Three Things: CU Buffs have answered the bell through two games

BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes going 2-0 have not only looked good, but have answered questions in the process. With two blowout wins, the Buffs enter their toughest game of the season against Michigan rolling. Normally a team faces at least some adversity before a huge road game, but that has not been case for CU as they’ve really not even been challenged going into week three.

Sefo Liufau

Despite the lack of competition the Buffaloes have faced this season, some questions have been answered. One of them was about Sefo Liufau and how he would perform following the Lisfranc injury that ended his 2015 season.

Through two games, neither of which he hasn’t had to play the entire 60 minutes, he has looked terrific. Last week he won the Pac-12’s award for offensive player of the week. This week against Idaho State, Liufau led the Buffs to six touchdowns in only seven drives, all in the first half.

His pacing of the ramped-up offense has been phenomenal along with his individual play, which has been solid. His stats say he has completed 38-of-his-51 attempts for 522 yards and three TDs. But in Saturday’s contest, he only missed three passes. Those three passes were all on balls that he was instructed to air it out on.

Against the overmatched Bengals defense, Liufau showed the poise of a senior and made passes that he sometimes struggled with. Overall, he’s looked like an improved version of himself from past years. Essentially, he’s had the passing ability from his sophomore year and the rushing skill from his junior year. It’s too early to say just for sure about Liufau but the game against Michigan should be telling of his chance to lead the Buffs to a bowl game.

‘D’ Is Key

Colorado has outscored opponents 100-14 this season. 14! The defense has allowed only two touchdowns in two games, both of which came in the second half. In fact, through two contests they have yet to let their opponent reach midfield in the first half.

Jordan Carrell, Josh Tupou, and Jimmie Gilbert were particularly noticeable against Idaho State. Pressuring the Bengals and letting them only nab two first downs in the first half. Their pressure on the Big Sky school was remarkable and it really forced ISU out of the game.

The secondary swarmed as usual but nobody put up huge numbers because the first unit was pulled before halftime.

Second Unit

The backups got the lion’s share of playing time against the Bengals. Only outscoring the small school by a mark of 14-7, there was a noticeable step down from the first to the second unit. Granted, it’s not like the Buffs needed to be as hungry because they were up 42 points when the backups came in.

The offense was actually solid led by Steven Montez and he excelled in his first true live action. Kabion Ento and Kyle Evans were each impactful for the positive but it wasn’t all positives for the second team at the skill positions. Beau Bisharat fumbled a carry, which led to ISU’s only points. In the limited time we’ve seen Colorado’s top 2016 recruit at running back, both on the practice field and in game, he has not impressed.

On the defensive side, there wasn’t much of a lapse as the first and second teams combined to hold the opposition to 96 yards. Holding them to a stout 1.75 yards per play, the second-team defense showed their hunger and their depth, particularly in the secondary with some bigger names like Tony Julmisse, Ryan Moeller and Drew Lewis making their presence felt.