Why Colorado's young Buffs still believe

Going into the season, the depth of the Colorado football team was emphasized by head coach Karl Dorrell and staff.

Given the outcome of the first three games of the season, Colorado has been able to get many freshman and sophomore players valuable live game experience.

The Buffs played at least 40 freshmen and sophomore’s in last Saturday’s loss to Minnesota.

While most of those players are contributing in rotational roles and special teams, (sophomore) Trevor Woods has played a significant role in Colorado’s young secondary and (freshman) Charlie Offerdahl was able to play a full drive as Colorado’s lead back in the fourth quarter last Saturday.

While this season has been a tough pill to swallow for everyone with ties to Colorado football, these two young Buffs believe in the ability of this year’s current team.

“We still have faith, veterans and young guys,” Woods said. “I feel like our young guys are playing well. We’re comfortable with what we’re doing.”

“As far as the young guys, the freshmen and sophomores, we’re hopeful,” Offerdahl said. “We know what we can do. Despite what the scoreboard says, we know we haven’t been playing up to our capabilities.”

Offerdahl supported the claim we’ve heard amongst Buffs’ players and coaches over the last few weeks that this team feels that what is going on at practice isn’t translating to gameday.

“We really have been having good practices,” Offerdal said. “I think the main reason why that’s not translating over is those early-game mistakes. As soon as we get down a couple of scores early our game plan has to change.”

Last week, Trevor Woods didn’t have a say in how the first half turned out due to a targeting suspension that was carried over from the second half of the Air Force game.

Woods nearly found himself in a similar situation again in the second half versus Minnesota. In Colorado’s final defensive drive of the game, Woods was flagged for targeting on a third and two play at the first down marker. 

The officials reviewed the call and took back the targeting call but enforced the personal foul as it was a hit on a sliding quarterback. After the play, Woods was seen visibly upset at the call on ESPN’s broadcast.

“I was frustrated because it was third and three and I knew the QB was around that [line to gain],” Woods said. “I wasn’t expecting a slide. I was expecting him to try and go all out for the first down. I came off my guy and he slid late right? I knew my head was out of it so I didn’t know what they were gonna call on it. That’s why I was really frustrated.”

Eventually, that drive resulted in a Minnesota turnover on downs which allowed Offerdahl and (freshman) Owen McCown to enter the game.

Offerdahl spoke about what it was like playing with McCown and the comfort he has lining up next to him in the backfield.

“I love playing with Owen,” Offerdahl said. “He’s a high football IQ guy. It’s really nice lining up next to him. We can have conversations pre-play whether that be about the defensive alignment, coverages, backers, and whatnot. It’s nice to have someone like him who’s energetic in there.”

Offerdahl is a Colorado native hailing from Littleton and mentioned a couple of Colorado natives when speaking about players that he compares his game to.

“I definitely modeled my game after Phillip Lindsay and Christian McCaffrey,” Offerdahl said. “I’ve always looked up to them being Colorado guys.”

There are doubts within the program about Alex Fontenot’s availability for this week’s game meaning Offerdahl could be in play for more live opportunities against the Bruins.

The Buffs are currently 21-point underdogs to UCLA on Draftkings Sportsbook. Kick-off will be at noon local time this Saturday.