, Arizona State and USC.

Last week’s date against the Arizona Wildcats was a great opportunity for the Buffs to get right. It was a shaky first half as the Buffs took a slim 6-0 lead into the locker room at halftime but they would eventually take over and make the score 34-0, handing Arizona its 18th consecutive loss dating back to 2019.

The Buffs took care of business against a bad football team but we were still able to get a better grasp on this Colorado football team and how they have progressed as they begin the second half of their 2021 campaign.

Lewis Launching Bombs

There’s a saying about quarterbacks that goes something to the tune of, “they are given too much credit when their team wins and shoulder too much of the blame when their team loses.” Mix in the fact that Brendan Lewis is a redshirt freshman and you can only imagine the amount of pressure that the young man faces.

Despite his woes in the first half of his first full season as a starter, Brendan Lewis showed up and played pretty well for the Buffs against Arizona.

Lewis and the Buffs are taking a shot on this first down on Colorado’s first offensive drive. Lewis does well to stand tall in the pocket, find the open man and deliver a well-timed and accurate pass. Lewis does not show any unnecessary movement or haste in his mechanics. Dimitri Stanley is unable to complete the catch unfortunately but the point of the play is the process, Lewis looked very comfortable throughout this game.

It took well into the third quarter for Lewis to finally get himself a touchdown pass but he did it in great fashion.

The Buffs get a free play as the Arizona 3-technique jumps offsides. Lewis scoops up a low snap and immediately looks to his receiver at the bottom of the screen. Unsatisfied with the route to the bottom of the screen, Lewis flips his eyes to the opposite side of the field and launches a bomb that is dropped right in the bucket as Brenden Rice collects the ball in stride going into the end zone.

Lewis’ second touchdown pass of the game was another beauty.

The Buffs motion over into trips to the field side and run a “smash” concept. The Wildcats are in Cover 1 here, the safety responsible for the middle of the field is on the boundary hash. This leaves plenty of room for Dimitri Stanley to run his corner route towards the back pylon and create some separation. Lewis puts some air under the ball and ensures that no defender will be able to make a play on the throw.

For those that remain critical of Lewis, I get it. It’s against Arizona and despite these great throws Lewis only went 12/19 for 248 yards. But while there have been some growing pains as Lewis learns how to play quarterback at the FBS level, he has shown that he does not often put the ball at risk and can make throws down the field.

Lewis’ greatest attributes at this point in his career are his mobility and ability to throw the deep ball. While we have yet to see Lewis put together a complete game in those departments we are seeing a player grow and mature before our eyes. With this encouraging performance under his belt Lewis may find it within himself to lead the Buffs to a strong end to the 2021 season.

Defensive Dominance

The defense has been the subject of multiple film rooms for the Buffs and deservedly so. This week is no different as we continue to breakdown and feature the Buffs defense after they held the Wildcats to 280 total yards, a 20% success rate on third down and ultimately shut out Arizona on the scoreboard.

Arizona would go three and out on their first drive and found themselves facing another third and long early into their second drive. The Buffs blitz and the Wildcats are actually able to catch it with a screen play. The only reason this play doesn’t go for a first down and much more is because of CU safety Isaiah Lewis. Lewis makes a great read and punishes the Arizona running back for trying to advance the ball.

Would it even be a Buffs Film Room if we didn’t talk about the defensive captain and Team DNVR Athlete, Nate Landman at least once? As we move towards halftime, the Wildcats are already becoming desperate as the realization that their conventional offense may not do much for them in this matchup. Arizona tries to go with the reverse pass but Landman has plans of his own. Arizona foolishly tries to block Landman with their own quarterback and the Wildcat receiver pays the price as he goes flying through the air.

The most impressive and crucial series of the game when it came to the shut-out was on the Wildcats’ final possession of the first half. The Buffs stuffed Arizona three times in a row from the one-yard line resulting in this 4th and goal.

The Wildcats tried running the ball in on the first three plays of this series, so this play-action rollout should have been something that Colorado coaches and players saw coming. Given how the Buffs played this one, they most certainly did expect it. Again, Landman runs screaming up the middle of the field and gets pressure on the quarterback who has absolutely nowhere to throw. Every receiver on this play is blanketed and the Buffs turn the ball over on downs.

The previous play may have been the most important to the Buffs shutout, but the most fun and entertaining play of the day for the Buffs defense came in the third quarter.

Colorado has defenders creeping on the edge to the boundary and the field here. The blitz is coming. Carson Wells starts this play by threatening pressure off the edge to the boundary but drops back into zone coverage at the snap. He gets a re-route on the slot and then works back under the tight end. Arizona quarterback, Gunner Cruz, completely misses Wells and throws the ball right to the Buff linebacker who moves into the end zone with a convoy.

In Conclusion

The Buffs needed this win. Yes, it was against the lowly Arizona Wildcats but after starting hot and fading after the first fortnight of the season this team and fan base needed a pick me up. The schedule is going to get much tougher from this point on as the Buffs have to travel to play Oregon, UCLA and Utah.

The biggest factors for the Buffs as they move into the homestretch of the season will be Brendon Lewis and the defense. Lewis has the ability to be a dynamic playmaker at quarterback and this defense has shown that when they are not asked to be on the field the entire game they can lead this team to wins.

While no one’s going to look back at this game as a turning point for the season, it could still end up being a sign of things to come if the Buffs are able to win some games and even pull off some upsets to end 2021.