Photo Courtesy: John Martinez Pavliga
We waited a long time to get another victory in the Pac-12! The Buffaloes pulled off a tight win because OSU wasn’t about to lay down at home. For a second I thought, “here we go again! We played hard but at the end we gave another one away!” The last conference win came in 2013 when the Buffs beat Cal 41-24 in Boulder. It seemed as if a boulder was lifted off of the program when the guys had not won a conference game since then. Here’s our break down on the Buffs win.
Buffaloes Offense
The offense performed alright behind Sefo Liufau’s courageous play at QB. He finished the game with 140 yards passing and was responsible for two scores one passing and the other rushing. If you are a Buffs fan it felt pretty good not seeing our QB being picked up off the turf every other play. It plays a great deal in any player’s psyche to be able to control the game in any capacity. I was proud of the O-line, even though the guys are makeshift, they continue to believe in the man next to them. The running game was effective. The Buffs looked really good Saturday.
Buffaloes Defense
The defense played well in spite of giving up 122 yards to OSU Ryan Nall. Some of the defensive lineman played, well… uninspired at times. Oregon State was picked to finish last in the Pac-12 North because of recruiting and first year coach Gary Anderson. Experts also picked the Buffs to finish last in the Pac-12 South. The D-Line played up to expectations when the Beavers started rotating QBs throughout the game. I was well pleased to see containment in the secondary as well as the line play by the guys.
I believe at 4-4, 1-3 in conference the Buffaloes should be able to be selected for a bowl game. They have to make the choice to become more smash mouth on defense to be recognized as a serious team. The offense looked a lot better during Saturday’s game but they have to put it together in crucial times to get a string a wins! UCLA is next.. Will the Buffs get a win or get beat by the 24th ranked team in the country.
