Q&A with CU Independent sports editor

USC’s No. 22-ranked football team returns home this weekend to host the unranked Colorado Buffaloes.

Colorado is led by a young quarterback, Sefo Liufau, and wide receiver Nelson Spruce. The Buffaloes are coached by Mike MacIntyre, who was recently fined $10,000 for arguing with officials after a loss at home to Oregon State — a phenomenon Trojans know a little too well.

Daily Trojan sports editor Aubrey Kragen caught up with Jordyn Siemens, the sports editor of University of Colorado’s Independent, to give Trojan fans an idea of what to expect from the visiting Buffs.

 

Daily Trojan: Colorado quarterback Sefo Liufau took over as the Buffs’ starter midway through last season. How has he improved as a player since then?

CU Independent: Liufau has improved in three major areas this season, from what we at the CU Independent can tell.

The first is chemistry with his receivers; Nelson Spruce and Shay Fields seem to be his go-to guys down the field, but options like D.D. Goodson are also coming out of the shadows. In that sense, his ability to search for options in the pocket has slowly improved.

Second, we discovered this year that Liufau can run. With 47 rushing yards against Colorado State and 72 against Cal two weeks ago, he’s shown that he can circumvent weaknesses of our offensive line by escaping the pocket. He’s no Russell Wilson, but at least he’s trying.

Third, his accuracy is much better this year. We can attribute that to attending Peyton Manning’s quarterback camp last summer, but in reality, this improvement is more related to experience and familiarity with Coach Mac’s plays.

 

DT: Buffs wide receiver Nelson Spruce is averaging 122 receiving yards per game and is tied for the nation’s best mark with 10 touchdowns, but was held to just six catches and 35 yards last week against Oregon State. What did the Beavers do to slow him down and what can we expect to see from him on Saturday?

CUI: The Beavers were smart, watched film, recognized that Spruce was Colorado’s favorite option and doubled up on his coverage. Although they weren’t the first team to do so, Oregon State was the first to maintain double coverage of Spruce throughout the entire game, which forced the Buffs to survey second and third options more deeply than before.

I’m predicting (and hoping as a Buffs fan) that those options were a focus in practice this week, because the secret of Spruce’s talent is out, and we can’t rely on him alone anymore.

DT: USC’s redshirt junior running back Javorius “Buck” Allen is averaging 130.2 rush yards per game. How do you think Colorado’s run defense will contain the Pac-12’s rushing leader?

CUI: Honestly, Colorado’s run defense may not be able to contain Buck Allen. They’ll try hard, guaranteed, but stopping rushes has been their Achilles heel all season.

It’s comforting to know that [linebacker] Addison Gillam and [running back] Christian Powell will play again on Saturday — they’ve been recovering from concussions — but to bank on our defense is simply too risky for Colorado fans.

 

DT: Who will Colorado’s impact player of the game be?

CUI: Shay Fields. Fields has been our second-most successful receiver (257 receiving yards this year), and as I mentioned before, Spruce is guaranteed to battle heavy coverage on Saturday. Also, I’d like to think the freshman will bring his A-game to USC; he was briefly committed to the Trojans in high school before ultimately deciding on becoming a Buff.

 

DT: Prediction?

CUI: As one who bleeds black and gold, I’d love to predict a Colorado win on Saturday, but as a reporter, I don’t think a W will materialize.

The Buffs will play hard and produce a close game but should follow the all-too-familiar trend of losing by a heartbreaking margin. I’d bet on a 31-28 final.