Colorado's locker room was undoubtedly filled with frustration and disappointment following Saturday's 10-7 loss to Texas A&M, a game in which the Buffaloes led — albeit not by much — for the overwhelming majority of the time.
Without question, a number of plays, sequences and events will be put under the microscope in the aftermath of such a tough loss.
For starters, the 42 total yards CU gained on 21 second half plays (six drives) that resulted in five punts and a turnover on downs in the Buffaloes' final possession of the game certainly comes to mind.
A missed field goal by Cole Becker from 46 yards out in the second quarter does, as well.
But in particular, later in the second half, Karl Dorrell opted to go for a 4th and 1 on Texas A&M's 5-yard line on a promising drive that had moved 66 yards upfield by that time.
Brendon Lewis attempted a quarterback sneak up the middle on 3rd and 1 for no gain and on the next play, the Buffs tried it again to no avail, turning the ball over to the Aggies.
Following the game, Dorrell defended the decision to go for it in that moment.
“I’ll do it again," Dorrell said. "When I was a playcaller — I know I’m not calling plays right now — but I encourage that. I want us to be aggressive."
While Dorrell did not comment on going with two consecutive quarterback keepers up the middle, he was remorseless in general when it came to looking for seven points as opposed to three via a chip shot field goal.
"We want to be aggressive, particularly in games like this, where you need touchdowns more than field goals," he said. "I’ve learned that lesson in the NFL so much. Field goals, when you’re playing against really great teams, don’t amount to anything because you need touchdowns to win."
"We needed touchdowns and we knew that in this game we needed touchdowns. That was an opportunity and I’ll probably do that a lot. You’ll see it. If we’re down that deep and it’s 4th and 1. I have a lot of confidence that this offense can get it.”
That drive that saw Colorado turn it over on downs to the Aggies at the 5-yard line proved to be the high-water mark of the offense for the rest of the afternoon.
The Buffs made it into Texas A&M territory just one more time — to the Aggies' 43-yard line, which also came in the second quarter — but once the second half came around, CU failed to move past its own 40-yard line a single time.
Still, Dorrell commented that he didn't want too much weight being put on the turnover on downs.
"I don’t want to scrutinize that as being the difference in the game," Dorrell said. "It really wasn’t. There were a number of plays that could have been the difference in the game."
Regardless of where one points their finger as being the "difference in the game," the disappointment felt by Dorrell and his players alike was hard to miss.
"We lost a really tough game where we should have had a great chance to win," Dorrell said. "That’s really the bottom line and that’s the way I expressed it with this team. I don’t want to look at it any differently than that. We’ve got a lot to fix, a lot in every area. I’ll be the first to tell you what that is. But there’s no excuses. We’ve got to perform better and win those games.”
.....
Wanted to share Dorrell's thoughts on that sequence because obviously it was and will be much scrutinized. I'll post HCKD's press conference video as soon as I can/it comes out. He was...a bit heated, as you might imagine. Lots of finger wagging at the media for how we'll spin things or "conjuring it up the way you see it," as Dorrell put it, with respect to how the media will report the game.
I get it. Tough loss. As for what Dorrell had to say on the 4th and 1 attempt — go for it. That's fine. But two QB sneaks in a row? No Jayle Stacks to lead block? The problem was with the playcall, not the decision to go for it outright.
Without question, a number of plays, sequences and events will be put under the microscope in the aftermath of such a tough loss.
For starters, the 42 total yards CU gained on 21 second half plays (six drives) that resulted in five punts and a turnover on downs in the Buffaloes' final possession of the game certainly comes to mind.
A missed field goal by Cole Becker from 46 yards out in the second quarter does, as well.
But in particular, later in the second half, Karl Dorrell opted to go for a 4th and 1 on Texas A&M's 5-yard line on a promising drive that had moved 66 yards upfield by that time.
Brendon Lewis attempted a quarterback sneak up the middle on 3rd and 1 for no gain and on the next play, the Buffs tried it again to no avail, turning the ball over to the Aggies.
Following the game, Dorrell defended the decision to go for it in that moment.
“I’ll do it again," Dorrell said. "When I was a playcaller — I know I’m not calling plays right now — but I encourage that. I want us to be aggressive."
While Dorrell did not comment on going with two consecutive quarterback keepers up the middle, he was remorseless in general when it came to looking for seven points as opposed to three via a chip shot field goal.
"We want to be aggressive, particularly in games like this, where you need touchdowns more than field goals," he said. "I’ve learned that lesson in the NFL so much. Field goals, when you’re playing against really great teams, don’t amount to anything because you need touchdowns to win."
"We needed touchdowns and we knew that in this game we needed touchdowns. That was an opportunity and I’ll probably do that a lot. You’ll see it. If we’re down that deep and it’s 4th and 1. I have a lot of confidence that this offense can get it.”
That drive that saw Colorado turn it over on downs to the Aggies at the 5-yard line proved to be the high-water mark of the offense for the rest of the afternoon.
The Buffs made it into Texas A&M territory just one more time — to the Aggies' 43-yard line, which also came in the second quarter — but once the second half came around, CU failed to move past its own 40-yard line a single time.
Still, Dorrell commented that he didn't want too much weight being put on the turnover on downs.
"I don’t want to scrutinize that as being the difference in the game," Dorrell said. "It really wasn’t. There were a number of plays that could have been the difference in the game."
Regardless of where one points their finger as being the "difference in the game," the disappointment felt by Dorrell and his players alike was hard to miss.
"We lost a really tough game where we should have had a great chance to win," Dorrell said. "That’s really the bottom line and that’s the way I expressed it with this team. I don’t want to look at it any differently than that. We’ve got a lot to fix, a lot in every area. I’ll be the first to tell you what that is. But there’s no excuses. We’ve got to perform better and win those games.”
.....
Wanted to share Dorrell's thoughts on that sequence because obviously it was and will be much scrutinized. I'll post HCKD's press conference video as soon as I can/it comes out. He was...a bit heated, as you might imagine. Lots of finger wagging at the media for how we'll spin things or "conjuring it up the way you see it," as Dorrell put it, with respect to how the media will report the game.
I get it. Tough loss. As for what Dorrell had to say on the 4th and 1 attempt — go for it. That's fine. But two QB sneaks in a row? No Jayle Stacks to lead block? The problem was with the playcall, not the decision to go for it outright.
