Cal Football: 5 Questions about Colorado for the Buffaloes' Beat Writer
Today we welcome Brian Howell, who covers Colorado for the Daily Camera of Boulder, Colorado, and will share his knowledge about the Buffaloes by answering our five questions.
Colorado (2-4, 1-2 Pac-12), which visits Memorial Stadium on Saturday to face Cal (1-5, 0-3), is coming off a 34-0 rout of winless Arizona. In the video above, we ask Brian whether that result is indicative of CU's improvement or the Wildcats' downtrodden status.
The Buffaloes are playing in Berkeley for just the fourth time and have never beaten Cal here. The Bears won 33-12 three years ago but had to sweat out a 59-56 victory in their previous trip to the Bay Area back in 2014.
Brian Howell talks in the video above about the Colorado offense, which had scored just 34 points total in consecutive losses to Texas A&M, Minnesota, Arizona State and USC before breaking loose to score 34 against Arizona.
What have been the Buffaloes' issues on offense and is it possible they are beginning to turn a corner?
We talk in the video above about running back Jarek Broussard, the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year in 2020. He rushed for 895 yards in six games last season - including 301 against Arizona - but has not been nearly as productive so far this season.
Through six games in 2021, Broussard has just 309 yards. What has led to such a significant drop-off?
Is wide receiver Brenden Rice an emerging star? He caught 3 passes for 111 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown, last week against Arizona. And a year ago, as a true freshman, he caught a TD pass and returned a punt 81 yards for a score against Utah.
Oh, by the way, Brenden is the son of San Francisco 49ers legend and Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice.
Brian talks about the Buffaloes' young wideout in the video above.
For all its struggles on offense, Colorado's defense has been stout. The Buffaloes rank second in the Pac-12 in scoring defense and lead the conference in red-zone defense.
Their secondary is very good and linebacker Carson Wells has 16 tackles for loss already the season.
But the headliner on the Colorado defense is inside linebacker Nate Landman, a senior from Monte Vista High School in the East Bay community of Danville. Landman, a two-time All-Pac-12 selection, enters Saturday's game with 377 career tackles and 42 tackles for loss.
Cover photo of Colorado linebacker Nate Landman by Ron Chenoy, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
