After suffering through the worst year ever for Colorado Buffaloes football in 2012, perhaps it is still a bit too early to hope for an easy win. Easy or not, though, Mike MacIntyre's Buffs improved their season record to 2-0 after scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter to come back from a 7 point deficit to Central Arkansas. The final score at Folsom Field was 38-24.
Just about everyone conceded that the road to rebuilding Colorado Football by Mac and staff would have a fair share of bumps and detours. Two games in, that is certainly the case. The difference this year from prior years is that the Buffaloes do not fold when the going gets tough. On the contrary, to borrow a boxing term, when these Buffs get knocked to the canvas they get right back up and start swinging.
In both games, late heroics were enough to pull out victories. Colorado scored 18 points in the fourth quarter in game one against CSU, and bettered that with the 21 points in the final stanza against Central Arkansas. The 39 points scored by CU in the last quarter this year is near the top of the NCAA rankings. Last year, the Buffs scored an average of 17.8 points per GAME. This year, the Buffs are beating that by nearly two points in just the fourth QUARTER!
Overall, the Buffs are averaging 39 points per game. That puts CU at 33rd in the country in scoring. Last year, they were 120th! Paul Richardson is the #1 receiver in the country with 417 yards, 4 touchdown and 21 catches. Connor Wood is 7th in the country in passing, while last year the Buffs finished 99th in that category. While the Buffaloes are still looking for a breakout game on the ground, the passing game has more than made up for it so far this season.
On the defensive side of the ball, the difference has been just as dramatic. Last year, the Buffs had just three interceptions the entire year. That was bad enough to have them ranked 122nd in the country. This year, they equaled that total in one game against Central Arkansas. Moreover, they returned two of the interceptions for touchdowns. After two games, the Buffs are tied for #2 in the country. Add the fumble recovery for a touchdown by Greg Henderson in game one, and the Buffs Defense is averaging 1.5 TD's per game.
Does that mean everything is going smoothly for the Buffs in 2013? Not by a long shot. The kickoff return coverage is so bad that Buffs are by far the worst in the country. Right now it is so bad that kicking the ball out of bounds on purpose to let the opponent start their series on the 35 yard line would be a significant improvement. As for punting, only the mad skills of All-American candidate Darragh O'Neill has kept the punt return stats from being as bad as the kickoff returns.
Strangely enough, other than on kick and punt returns, the overall tackling of these Buffs has been light years better than last year. Coach Mac and special teams coach Toby Neinas are working feverishly to rectify the situation. Neinas is no newbie in the profession, with more than 15 years on his resume. Chances are that some fine tuning on proper lane coverage will eventually lead CU back to respectability. If not that, Buff fans can hope that the team at least gets to the point the every kick does not lead to serious hand wringing.
Through two games in 2013, the Buffs road to respectability has been a combination of Autobahn speeds and road construction woes. So far, the improvements in offense and defense have allowed CU to win despite the setbacks on special teams and rushing. They are working hard, but they knew it wouldn't be clear sailing the entire way, not this early in the process.
This week the Buffs face a Fresno State team which decimated them last year by a score of a score of 69-14. It is obviously a major step up in competition. These Buffs are a drastic improvement over last year, most notably in their hearts and dedication. They may not beat this FS team which is close to joining the Top 25, but their hearts will be in it to the very end. They may take some damaging shots, and even find themselves on the canvas, but they will land some haymakers of their own. Indeed, count on them to start earning back the respect that disappeared last year in Fresno.
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