The 2017 version of the Rocky Mountain Showdown is quickly approaching. Tomorrow can't get here soon enough. There are lots of players I want to see, because I expect them to perform well.
Offense
QB Steven Montez
This young man has all the skills needed to help him become one of the best to ever play for Colorado. He has Phillip "T.D." Lindsay behind him and one of the best collection of wide receivers in the country. And, he has a solid line in front of him. Look out.
RB Phillip "T.D." Lindsay
The Tasmanian Devil is looking to become the first Buff to run for more than 1000 yards in consecutive seasons. Barring injury, count on that happening. The fireball is the emotional heartbeat of this team and fans can fully expect great things from him.
The Wide Outs -- Fields, Bobo, Ross & MacIntyre
Co- OC Darrin Chiaverini must be champing on the bit to get his position group into the game. His group is one of the best in the country, and has to give opposing defensive coordinators nightmares. What makes it even scarier is that the second team group (Winfree, Ento, Nixon and Walker) might well be as good as the first team.
The Offensive Line -- Irwin, Kough, Huckins, Lynott & Haigler
Coach Klayton Adams took over coaching the offensive line last year and the team won 10 games. Another year with Adams at the head of this group promises even better blocking and unity. These guys are the horses that the skill position players will ride and these young men are ready for the challenge.
Newcomers to Watch --
Juwann Winfree - WR
Before he was injured in the spring of 2016, this young man was earning raves as possibly the best and most talented guy in a phenomenal group of wide receivers. If fully healthy, he could become a star for the offense.
Sam Noyer - QB
Fans are hoping that Mike MacIntyre and Brian Lindgren learned a valuable lesson last year and will give Noyer a chance to play some meaningful snaps if the Buffs get out to big leads. Over the last several years, they left Sefo Liufau in WAY too long in big wins and paid the price when he went down to injury in big games throughout his career.
Noyer has been turning heads since he arrived on campus, and could provide solid backup to Montez.
Beau Bisharat - RB
This 4-Star back arrived last season and did outstanding work on special teams. This year, he'll give the Buffs a BIG back option on short yardage situations for the first time in what seems like forever.
Michael Adkins - RB
Adkins isn't a newcomer, but has had numerous injuries to deal with in his career. We're hoping his senior year can be injury free and he can finally fulfill the promise he's shown when healthy.
GO BUFFS!
It's almost September. That means it's time for some Colorado Buffaloes football. Getting ready for Friday's Rocky Mountain Showdown, here are some random and not so random thoughts that have been pondered since the Buffs last played.
The most important guy not wearing a uniform for Colorado might very well be strength and conditioning guru Drew Wilson.
Don't get me wrong. Head coach Mike MacIntyre is important as well. But no one on the staff spends as much time with the players as Wilson, and he has done a phenomenal job of turning the CU players into Top 25 caliber players. Under his tutelage, they've come to know what kind of commitment it takes off the field to be a star on the field.
The Buffaloes will be a much more dangerous offensive team this year.
There's too much talent for the team not to excel when they have the ball. Montez is a much better passer than the graduated QB. He's a better runner too, but the offensive coordinators should steer clear of running Montez too much. They have one of the best WR units in the country and a Tasmanian Devil in Phillip Lindsay at running back. Let those other guys do their jobs and let Montez do his and avoid any unnecessary hits the QB has to take.
The DEFENSE will be much better this year than everyone expects.
Everybody from the media on down (maybe that should be up, right?) is of the opinion that the Buffaloes will not be able to recover from losing so many players from their dominant D from last year. Really? Isn't last year's defense the one that all the experts prognosticated would lead the Buffs to finishing 12th in the Pac-12? Yes, it is.
The reason that the Buffs were so much better last season on defense was NOT because of specific players. Strength training and conditioning is what led to the Buffs starting to manhandle folks for the first time in a decade. They had a brilliant defensive coordinator in Jim Leavitt too. His impact here in Boulder will go on for years to come even though he has moved on.
The Colorado Buffaloes are NOT a top 10 team just yet, but they're on their way even if it will take poll voters a couple years to figure it out.
What the Buffs did last year was a big first step. They beat the teams that they were supposed to beat.
Against teams that did not end up in
pre-bowl Top 25, Colorado went 9-0 last year. The Buffs outscored those
teams 362-154. That's an average of around 40-17.
Against teams that did end up in the
pre-bowl Top 25, the Buffaloes won only one of five games. They were
outscored by those teams 150-73. That's an average of 30-14.
I can't imagine the Buffs will go back to losing to FCS teams, so the next step is winning half the time against Top 25 teams. The next step after that is to win the majority of games against ranked teams.
The CU offensive COACHES need to do a better job with their game day decisions.
It's great that the Buffs have a really talented QB in Steven Montez, but they could have done a much better job of getting him prepared last year to play. Even though he was only a freshman backing up the starter, he rarely got to play unless the starter was injured.
Way too often, even with big leads against out-manned opponents, Brian Lindgren chose to pad Sefo's stats instead of getting playing time for the #2 QB. If the Buffs get a big lead, they should let the backups in to get some reps actually running the Colorado offense. That doesn't mean handing off to the third string running back or taking a knee. The point of getting the backups reps is to be ready to go when the game is on the line.
Bad teams try to pad the stats of their players. Good teams know the only stat that matters is wins and losses. Get a big lead, and let the backups get on the field. It keeps them motivated and prepares them for when they are the starters.
The only Colorado team that should be playing in Denver is the Broncos.
Anyone who has read this blog knows that I do not support playing the RMS in Denver. I watch the game but will not EVER go to it in Denver. It takes away from the college feel and would be much better in Boulder and Fort Collins. Denver doesn't care about either team anyways, so why give them money to host the game? And the Denver media only want it in Denver so they don't have to drive.
Let the Games Begin!
