It should go without saying that while up and down Colorado's roster, players are down in the dumps after dropping a winnable game to Texas A&M — for the offense, Saturday's loss has to be just a brutal stinger.
Countless missed opportunities and mishaps plagued the Buffs, offensively speaking, during the 10-7 loss to the Aggies.
There was the interception thrown by Brendon Lewis to Aggies' DL Jayden Peevy, as the former got crushed by pressure while attempting a throw; there was the missed 46-yard field goal by Cole Becker; there was the turnover on downs at Texas A&M's 5-yard line that saw a 66-yard drive go for nothing in the second quarter; and then there was the miserable offensive showing in general in the second half, with Colorado failing to convert a single third down, gaining a pathetic 42 yards on 21 plays.
Even through all that, the Buffs were hanging on by a thread, with a field goal late in the second quarter to Texas A&M remaining the only points allowed by CU well into the fourth quarter.
At the start of the final quarter, the Aggies finally discovered some offensive momentum of their own. Rushes by Isaiah Spiller and Devon Achane slowly got the ball rolling before a 29-yard completion from Zach Calzada to tight end Jalen Wydermyer put the Aggies on Colorado's 20-yard line.
Eventually, Calzada made a dash for the endzone and appeared to get it, but after review, it was ruled that he fumbled the ball diving headfirst, forced by Joshka Gustav and recovered by Mekhi Blackmon.
Colorado wound up starting at its own 35-yard line due to a 15-yard facemask call on Texas A&M moved the ball up from the 20 following the touchback.
It was at that moment, CU had a golden opportunity to put more points on the board or at a minimum, eat some time off the clock.
The Buffaloes wound up going 3-and-out, advancing a measly five yards on three plays, good for a 55-second possession that gave the ball right back to the Aggies on what would turn out to be their game-winning touchdown drive.
After the game, Brady Russell expressed his frustration with Colorado's inability to do anything productive in the second half.
“That was tough," he said. "It was tough because our defense went out there and played so hard. We put them in so many bad positions as an offense. It’s tough when you’re a leader of that offense and we can’t put anything on the field that’s worth anything."
"I think we showed glimpses of greatness, especially in the first half, but we should be a second half football team. We’re in better condition than them, we’re in better shape — we should be able to run up the score in the second half and we didn’t do any of that. It’s a tough pill to swallow.”
Russell continued:
“It sucked. I was trying to keep the offense up, be positive, I was trying to help keep a good mindset the whole time. I think we had one but we couldn’t put it together on the field. That was pretty miserable watching your defense sell out for you like that ad play. It felt like we were barely on the field in the second half as an offense. Watching them struggle and fight and claw the whole game...they were playing their butts off and we had nothing to show for it. We’ve got a lot to work on next week.”
......
That's probably the best summary there is, via Russell. A tough pill to swallow, indeed. He hit it right on the head. Far from a moral-boosting day at the office from Colorado's offense.
Countless missed opportunities and mishaps plagued the Buffs, offensively speaking, during the 10-7 loss to the Aggies.
There was the interception thrown by Brendon Lewis to Aggies' DL Jayden Peevy, as the former got crushed by pressure while attempting a throw; there was the missed 46-yard field goal by Cole Becker; there was the turnover on downs at Texas A&M's 5-yard line that saw a 66-yard drive go for nothing in the second quarter; and then there was the miserable offensive showing in general in the second half, with Colorado failing to convert a single third down, gaining a pathetic 42 yards on 21 plays.
Even through all that, the Buffs were hanging on by a thread, with a field goal late in the second quarter to Texas A&M remaining the only points allowed by CU well into the fourth quarter.
At the start of the final quarter, the Aggies finally discovered some offensive momentum of their own. Rushes by Isaiah Spiller and Devon Achane slowly got the ball rolling before a 29-yard completion from Zach Calzada to tight end Jalen Wydermyer put the Aggies on Colorado's 20-yard line.
Eventually, Calzada made a dash for the endzone and appeared to get it, but after review, it was ruled that he fumbled the ball diving headfirst, forced by Joshka Gustav and recovered by Mekhi Blackmon.
Colorado wound up starting at its own 35-yard line due to a 15-yard facemask call on Texas A&M moved the ball up from the 20 following the touchback.
It was at that moment, CU had a golden opportunity to put more points on the board or at a minimum, eat some time off the clock.
The Buffaloes wound up going 3-and-out, advancing a measly five yards on three plays, good for a 55-second possession that gave the ball right back to the Aggies on what would turn out to be their game-winning touchdown drive.
After the game, Brady Russell expressed his frustration with Colorado's inability to do anything productive in the second half.
“That was tough," he said. "It was tough because our defense went out there and played so hard. We put them in so many bad positions as an offense. It’s tough when you’re a leader of that offense and we can’t put anything on the field that’s worth anything."
"I think we showed glimpses of greatness, especially in the first half, but we should be a second half football team. We’re in better condition than them, we’re in better shape — we should be able to run up the score in the second half and we didn’t do any of that. It’s a tough pill to swallow.”
Russell continued:
“It sucked. I was trying to keep the offense up, be positive, I was trying to help keep a good mindset the whole time. I think we had one but we couldn’t put it together on the field. That was pretty miserable watching your defense sell out for you like that ad play. It felt like we were barely on the field in the second half as an offense. Watching them struggle and fight and claw the whole game...they were playing their butts off and we had nothing to show for it. We’ve got a lot to work on next week.”
......
That's probably the best summary there is, via Russell. A tough pill to swallow, indeed. He hit it right on the head. Far from a moral-boosting day at the office from Colorado's offense.
