Buffs Game Grades: The offense is alive!

BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes showed out for their homecoming fans in their 44-28 victory over the California Golden Bears on Saturday. The offense was clicking and the defense was getting pressure on the quarterback. How did each player perform? Let’s find out…

Offense

Steven Montez (QB) – A

The redemption game for Steven Montez. Montez needed a boost and he got one when Mike MacIntyre announced that there would be a starting quarterback competition Monday. I don’t think we’ll be hearing about any more quarterback competitions. He finished 20/26 for 347 yards and three touchdowns.

Phillip Lindsay (RB) – B

Phil was mediocre Phil. He broke a huge run after the first quarter but was completely stagnant after that. He wasn’t able to find any major creases and wasn’t able to make a big impact on the game. He finished with 161 on 33 carries, with a lot of his carries coming in garbage time.

It was the breakout game for Steven Montez but you could also say that it was the breakout game for Shay Fields. He finished with four catches for 101 yards and a touchdown but it was the 65-yard touchdown that made it a breakout game for Fields because that’s just something that we haven’t seen all season.

Bryce Bobo (WR) – B-

Bobo was the typical Bryce Bobo. He didn’t do anything game-changing but he was able to find some pockets of space and make a few catches.

Devin Ross (WR) – B+

Ross and Montez seemed to have found the chemistry they were missing earlier in the season. Montez is looking at him as one of his go-to targets and he continues to get open in the middle of the field. He finished with four catches for 65 yards and a touchdown.

Jay MacIntyre (WR) – B-

MacIntyre didn’t have to do all that much in this game but that doesn’t mean he was ineffective. He came up with the last touchdown of the game and that seemed like the one that was able to ice it.

Offensive Linemen – B

I’m not sure if that was the same offensive line that we’ve seen all season. In this game, they looked really good in pass protection but struggled to create big holes for Phillip Lindsay which is that exact opposite of what we’ve come to expect with this offensive line.

Defense

 Leo Jackson III (DE) – A-

Leo Jackson has been the most consistent player on the defensive line and continued his success on Saturday.

Chris Mulumba (DE) – C-

Mulumba continues to get better. He’s been the weakest link on this defense for the majority of the season but his last two games have been his best games by far. He came up with three tackles today and has started to figure out how to beat some of these Pac-12 offensive linemen.

Derek McCartney (OLB) – A

DMac is back? I think it’s fair to say that McCartney is officially back to full speed. It has taken longer than expected but these last few games he’s been absolutely stellar.

Drew Lewis (ILB) – B+

Lewis stuffed the stat sheet again on Saturday. He had his first sack of the season, five tackles, and a pass breakup.

Rick Gamboa (ILB) – B

Gamboa did a much better job stopping the run game against Cal than the previous few weeks. He finished with five tackles and also picked up a pass breakup.

Ryan Moeller (Buff) – C+

Moeller had an average Moeller type of game. He didn’t do anything special, missed a couple of tackles in the backfield but he did have an impact stopping the run and didn’t do anything to hurt the Buffs.

Afolabi Laguda (FS) – B

Laguda didn’t have to do all that much considering he was tasked with making sure they weren’t beat over the top.

Evan Worthington (SS) – A

If Jackson has been the most consistent player on the defensive line then Worthington has been the most consistent player on the entire defense. He finished with seven tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss, a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.

Trey Udoffia (CB) – C

Udoffia got picked on quite a bit in this game. He was going up against taller receivers and frequently got beat on the slant route, which led to him getting beat a couple of times over the top in the second half because he was thinking about the slant route. He did lead the team in tackles with nine, but it’s usually not a good sign to have a cornerback lead the team in tackles.

Dante Wigley (CB) – B+

Wigley has continued to impress as he has become a starter over these last few weeks and today’s four-tackle performance was another example of his ability.