The No. 10 Colorado Buffaloes rebounded nicely from an ugly win against UCLA, going on to a dominant victory over Arizona last week. But defeating a Wildcats team that is winless in the Pac-12 this year is a much different task than the one they face this week. Quarterback Sefo Liufau and the Buffs know they’re hosting the hottest team in the conference on Saturday when No. 22 Washington State comes to Boulder.
“First and foremost, they’re a very good team,” Liufau told Campus Insiders ahead of the most-anticipated matchup of the season to date. The Cougars, he says, have “very good defense, a very strong front.”
Washington State ranks 20th in the country in rush yards allowed at 116.9 ypg, but Liufau sees something in their secondary that could play to the Buffs’ advantage.
“There’s some things that they show in their secondary – not saying that they’re necessarily a weaker secondary, they’re a very good secondary – but we think there’s some things that we can really attack and that we’re game-planning for this week.”
The Buffs’ passing attack has benefited this season from a strong performance by the offensive line and running back Phillip Lindsay to spread out defenses, which Liufau has been able to capitalize on with wide receiver Shay Fields who is one of the best in the country at stretching the field.
Liufau also responded to some of the criticism the Pac-12 has faced recently that it is one of the weaker conferences within the Power 5.
“I think that it’s a good conference overall, and I think that anyone who came into this conference would have a tough time competing with everyone. On a week-in and week-out basis, there’s no sugar game where you just come out and go, ‘Oh, this is an easy win.'”
Certainly no one, especially Liufau, expects Saturday’s matchup with the Cougars to be any kind of easy.
Colorado and Washington State kick off at 1:30 p.m. in Boulder. The game will be televised nationally on FOX.
