HOUSTON — Staub in the dark, here, but maybe the Buffs are just … soft?
CU put on the mother of all arm-tackling clinics Friday night at Houston. The Buffs couldn’t wrap if you handed them a bucket of Amazon.com gift cards.
Short version, in case you missed it: Cougars quarterback Conner Weigman set a new collegiate-best in rushing yards. He got there by halftime.
After the opening 15 minutes, the Buffs trailed 10-0 and were losing the rushing battle by a count of 92-3. Houston’s first-quarter rushing average: 8.4 per tote. CU’s: 0.6.
The Cougars had managed more on the ground after a quarter than Delaware had put together for all of the previous week at Folsom Field (84).
If Georgia Tech was a sign, Houston showed a pattern. With seven minutes left, the hosts had run for 200 yards while killing the clock and salting away a 19-point lead.
Haynes King? Unless something changes, Robert Livingston’s defense is going to make every QB1 with legs look like the second coming of Georgia Tech’s senior signal-caller.
There will be rage. There will be spin. True, Houston drove to at least the CU 35 on five of the Cougars’ first six drives. True, of those trips, they settled for a field goal four times and only crossed the end zone once.
On the other hand, Houston drove to the CU 35 five times in the first quarter and change. The Buffs aren’t just living dangerously. They’ve signed a 10-year lease.
Shedeur-to-Travis papered quite a few cracks the last two seasons. Take that away, and the foundation leaks. CU’s first four offensive drives amassed 32 net yards. Its last two, led largely by Ryan Staub and at tempo, piled up 181 late in the second quarter.
Staub remains a fascinating, mixed bag of tricks. He isn’t going to wow you in NFL Combine drills. Then again, nobody’s come up with a perfect metric for vision or for gut feel.
No. 16 looks like a walk-on when the defense stacks the box or the pace is pedestrian. But the 2-minute drill is to Staub what spinach is to Popeye the Sailor.
Staub finally opened up a can with 1:02 left in the first half. On third-and-2 at the CU 20, the Buffs QB hurried left with seemingly the entire Houston defense in pursuit, spotted Omarion Miller just past the line of scrimmage, and shoveled him the ball before the red jerseys closed in. Miller did the rest, turning the improvisation into a 36-yard gain to the Houston 44.
On the next play, Staub sent the outside guys deep and dumped it again, this time to running back Micah Welch for 25. Two plays later, an Elway-esque drive finished with a Bronco-ish exclamation point. Staub saw his receivers covered, tucked and ran from the CU 19 almost untouched to the end zone. From there, he dove with the ball, got flipped as he crossed the plane, and lost possession for what the Big 12 ruled as an 18-yard gain and fumble. Tight end Zach Atkins, head on a swivel, astutely smothered the rock to preserve the score and push CU to within 16-13 before the extra point.
But once Houston established both sides of the line of scrimmage, the rest of the tilt became academic.
When mortals play behind this Buffs’ offensive line, they look mortal.
CU ran it three times to lead off its first four drives. Welch lost two yards twice, with DeKalon Taylor for nada sandwiched in between. Three carries, minus-4 net.
Maybe running it up the middle on first down every play is getting predictable? The Buffs’ average second-down distance through three quarters was 10.4 yards to go.
Too much hole. Not enough talent.
After the Buffs’ opening drive stalled at midfield, leading to a nifty Damon Graves punt that pinned Houston to its own 3, the hosts got out the cleavers and went to work.
Run for 8. Pass for 16. Run for 1. Run for 7. Pass for 9. Pass for 22. It took six plays, but the Buffs forced an incompletion on first down from their own 34 to elicit a second-and-10, then harried Weigman on back-to-back dropbacks to force a 52-yard field goal attempt.
On the Cougars’ second crack, Weigman went full King, breaking one tackle and finding nothing but Texas prairie in front of him for a 49-yard gain.
From there, the Buffs were on the back foot again. From the Buffs’ 30, Houston needed only four plays to seal the deal, thanks to a 16-yard floater from Weigman to Amare Thomas and a 4-yard roughing-the-passer giving the hosts a first-and-goal at the CU 4.
Connors followed a phalanx of red jerseys into the end zone for a 9-0 cushion. It won’t matter who’s behind center for Coach Prime if his defense can’t cowboy up.
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