"It’s just another day in the office."
If there's one person on the Colorado Buffaloes' football team that could have an increased ego, it would be star wide receiver Laviska Shenault, who is arguably the top receiver in the nation. However, he completely lives out the "nothing to say, a lot to prove" mantra that the Buffs have this season.
Following the Buffs' 38-16 win over the UCLA Bruins on Friday night, Shenault was asked about being 4-0, and he replied saying that it was just another day in the office.
Keeping that mindset inside the locker room will bode well for the Buffs. They can't start celebrating now. Of course, they can celebrate after a game -- that's different. But patting themselves on the back during the week will not be a good thing for this team.
But for us on the outside looking in on the program, there sure are reasons to get excited. The teams CU has played have had poor records; we all know that. But three of the four games were blowouts, and the one close game was in an epic rivalry game on the road.
The Buffs' are 4-0 for the first time since 1998.
"They just don’t really blink," head coach Mike MacIntyre said postgame. "They are really calm. They keep playing. They are a physical group. They believe in each other. Hopefully we’ll keep doing that down the road."
The story of the UCLA game was how Colorado adjusted defensively. The Buffs allowed just 98 total yards and three points in the second half. MacIntyre praised defensive coordinator DJ Eliot for adjustments made in the second half. The secondary "camouflaged" well and the defensive line did a better job with its stunts.
I thought DJ did a good job if mixing up his pressures," MacIntyre said. "We pressured a little bit more which I thought was good. Those were some of the changes we made. Then he just made a few different calls than we were thinking going in because they had changed a little bit. So he changed up a few of his calls which helped us."
Outside linebacker Drew Lewis had his best game as an outside linebacker for the Buffs. He set the tone with a couple of early sacks, and he also played well when he moved back to inside linebacker in passing situations.
"We brought him some more with some of the things they were doing," said MacIntyre. "He’s mad at himself because he should’ve had a third sack. He should’ve had three in a row. The quarterback is a great athlete and got outside of him one time. Drew is doing really well."
Offensively, quarterback Steven Montez was nearly perfect. He threw for a touchdown and ran for two more. He became the 7th quarterback in CU history to eclipse 5,000 yards passing.
“His work ethic is there," MacIntyre said. "He’s seeing everything now. Kurt (Roper) has done a great job with him on that. He’s always been extremely accurate. He’s stepping up in the pocket and throwing the ball instead of moving out and trying to make a play every time. He’s going to make a bunch of big plays anyway. I’ve been very pleased with that.
"Our receivers are also catching the football when he throws it to them, that’s a big part of his [completion] percentage. They’re making really good catches and pulling balls in. I’m pleased with Steven, he just has to keep doing it."
This Colorado group has a certain feeling around it. With the 4-0 start, the Buffaloes have an outstanding chance to chase a second Pac-12 South title in three years. They're more talented last year, but that may not be the biggest difference in the turnaround. This group is a lot closer as a unit.
“Their brotherhood. Their closeness," said MacIntyre. "That’s not just something (I’ve noticed), I’m having parents tell me about it, kids tell me about it, auxiliary people tell me about throughout the building. Their mental toughness. A lot of that I credit to our coaching staff and our captains and [Director of Football Strength and Conditioning] Drew Wilson and the strength staff for holding them accountable, and the culture of our program in going to class, all of that matters.
"I thought we were physically tough tonight. That’s what we need to do in the Pac-12, that’s another dimension we need to keep getting better at and I thought we did. The main thing I’ve seen though is just their brotherhood. It’s really unique. Nobody’s getting on each other (in a bad way), everybody is helping each other. Nobody is panicking, everybody is just playing. Same thing with the coaching staff, everybody is under control, everybody is working well. It’s a unique thing to see. We’ll have some hard situations ahead, but hopefully we’ll be able to fight through those and do the same thing again."
