Colorado’s offensive keys to the game at Arizona
The Colorado Buffaloes took a step forward on offense last week against UCLA. Albeit only a baby step, it was a step nonetheless. Owen McCown showed promise in his first career start and was able to put up the most points for the Buffs so far this season.
Through four games, Colorado has only been able to put up a combined three points in the first quarter. The Buffaloes’ offense will need to put up points early and often in order to get their first win of the season down in Tempe.
Here are our three biggest keys to the game on the offensive side of the ball:
Run the ball
Colorado has shown glimpses of being able to run the ball, but the Buffs haven’t been able to sustain this for a full game. This has been caused by a number of issues, with the most likely culprit being that Colorado has not held a lead for a long portion of the first four games of the season. Arizona has also shown that it isn’t great at stopping the run, allowing 346 rushing yards last week against California. If Colorado can lean on the run game and shorten this game, it could go a long way toward a W.
Grab a lead
As we noted above, Colorado has not scored early in games so far in 2022. The Buffaloes need to grab an early lead if they want to get a win. This will allow them to run the ball and not have to rely completely on the left arm of a freshman quarterback.
Take shots when they are available
Relying on the run accomplishes a lot in the game of football. It allows you to control the clock, beat up the opponents’ defense and draw the defensive backs closer to the line of scrimmage. That last point can allow Owen McCown to get some one-on-one chances down the field against Arizona defensive backs. McCown will need to be smart about taking his chances, but after showing poise in his first career start, I am more than confident that if the run game is humming and the coaches give him a chance to strike downfield, he will make the correct decision to score a big play.
Further reading
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