Colorado football fell 27-20 to Georgia Tech in a maddening manner, allowing Yellow Jackets’ quarterback Haynes King to run for 156 yards and three touchdowns.
Losing a close game while the opponents run all over you is always tough to stomach, no matter what, but the number of missed opportunities by the Buffaloes will haunt them for the rest of the season. From the back-to-back three-and-outs off consecutive turnovers to the final drive falling into mayhem, it was a rollercoaster night that ended in back pain, rather than elation.
Let’s take some time to review the night, so here’s everything you need to know about the Buffaloes’ close-season opening loss to the Yellow Jackets.
The run defense needs major adjustments
On the first play of the game, Georgia Tech sprung a jet sweep outside for 13 yards, as a collective groan was released from the entire Buffaloes fandom. The run defense was ineffective against King, with weak run fits and an inability to adapt to King’s dominance on the counter-read option. The coaching didn’t do them much favors, seemingly focusing on stopping running back Jamal Haynes at all costs, even if it meant giving King open field.
The Kaidon Salter experience is a wild ride
There were moments in this game where Salter looked like the complete package at quarterback, using his legs to effectively extend plays and run tough in the open field. Look no further than the first touchdown of the season, where he extends and finds DeKalon Taylor for an easy 8-yard touchdown.
Then, some moments left you scratching your head. His lack of accuracy was a significant detriment, and often when he did extend plays, he’d kill them seconds later with a bad throw. Every dropback was a roll of the dice, and tonight, the dice were rolling snake eyes. He also seemingly left many running opportunities go by the wayside instead opting for a difficult throw downfield.
Late-game clock management was malpractice
Only managing to squeeze six plays, two of which were Hail Marys, out of 1:07 and two timeouts is disastrous. The team lost any chance they had left to complete a comeback when they let 30 seconds drain off the clock on a third down, leaving their two timeouts in the stadium. For a team that looks like they’re going to be playing in a lot of close games this year, that kind of mismanagement can’t happen if they want to replicate what they did last season.
Inside run game is the engine of the offense
While the Buffaloes struggled to find much in the outside run game, I was thoroughly impressed with a lot of the inside runs. The primary back for most of those was Micah Welch, who averaged almost six yards per carry, but he only got the ball 11 times. When Welch was clicking and drawing defenders off of Salter, the offense moved down the field with ease. That run game should be relied upon moving forward to give the offense a jump start.
Pass rush didn’t miss a beat
After leading the Big 12 in sacks last year, there were doubts that the Buffaloes could replace that production with a nearly brand-new defensive line. However, for the most part, the group was able to apply pressure on King all night and helped contain the Georgia Tech passing game to only 143 yards. The line let a few opportunities for sacks slip away, so they’ll need to refine their pass rush over the next two games before the start of Big 12 conference play.
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