Injuries force O-line shuffling for CU Buffs

MORGANTOWN W Va Moments after the Colorado offensive line ran out of the locker room for pregame warmups Jordan Seaton emerged The star left tackle was in all-black sweats a black mask covering largest part of his face and a walking boot on his right foot Related Articles CU Buffs bowl hopes come to close with loss at West Virginia PHOTOS Colorado School of Mines vs CSU Pueblo Football CSU-Pueblo rallies for stunning comeback win against Colorado School of Mines Keeler If Deion Sanders wants to get CU Buffs back on track he must keep QB Julian Lewis around JuJu Lewis solid in debut start but CU Buffs fall at West Virginia For the first time in his young career the sophomore missed a meeting due to injury and the Buffs certainly missed him West Virginia racked up seven sacks in a - win against the Buffs at Milan Puskar Stadium Freshman quarterback JuJu Lewis was already under selected pressure making his first career start but he also played behind a banged-up offensive line Saturday I mean we knew they were going to send pressure freshman quarterback all that stuff Lewis stated Sounding like a veteran however Lewis didn t point any fingers on the guys up front I ve got to get the ball out faster Lewis reported The O-line did all they could protected up front gave me various time back there and that s why I had what yards or whatever I had I mean O-line did their thing I just got to execute the throws No question not all of the sacks were on the line but injuries didn t help the Buffs In addition to Seaton starting right tackle Larry Johnson III missed the contest due to injury Seaton s replacement Aki Ogunbiyi had played just five snaps all season and then played just three snaps Saturday Ogunbiyi started at left tackle and Yahya Attia at left guard But after the first series both were replaced with Kareem Harden going to left tackle and Xavier Hill to left guard where he had started the first eight games Johnson s replacement at right tackle Andre Roye Jr was benched early in the second quarter after back-to-back penalties Hill then moved over to right tackle where he played the rest of the match and Attia came in at left guard With CU playing a freshman quarterback and shuffling its offensive line West Virginia was aggressive racking up tackles for loss including the seven sacks Ben Bogle and Reid Carrico each had two sacks Despite that Lewis felt the line did a solid job CU finished with just rushing yards but that included the yards lost on sacks Running backs Dre Lon Miller Dallan Hayden and Kam Mikell combined for yards on carries CU s backs had minus- yard on their first six carries but on their last Guys stepped up this week that didn t expect to play Lewis disclosed of the line I m just grateful that they did their thing and I ve just got to do better next time No redshirt plans Saturday was Lewis third contest of the season He could play one more and still maintain a redshirt but if he plays in each of the last two games he ll burn his redshirt year Lewis isn t worried about a redshirt however Oh yeah I want to play football he announced I ve been sitting down all season I mean I m ready to play I m excited The guys are ready to work If we on that I m on that Rough start Kicker Alejandro Mata is on pace to graduate as the largest part accurate field-goal kicker in CU history And just a week ago he set a campaign record with his th consecutive made extra point Mata made a -yard field goal in the second quarter but then pushed an extra point wide right after a Buffs touchdown late in the second quarter That was his first missed extra point since Sept at Oregon Mata nearly missed his next extra point too He pushed that one as well and it hit the upright but it still managed to cross the bar Mata got on track with field goals of and yards in the second half It was just the fourth three-field goal event of Mata s career and his first since Oct at UCLA Notable CU receiver Omarion Miller caught six passes for yards and a touchdown It was his first -yard challenge of the season and he surpassed the -yard mark for his career Joseph Williams also topped the -yard mark for receiving yards in his career He had three catches for yards and a touchdown Saturday With points scored Saturday Mata moved into th place on CU s all-time scoring list with points He is fifth among kickers Dating to last season CU has lost six straight games away from Folsom Field Lewis passing yards were the second-most ever for a CU true freshman in his debut Only Koy Detmer had more with yards against Oklahoma in CU defensive backs John Slaughter and Preston Hodge had their first interceptions of the season CU had intercepted just three passes all season before Saturday