As @BuffaLaw8487 alluded to in a recently-made post, Arizona is my no means a conference giant that the Buffs just took down. The Wildcats stink, plain and simple. However, that is a team that kept things closed for much of its eventual loss to Oregon and also held a talented BYU team in check.
The Wildcats ranked No. 62 in the nation in total defense heading into Saturday — no great but far from terrible.
Simply put, CU should feel good about getting a win today and its offense should gain a lot of confidence after finally turning in a coherent, fairly effective performance against an FBS opponent.
Critical to that happening was the play of Brendon Lewis:
Colorado’s 34-0 rout of Arizona Saturday without question featured the best collegiate performance of second-year freshman quarterback Brendon Lewis to date.
For the first time this season, he was able to shed the crippling hesitation to heave the ball downfield that had plagued him at many turns throughout the season.
On the Buffs’ second snap of the game, he took a deep shot downfield to Brenden Rice that was completed, good for a 31-yard gain.
Lewis and Rice would eventually connect a total of three times for 111 yards, including a perfectly placed ball down the right sideline that went for 62 yards and a touchdown.
For a program on a month-long skid, a win was going to be a win no matter how it went down.
But chalking one up in a manner that featured Lewis taking some tangible steps in the right direction, as far as his ability to play the quarterback position in college, should bode well for a Buffaloes team with a bit more confidence than they had a week ago.
“There’s no question in my mind that he’s going to be all in about continuing to stay on that path of playing really good football,” Karl Dorrell said after the win. “That’s going to help everybody. Everybody’s going to be energized by it and I think we’re in a good spot right now about building off of this week and moving forward as we move through the season.”
When the clocks read all zeroes, Lewis had completed 12-of-19 passes for 248 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air — a welcomed change of pace for him given he had failed to throw for more than 100 yards in three of CU’s five games leading into Saturday.
While the Twittersphere and greater Buff Nation had no shortage of criticism for Lewis — much valid, some not — he indicated that it hasn’t been something he’s paid attention to.
Whether that is actually true or not, connecting with his wide receivers for some chunky gains as well as tossing a few touchdown passes is sure to do much for his morale and confidence level.
“I was able to keep my head up because of the support my teammates and coaches have shown me throughout this adversity that we’ve gotten,” Lewis said. “They really helped me, they all had my back and they helped me continue to grow. I feel like their help tremendously helped me keep my head up and not get too down.”
Lewis connected with six different wide receivers Saturday and had three completions of at least 25 yards.
He could have added another 25-yard-plus completion as well as an additional touchdown when he hit Stanley right in the chest near the back of the endzone in the first quarter, but Stanley was unable to make the catch.
He later atoned for his drop, connecting with Lewis for an 11-yard score in the fourth quarter.
While Dorrell noted with a laugh that he’ll be reminding Lewis of a few instances of holding onto the ball too long during Saturday’s win, his freshman signal caller has finally shown he can perform in a manner similar to his Valero Alamo Bowl appearance that generated so much excitement last December.
“I feel good about B-Lew’s progress today,” Dorrell said. “I felt good with what he was doing the last couple of weeks and that it was going to be a matter of time (before) he starts to feel very confident in what he can do. He has some receivers who made some terrific plays but he made some terrific throws.”
“I really felt good about that progress that we worked on in getting him more foundationally set and doing some really, really good things for us offensively.”
.....
Big confidence-builder for Lewis in particular. No doubt about it.
The Wildcats ranked No. 62 in the nation in total defense heading into Saturday — no great but far from terrible.
Simply put, CU should feel good about getting a win today and its offense should gain a lot of confidence after finally turning in a coherent, fairly effective performance against an FBS opponent.
Critical to that happening was the play of Brendon Lewis:
Colorado’s 34-0 rout of Arizona Saturday without question featured the best collegiate performance of second-year freshman quarterback Brendon Lewis to date.
For the first time this season, he was able to shed the crippling hesitation to heave the ball downfield that had plagued him at many turns throughout the season.
On the Buffs’ second snap of the game, he took a deep shot downfield to Brenden Rice that was completed, good for a 31-yard gain.
Lewis and Rice would eventually connect a total of three times for 111 yards, including a perfectly placed ball down the right sideline that went for 62 yards and a touchdown.
For a program on a month-long skid, a win was going to be a win no matter how it went down.
But chalking one up in a manner that featured Lewis taking some tangible steps in the right direction, as far as his ability to play the quarterback position in college, should bode well for a Buffaloes team with a bit more confidence than they had a week ago.
“There’s no question in my mind that he’s going to be all in about continuing to stay on that path of playing really good football,” Karl Dorrell said after the win. “That’s going to help everybody. Everybody’s going to be energized by it and I think we’re in a good spot right now about building off of this week and moving forward as we move through the season.”
When the clocks read all zeroes, Lewis had completed 12-of-19 passes for 248 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air — a welcomed change of pace for him given he had failed to throw for more than 100 yards in three of CU’s five games leading into Saturday.
While the Twittersphere and greater Buff Nation had no shortage of criticism for Lewis — much valid, some not — he indicated that it hasn’t been something he’s paid attention to.
Whether that is actually true or not, connecting with his wide receivers for some chunky gains as well as tossing a few touchdown passes is sure to do much for his morale and confidence level.
“I was able to keep my head up because of the support my teammates and coaches have shown me throughout this adversity that we’ve gotten,” Lewis said. “They really helped me, they all had my back and they helped me continue to grow. I feel like their help tremendously helped me keep my head up and not get too down.”
Lewis connected with six different wide receivers Saturday and had three completions of at least 25 yards.
He could have added another 25-yard-plus completion as well as an additional touchdown when he hit Stanley right in the chest near the back of the endzone in the first quarter, but Stanley was unable to make the catch.
He later atoned for his drop, connecting with Lewis for an 11-yard score in the fourth quarter.
While Dorrell noted with a laugh that he’ll be reminding Lewis of a few instances of holding onto the ball too long during Saturday’s win, his freshman signal caller has finally shown he can perform in a manner similar to his Valero Alamo Bowl appearance that generated so much excitement last December.
“I feel good about B-Lew’s progress today,” Dorrell said. “I felt good with what he was doing the last couple of weeks and that it was going to be a matter of time (before) he starts to feel very confident in what he can do. He has some receivers who made some terrific plays but he made some terrific throws.”
“I really felt good about that progress that we worked on in getting him more foundationally set and doing some really, really good things for us offensively.”
.....
Big confidence-builder for Lewis in particular. No doubt about it.
