BuffZone writer Pat Rooney discusses three topics on CU Buffs athletics as the surging football team takes aim at Utah and the basketball teams hit the second week of the regular season.

A clean act

The rise of the Colorado defense and the steady improvement of the offensive line have taken the spotlight in the Buffaloes’ rise to the forefront of the Big 12 Conference race.

As they should. But head coach Deion Sanders deserves credit for getting the Buffs to play a much cleaner brand of football.

Yes, the Buffaloes still lead the Big 12 in penalty yards. CU piled up another 106 penalty yards on 14 flags during Saturday’s win at Texas Tech. The Buffs’ 70.3 penalty yards per game is the most in the Big 12. However, they have eliminated many of the crippling type of fouls that have marked the Buffs of recent seasons, like the false starts on third-and-1, or the holding calls that nullify third-down conversions. Truth be told, the penalty yards recently have been padded by issues such as taunting calls.

CU is doing all the little things necessary for championship runs. While the Buffs continue to try to rein in their own penalties, they lead the Big 12 in forcing penalties out of the opposition (CU’s 72.3 yards per game in opposing penalties leads by a wide margin; Baylor is second at 57.7). CU still boasts the top red zone defense in the league, with foes converting at a rate of just 70.6%. The Buffs’ turnover margin of plus-7 is tied for third.

One remaining weakness that needs addressing if the Buffs hope to keep stampeding through December might be kickoff coverage. A big return by the Red Raiders on the opening kickoff sparked Texas Tech’s hot start, and another late in the first half gave Texas Tech a shot at a last-second field goal that was off target.

The Buffs might be favored in each of the final three regular season games. If CU keeps limiting the impact penalties while continuing to dominate the turnover battle and the red zone, an upset will be unlikely.

Big break

Any special season in any sport requires a few fortuitous breaks along the way. The CU football team received one unexpectedly from the Big 12 schedule-makers.

In a 16-team league, the Buffs (and everyone else) will miss playing six opponents every season. The two biggest pleasant surprises in the league, in terms of where they were picked compared to where they currently stand, are BYU (picked 13th but in sole possession of first) and Arizona State, which was picked last in the preseason coaches poll but is among four teams tied for third at 4-2 within the league. The Buffs don’t play either of them. Next in line on that list, to a lesser extent, are Iowa State and West Virginia. The Buffs don’t play either of them. The bottom five teams in the Big 12 all are on the Buffs’ schedule, and four of them (Utah, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Arizona) were picked in the top five of the preseason poll.

More importantly, the final three games of the regular season — home this week against Utah, at Kansas, and home against Oklahoma State — looked like an immensely challenging November grind before the season. Instead, Utah, the preseason favorite, is 1-5 after losing quarterback Cam Rising. Kansas has struggled to a 2-4 league mark, and Oklahoma State has been even worse at 0-7.

None of that is CU’s fault, of course. All the Buffs can do is line up against the foe across from them and compete, and they’ve done just that. But the schedule in an unpredictable Big 12 has turned into an unexpected boon.

Autumn chill

Both of CU’s basketball teams are off to frigid starts from long range. But it’s far too early to panic.

The CU men missed their first eight 3-pointers of the season before getting hot late in an opening win against Eastern Washington. Then the Buffs went 5-for-18 from the arc in a double-overtime win against Northern Colorado. CU will take a .341 3-point mark into Wednesday’s home date against Cal State Fullerton.

The CU women went 0-for-17 on 3-pointers during a loss on Sunday at Boise State, lowering the Buffs’ 3-point percentage to .170 (8-for-47) through the first three games.

The men’s shooting struggles haven’t been nearly as dramatic, and proven long-range shooters like veteran guards Julian Hammond III and Javon Ruffin (both 1-for-5 on 3s), plus graduate transfer Andrej Jakimovski (1-for-8) are all but certain to heat up after slow starts. The CU women have played two of their first three games in tough road environments (Boise State, Wyoming) and have played without fifth-year wing Frida Formann, the program’s all-time leader in made 3-pointers.

The men will heat up soon from the arc, especially with two more home games ahead of the three-game trip to the Maui Invitational. But the women need to develop a dependable long-range option until Formann returns.