Reeling Buffs face tall task versus No. 8 Cougars
Colorado attempts to reverse its recent slide when the Buffaloes return to Folsom Field on Saturday. Standing in the way, however, is quarterback Gardner Minshew II and No. 8 Washington State.
The Buffs (5-4, 2-4 Pac-12) have lost four consecutive games but could receive a boost with the potential return star wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr.
Colorado’s skid parallels the loss of wide receiver Shenault to a turf toe injury against Southern California. The sophomore was leading the nation with 130.0 receiving yards per game prior to the ailment. In five games, Shenault hauled in 780 yards, while adding 87 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground to give him 11 total scores on the year.
Shenault was considered day-to-day early in the week but was expected to suit up against Washington State. His absence hasn’t been lost on Buffs head coach Mike MacIntyre.
“I think when you take a Heisman trophy candidate out of the picture, it’s a big deal,” MacIntyre said of Shenault.
“If you had taken Rashaan Salaam off the ’94 team, I don’t know — they might still have been really good, they had a lot of great players. But you take a Heisman Trophy candidate out at the time he (Shenault) left, he was leading the country in every category kind of like (Minshew).
“If you take Minshew out, it might change Washington State. We haven’t had our best football player on the field since halfway through the USC game, so he only played five and a half games.”
MacIntyre’s program started the season winners of its first five contests, rising to No. 19 in the AP Top 25. Had the Buffs not stumbled in conference play, the game on Saturday could have potentially been a preview of the Pac-12 title game.
Washington State 10 (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) sits atop the Pac-12 North is coming off a 19-13 win over California. The Cougars’ lone loss on the year came by a field goal on the road at Southern California.
Colorado quarterback Steven Montez sees plenty of improvement and fight left in his Buffs’ teammates.
“We can do a better job,” Montez said. “There are opportunities we’ve left on the field. If we can just take advantage of a few more of those opportunities, we could have another score or two a game and hit 40 (points). Football is a game of inches and we’re just a few inches away.”