In a New Era, the CU Buffs are set to rely on their offense

BOULDER – Last year’s 10-2 regular season performance saw the Colorado Buffaloes regain their spot as competitors in college football. Leaning heavily on their shutdown defense, Colorado battled their way to a division title and a bowl game. They earned a national ranking, and April’s NFL Draft validated the talent they had stockpiled in their secondary, as three Colorado defensive backs were selected in the first four rounds.

With the loss of defensive weapons Chidobe Awuzie, Tedric Thompson and Ahkello Witherspoon to the pros, Colorado will need to take a different approach in 2017, and trust in their offense to lead them to a Pac-12 Championship. Luckily, the Buffs boast a bevy of offensive talent on their returning roster.

It all starts with team captain and starting running back Phil Lindsay. The ‘Tasmanian Devil’ is entering his senior season, which some are already bravely touting as his potential Heisman campaign. Last year, Lindsay had 1,252 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns, along with 493 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. He also led the Pac-12 in rushing touchdowns.

Fellow running backs Kyle Evans, Donovan Lee and Beau Bisharat make up the remainder of the stacked backfield. Evans, who is currently recovering from hip surgery, had 346 yards and three touchdowns last season, an essential spell in the Buffs run attack. His healthy return will be important to Colorado’s ground game come fall. If not, the Buffs will rely on the once highly touted recruit Bisharat in his second season.

The talent and competition continues at the wide receiver position, with Colorado showcasing an almost unfair depth chart of wideouts. Seniors Bryce Bobo, Devin Ross, Kabion Ento and Shay Fields, along with Juwann Winfree, Lee Walker, Johnny Huntley, Jaylon Jackson, Jay MacIntyre, K.D. Nixon and Derrion Rakestraw make up up the dominant ‘BlackOutBoyz.’ With so many experienced players returning, they know that the weight of success is likely to fall on the offense this year.

“It’s like flipping roles, basically,” said Ross, “because we got a lot of young players on defense now, had eight starters leave, and our whole offense is back, so we’re pretty much taking the role that they had last year. We’ll probably have to put up more points per game, which is fine by us. We can take the responsibility and get it done with all of the experience we have on offense.”

This season, Bobo, Ross, MacIntyre and Fields return as the veteran leaders of the wideouts. The starting four threaten every level of opposing defenses, challenging containment with practiced route-running and impressive hands. While Bobo and Fields provide height and speed on the outside, Ross is a playmaker in the slot and MacIntyre is key in short yardage and third-down situations.

Fields separated himself as the big play option in 2016, leading the team with 883 receiving yards and nine touchdowns (including a 70-yard touchdown grab against Michigan). He averaged 15.8 yards per play on the season and is within striking distance of the program’s career touchdown record (currently held by Nelson Spruce with 23, Fields is six shy of tying that.)

Ross’s junior campaign highlighted his ability to convert in essential short down scenarios, as well as coming up with big yardage when necessary. Bobo had several impressive grabs as well in 2016, including a one-handed touchdown catch against Oregon. But no starting slot comes easy on a team stacked with threats at every position.

“When you can look over your right and left shoulder and know that you can get beat out any day, that’s great competition,” said Fields. “Whether it’s the outside, slot, backups, starters – you know if you miss a day or don’t do well, you could get your spot taken.”

Winfree, who is recovering from a knee injury, and Ento, following an impressive spring, are both poised to have an impact on the offense this fall.

Veteran tight end George Frazier, a team captain for his second consecutive season, was primarily used as a blocker last season, but will also bring substantial leadership to the offense. Incoming freshmen tight ends Jared Poplawski and Sebastian Olver should provide immediate additional options at the position.

The quarterback at the helm of this stacked receiving corps will be Steven Montez. The soon-to-be redshirt sophomore went 2-1 as a starter last season, including a 333-yard passing, 135-yard rushing performance against Oregon (one of two 300-yard passing, 100-yard rushing performances in school history, the other accomplished by Sefo Liufau, also last year.) His production under pressure has earned the approval of his teammates.

“(Montez) has confidence, he can move and he’s smart,” said Lindsay.

Montez finds himself in an ideal situation for a young quarterback, with plenty of offensive weapons at his disposal in his wideouts and running backs. He will also see his offensive line strengthened with the addition of offensive tackle Jake Moretti, who flipped his commitment from Ohio State to stay close to home with the Buffs. Returning offensive lineman and First-Team Freshman All-American Tim Lynott will also bolster the line. Last season, Lynott allowed only three sacks and six pressures. Along with team captain Jeromy Irvin, a senior offensive lineman, the line should be improved, despite the loss of Alex Kelley.

Another key to Colorado’s offensive prowess in 2017 will be the continued development of their scheme under Co-Offensive Coordinators Darrin Chiaverini (Wide Receivers) and Brian Lindgren (Quarterbacks). Lindgren is entering his fourth season with Colorado, while Chiaverini is entering his second. At this point, they have a team of veterans adjusted to the uptempo, fast-paced offense that has allowed the Buffs to flourish under Chiaverini.

After a resurgent season in 2016, the Buffs’ offense knows what is at stake in the year to come. Ending last season with consecutive losses in the Pac-12 Championship and Alamo Bowl will motivate them far into 2017.

“Sometimes you gotta get that butt whooped a little bit, to understand like ‘okay we got to go back to square one and fix a couple things,'” said Lindsay. “I think our offense needed to see that. Offensive line, running back, receivers, quarterback, we all know we need to take a step up. We’ve been there, we know what it takes to get to the Pac-12 Championship, but it’s also about winning it.”

Every move Colorado has made since their bowl game loss has been to rebuild themselves for redemption. A unit of veteran leadership and talent should ease the pressure of the offseason’s defensive losses and allow Colorado to lean on their offense in 2017. Aiming for a Pac-12 Championship and bowl game victory, the Buffs senior offensive starters are poised and ready to leave their legacy on Colorado Football.