Buffs looking for more leadership on offense
/ The Denver Post
There are a lot of things needed for the Colorado Buffaloes to turn their season around on offense.
Head coach Karl Dorrell addressed one of those areas on Sunday when he fired offensive line coach Mitch Rodrigue. On Monday, he agreed with freshman receiver Brenden Rice, who said after Saturday’s 26-3 loss at California that “the people that are leading the offense, their voices aren’t heard enough or loud enough.”
The loss to Cal dropped the Buffs to 2-5 (1-3 Pac-12) and the offense now ranks among the worst in the country in major statistical categories. CU plays at No. 7 Oregon (6-1, 3-1) on Saturday in Eugene, Ore. (1:30 p.m. MT, TV: Fox).
“Yeah, we do need more player leaders, for sure,” Dorrell said during his weekly press conference. “Most of our playing experience — veterans — are on the defensive side. Kary (Kutsch), our starting left guard, is really our oldest player, and he’s been playing really the most consistent of anybody up front on the offensive line, but Kary doesn’t say much. He lets his leadership work by example, with how hard he plays and how proficient he is, but we do have some good young leaders.”
Dorrell said he’s trying to encourage all players, regardless of their age, to step up and take some leadership.
“There’s no age standard to become a leader,” Dorrell said. “Let’s not wait to be a senior to lead. Leadership takes guys doing the right things and keeping guys accountable to doing the right things. We need more guys to step up and do those things.”
Dorrell said there are some natural leaders on defense, but “it’s been more of a challenge” on offense. In addition to Kutsch, Dorrell mentioned tight end Brady Russell and quarterback Brendon Lewis stepping up as leaders at times.”
Linebacker Nate Landman left Saturday’s game late in the fourth quarter with an injury and did not practice Monday.
“Nate was a little sore, so he might be down for a little bit,” Dorrell said. “He’s got some soft tissue injuries that he’s dealing with right now, so we’re hoping that he’s feeling better a little bit later in the week.”
Running back Jarek Broussard limped off the field Saturday, as well, but did practice a bit on Monday.
Dorrell said Landman and Broussard are both “a little sore” following the game against the Bears.
Notes
On Monday, the Pac-12 announced that CU’S game against Oregon State, on Nov. 6 at Folsom Field, will kick off at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network. … Receiver La’vontae Shenault, who has been suspended for the last six games for a violation of team rules, has been reinstated and is expected to play against Oregon on Saturday. Shenault has been working with the scout team recently but returned to practice with the offense on Monday. … Backup quarterback Drew Carter is “really starting to season up his game and has a better understanding (of the offense),” Dorrell said.
DENVER — Avalanche defenseman Sam Girard could miss Tuesday’s game against the visiting Vegas Golden Knights with a possible head or shoulder injury after being awkwardly checked into the boards by Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos in overtime on Saturday night.
Avs coach Jared Bednar said Girard, who did not practice Monday, is “sore” but only “day-to-day.”
Late in overtime Saturday, Girard turned up ice with the puck against the sideboards and was crushed by the trailing Stamkos. Girard was helped off the ice by a trainer before throwing his helmet into the bench and walking to the locker room. He did not return in Colorado’s 4-3 shootout victory that snapped a three-game losing streak.
Stamkos’ check was unpenalized and the NHL Department of Player Safety has not flagged it.
“I didn’t love the hit. But it is what it is and we’ve got to move on,’ Bednar said Monday. “I’m sure the league looked at it and decided that it was good. Just a dangerous situation. He’s in an awkward spot.”
Bednar added: “I would have liked to see the penalty called on the play. They didn’t call it and we played through it.”
Stamkos’ hit was similar to the one Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog made on Chicago’s Kirby Dach in the Oct. 13 season opener. Landeskog was given a boarding minor on the play and was suspended for two games the following day.
Landeskog probably had more time to realize Dach, who was on one knee, was in a vulnerable position. Stamkos was closer to Girard when the latter became vulnerable.
Still, the plays are so similar that the Avs wanted to see consistency in how the NHLDOPS operates.
“It’s almost like I’m used to it right now,” oft-suspended Avalanche center Nazem Kadri said Monday. “So nothing really surprises me anymore. I understand it’s a difficult job but definitely, there has to be some sort of consistency.”
The Avalanche (2-3) faces the Golden Knights (1-4) in their first meeting since Game 6 of a second-round West Division playoff series in June. Vegas, which tied Colorado with a league-high 82 points in the shortened 56-game regular season, rallied from an 0-2 series deficit to eliminate the Avs by winning four straight games.
The Knights are currently without injured forwards Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty. They lost 2-0 on Sunday night to the visiting New York Islanders and bring a four-game losing streak into Denver.
“They’re going through a little bit of some stuff that we’re going through with guys out of the lineup,” Bednar said of the Knights. “The margin of error to winning hockey games becomes narrower. I watched them play (Sunday) and then they played hard, they played well, and a bounce one way rather than the other, they could have won the hockey game.
“They still have a lot of really good players and it’s a really good team, a deep team. We have to continue to build on what we did in Tampa. It was a really good game from us. They’ll be a hungry team, for sure.”
Notable
Bednar said defenseman Devon Toews has been cleared for controlled contact. Toews underwent offseason shoulder surgery and could make his season debut this week. Colorado visits the St. Louis Blues on Thursday and hosts the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. … Avs winger Valeri Nichushkin, who suffered an upper-body injury in the opener and has not played in the last four games, skated on his own Monday. Goalie Pavel Francouz is also skating while recovering from a lower-body injury.