CU Buffs’ mid-season grades, awards – Boulder Daily Camera

Coughing up a four-touchdown lead and losing at home last week to Stanford certainly wasn’t how the Colorado football team wanted to go into a bye week.

For the Buffaloes, however, the bye week provided an opportunity to step back and regroup for the second half of the season. Technically, the Buffs (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) are already in the second half, but after this week’s bye, they’ll begin the final stretch at No. 25 UCLA on Oct. 28 (5:30 p.m. MT, ABC).

With five games to play, BuffZone has some mid-season grades and awards for a team that’s already exceeded expectations but shows potential to be even better as it makes a push for bowl eligibility.

Grades

Offense: At 34.4 points per game, it’s tough to complain too much with the full body of work on this side of the ball. The Buffs are on pace for the program’s best scoring average since 1995. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders has been sensational and the Buffs have put many of their receiving weapons on display. Still, this is an offense that has much more potential. The run game hasn’t been good all year and Sanders is the most-sacked quarterback in the country. Grade: B-plus.

Defense: In spurts, the Buffs have shown positive signs on defense. They were really good in a win against Nebraska. They were really good in the second half against USC and the first half against Stanford. And, they were good at creating turnovers early in the year. But, they’re next-to-last nationally in yards allowed (473.7 per game) and bottom 10 in points allowed (35.9 per game). They also haven’t forced a turnover in the last two games. Grade: D-minus.

Special teams: They’ve been all over the board in this phase. Mark Vassett has been one of the best punters in the Pac-12, but has had two blocked. On field goals, the Buffs are just 8-of-12 on the season, with one blocked. The Buffs also had an extra point blocked. Kickoffs have been inconsistent, too. Kicker Alejandro Mata has been good overall, though, and booted a game-winning field goal against Arizona State.  Grade: C.

Individual awards

Team MVP: QB Shedeur Sanders. Without him, the Buffs might not be sitting above .500 at this point in the season. He came into this weekend leading the country in passing yards (2,420) and ranking third in touchdown passes (21). More importantly, he’s been the engineer of late-game heroics for the Buffs, leading game-winning drives against TCU, Colorado State and Arizona State.

Top offensive player: WR Xavier Weaver. Since Sanders gets the MVP nod, we’ll go with Weaver for the top offensive player. The Buffs have exceptional skill players, but nobody has been as consistently good as Weaver. He’s among the national leaders in catches (50) and receiving yards (631) and he leads the Buffs in total touchdowns, with six (four receiving, two rushing). Honorable mention: WR Travis Hunter.

Top defensive player: OLB Jordan Domineck. To this point, the Buffs haven’t had anyone on defense prove to be head and shoulders above the others. Domineck, however, has been perhaps CU’s most consistent player. He has posted 27 tackles and leads the team in tackles for loss (7.5) and sacks (3.0). He’s also had three quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery. Honorable mention: S Trevor Woods.

Top special teams player: P Mark Vassett. He’s certainly shown why he was one of the top punters in the ACC last year at Louisville. He’s averaging 44.3 yards per punt and 12 of his 33 punts have pinned the opponent inside the 20-yard line (including three of his last four punts pinning opponents inside the 7-yard line). He’s had 11 punts of 50-plus yards. Honorable mention: PK Alejandro Mata.

Top freshman: RB Dylan Edwards. He had a monster debut in Week 1 against TCU, racking up 159 total yards (135 receiving, 24 rushing) and scoring four touchdowns overall (three receiving, one rushing). He’s been quiet since, with only 308 total yards (226 rushing, 82 receiving) and no touchdowns. But, he’s still CU’s leading rusher for the season and he’s fourth on the team with 23 catches. Honorable mention: CB Carter Stoutmire.

Biggest surprise: RB Anthony Hankerson. Given all the talent CU brought in at running back, Hankerson – the lone scholarship returner from last year at this spot – figured to be buried on the depth chart. He has, at times, been CU’s best running back, however. He’s second on the team in rushing (239 yards) and has the Buffs’ two best individual rushing games.

Clutch individual performance on offense: TE Michael Harrison. He had not made much of an impact in the first two weeks of the season. Then, with CU trailing late against Colorado State in Week 3, he came through. He caught the game-tying two-point conversion with 36 seconds left in regulation. Then, he caught two touchdown passes in overtime as the Buffs rallied for a win.

Clutch individual performance on defense: CB Travis Hunter. His interception against TCU in the opener was a thing of beauty and still arguably the Buffs’ best defensive play this season. CU led 24-21 in the third quarter and TCU had second-and-1 at the Buffs’ 4 when Hunter jumped the pass and picked it off to end that threat.

Best moment: 2-OT win against Colorado State. The debut at TCU was a special day for the program, but the rally against CSU in Week 3 was important – and a thriller on national TV. On a day when they were supposed to dominate, the Buffs were down by 11 in the fourth quarter before rallying to force overtime and then won it in the second extra period. It was only the third time in the last 30 years that CU trailed by two scores with under 10 minutes to play and won the game.

Worst moment: 2-OT loss against Stanford. This one might come back to haunt the Buffs the rest of the season. Heavily favored and up 29-0 at the half, the Buffs coughed up the lead and lost 46-43 in double overtime. It was the largest blown lead in CU history and sent the Buffs reeling into the bye week. How they respond going forward could define the season.