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Buffs View Loss To Oregon As Missed Opportunity, Look Ahead To Sun Devils

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4)- The CU Buffaloes view their loss to Oregon as a missed opportunity. They know they had a vulnerable Oregon team at Folsom Field.

This week they hit the road to travel to Tempe to play Arizona State. That team is coming off an upset win over UCLA. They know it's going to be a tough task but the Buffs still remain confident they can break their 12-game conference losing streak.

"If I would ask all of you all in the summer, in this last summer, let's say the beginning of June, which would put us in spring practice, that we would be tied at halftime with Oregon and with eight and a half minutes to go it's 31-24 and we've got the ball, how many of you all would have said, 'I'll take that bet, Mike,'" CU Head Coach Mike MacIntyre asked reporters this week.

"So we did not win. That is not good enough whatsoever. But we are improving and we've got to go win games to get over that hump, there is no doubt about it that we've got to go win football games."

Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre
Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre (credit: CBS)

It was Oregon's fifth straight win over Colorado (3-2, 0-1) since the Buffaloes joined the Pac-12 Conference in 2011 — and by far the closest. The Ducks won the previous four meetings by an average of 43.5 points. They entered this game just a touchdown favorite.

"We're just excited and hungry for another win. We had some early wins in the season and we looked good and we missed some opportunities last game and it kind of hurt us but we're ready to get out and get on the Sun Devils," said CU tight end Sean Irwin.

"I think that we're just so frustrated right now and with ourselves mostly because of the way we ended last week, kind of the way we played especially on the offense, the way we started which was really frustrating and the way we ended too which was not the best," said CU quarterback Sefo Liufau. "We just want to go out there and win. We don't want to focus on the past, we think we can do some really good things on the offense against ASU and we just have to be more consistent in terms of taking care of the ball and being able to move the ball up and down the field."

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When asked about Arizona State and their aggressive defense, CU Offensive Coordinator Brian Lindgren replied, "I think it's a thing where we've got to handle their pressure and our quarterback has got to make great decisions with the football. Our offensive line and running backs have got to identify the pressures. I think they're going to hit with some negative plays but at the same time if you can be disciplined and pick it up, you're going to hit them for some big ones as well."

One of the big challenges for Colorado on Saturday is going to be jump starting an offense that only gained 308 yards against Oregon. But CU feels confident going against the Sun Devils because it's a team CU rolled up 500 yards against last year.

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