Buffs look to rebound at No. 15 Washington
Colorado looks to avenge its first loss of the season when the Buffaloes hit the road for a second straight week, this time traveling to Seattle to face a Washington team also looking to rebound from a defeat.
The Buffs (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12) and Huskies (5-2, 3-1 Pac-12) meet in a rematch of the 2016 Pac-12 Championship and a contest that could have big implications for both programs’ hopes of returning to the title game this year.
Colorado is coming off a 31-20 loss to USC in a game the Buffs needed in order to put some distance between themselves and the Trojans. Instead, Mike MacIntyre’s now squad trails USC in the standings and is at risk of falling further behind with another flat performance.
“Everybody says it, but it is a reality check,” Buffaloes quarterback Steven Montez said of the team’s first loss. “We always have something to prove just because people don’t look at Colorado and think we are an elite college football team year in and year out. We have had something to prove since the season started.”
This game could easily evolve into a shootout between two of the conference’s top signal callers in Montez and the Huskies’ Jake Browning.
For Colorado, that means not only forcing turnovers, but also converting them into points, something the Buffs couldn’t do once with their three takeaways against USC.
Washington is coming off a 30-27 overtime loss to No. 12 Oregon. Don’t expect the Huskies to hang their heads after the loss. Chris Petersen’s squad is led by a pair of veteran seniors in Browning (250.1 yards per game, 10 touchdowns) and tailback Myles Gaskin (623 rushing yards, five touchdowns).
“I’ve been really impressed with him,” MacIntyre said of Browning. “He’s kind of sneaky on his scrambling ability to get a first down on third-and-6, third-and-5. He’s just able to make plays. He’s a different type of playmaking quarterback.”
Colorado and Washington square off on Saturday afternoon with a rare 1:30 p.m. PST kickoff time.
“Our guys are excited about going and playing at Washington, that’s always a fun place to play and of course an excellent football team, being on FOX national television,” MacIntyre said. “I’m excited about going to the west coast and playing an afternoon game. That’s exciting for our team.”