Keeler: Deion Sanders’ CU Buffs couldn’t escape hard truth at Houston: They’re soft

HOUSTON Staub in the dark here but maybe the Buffs are just soft CU put on the mother of all arm-tackling clinics Friday night at Houston On a night they desperately needed to wrap up the defense gave Christmas gift after Christmas gift Short version in matter you missed it Cougars quarterback Conner Weigman set a new collegiate-best in rushing yards He got there by halftime After the opening minutes the Buffs trailed - and were losing the rushing battle by a count of - Houston s first-quarter rushing average per tote CU s The Cougars had managed more on the ground after a quarter than Delaware had put together for all of the previous week at Folsom Field If Georgia Tech was a sign Houston evidenced a pattern With seven minutes left the hosts had run for yards while killing the clock and salting away a -point lead Haynes King Unless something changes Robert Livingston s defense is going to make every QB with legs look like the second coming of Georgia Tech s senior signal-caller There will be rage There will be spin True Houston drove to at least the CU on five of the Cougars first six drives True of those trips they settled for a field goal four times and only crossed the end zone once On the other hand Houston drove to the CU five times in the first quarter and change The Buffs aren t just living dangerously They ve signed a -year lease Shedeur-to-Travis papered quite a minimal cracks the last two seasons Take that away and the foundation leaks CU s first four offensive drives amassed net yards Its last two led largely by Ryan Staub and at tempo piled up late in the second quarter Staub remains a fascinating mixed bag of tricks He isn t going to wow you in NFL Combine drills Then again nobody s come up with a perfect metric for vision or for gut feel No looks like a walk-on when the defense stacks the box or the pace is pedestrian But the -minute drill is to Staub what spinach is to Popeye the Sailor Staub definitively opened up a can with left in the first half On third-and- at the CU the Buffs QB hurried left with seemingly the entire Houston defense in pursuit spotted Omarion Miller just past the line of scrimmage and shoveled him the ball before the red jerseys closed in Miller did the rest turning the improvisation into a -yard gain to the Houston On the next play Staub sent the outside guys deep and dumped it again this time to running back Micah Welch for Two plays later an Elway-esque drive finished with a Bronco-ish exclamation point Staub saw his receivers covered tucked and ran from the CU almost untouched to the end zone From there he dove with the ball got flipped as he crossed the plane and lost possession for what the Big ruled as an -yard gain and fumble Tight end Zach Atkins head on a swivel astutely smothered the rock to preserve the tally and push CU to within - before the extra point But once Houston established both sides of the line of scrimmage the rest of the tilt became academic When mortals play behind this Buffs offensive line they look mortal CU ran it three times to lead off its first four drives Welch lost two yards twice with DeKalon Taylor for nada sandwiched in between Three carries minus- net Maybe running it up the middle on first down every play is getting predictable The Buffs average second-down distance through three quarters was yards to go Too much hole Not enough talent After the Buffs opening drive stalled at midfield leading to a nifty Damon Graves punt that pinned Houston to its own the hosts got out the cleavers and went to work Related Articles Ryan Staub s long possessed game-altering confidence Now CU quarterback could alter Buffs season CU Buffs vs Houston Cougars football How to watch storylines and staff predictions Buffs notes Brandon Davis-Swain making impression on defensive line Buffs notes Ben Finneseth relishing opportunity as starter Starting or not Ryan Staub brought different vigor to Buffs Run for Pass for Run for Run for Pass for Pass for It took six plays but the Buffs forced an incompletion on first down from their own to elicit a second-and- then harried Weigman on back-to-back dropbacks to force a -yard field goal attempt On the Cougars second crack Weigman went full King developing one tackle and finding nothing but Texas prairie in front of him for a -yard gain From there the Buffs were on the back foot again From the Buffs Houston needed only four plays to seal the deal thanks to a -yard floater from Weigman to Amare Thomas and a -yard roughing-the-passer giving the hosts a first-and-goal at the CU Connors followed a phalanx of red jerseys into the end zone for a - cushion It won t matter who s behind center for Coach Prime if his defense can t cowboy up Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams