Colorado beat up on Northern Colorado but the lack of discipline is a problem

BOULDER – Colorado could have had a shutout.

“We had a good game, but we could have been better,” nose tackle Jalen Sami said after Friday night’s 35-7 win over Northern Colorado. “I felt we shouldn’t have allowed the team to score. We should get three-and-outs and stop the run and covered on third downs to get them off the field.”

Colorado only one scoring drive and it could have ended before it even got going.

The Buffs had forced a three-and-out, late in the third quarter. The Bears lined up to try for a fourth-down conversion but a false start made extending the drive all but impossible. Then, Sami was called for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Four plays and 56 yards later, UNC was in the end zone for the only score of its night.

“Nobody is worth 15 yards, especially me,” Sami said.

Sami wasn’t alone. Colorado was called for 11 penalties, including four 15-yarders.

Senior linebacker Nate Landman thinks that the environment—the first game with fans in the stands since 2019, a new Ralphie, etc.—could have contributed to his teammates being a little out of control. The Bears’ chippiness—which included two penalties for late hits—may have also contributed.

“Maybe that extra energy may cause those penalties but we’ve got to be better and we’ve got to be mature about playing defense and offense the right way,” Landman said.

Head coach Karl Dorrell’s postgame speech to his team included a lot of talk about the penalties and why they can’t continue. Landman agrees with his coach’s sentiment.

“We’re gonna be playing in bigger games and that stuff can’t happen in bigger games,” Landman said. “That’s how you lose games.”

Discipline is sure to be an emphasis at practice this week as Colorado prepares for one of those “bigger games.” Texas A&M, the No. 6 team in the country, is meeting the Buffs in Denver for a Saturday-afternoon contest.

“One of my goals for this team is to get this team back on the map,” Landman said. “Having those big teams coming in and playing those big games, especially in Colorado—having the fan base here—it’s gonna be huge for getting this program back and it could be a big milestone.”

It’s safe to say that Saturday won’t be a milestone if Colorado hands the Aggies 177 free yards.