Colorado Edges Closer in Pac-12 Play, But Falls Once Again

BOULDER--
The University of California Golden Bears find themselves in a very unique situation this week. They are in first place in the Pac-12 North Division. That's right, Cal. Not Oregon. Not Stanford. Not Washington. The California school that's in Berkeley.

Last year, the Bears went 1-11 under first year head coach Sonny Dykes. Colorado's Mike MacIntyre did somewhat better with a 4-8 record. Both Cal and Colorado are MUCH better teams this year than last. The difference so far this year is in the records. Cal is 4-1 while Colorado is just 2-4.

Colorado fans need to realize how little things can make a big difference in winning and losing. Is Cal atop the Pac-12 North because of their stifling defense? Certainly not. In fact, Cal is the only team in the history of college football (and probably pro and high school) to give up a combined 115 points in two games and actually win both those games. Colorado scored 56 on the Bears, and Washington State scored 59 last Saturday, but Cal walked away with three and one point victories.

Does that mean that California is much better than Colorado? Absolutely not. If you JUST look at the records, Cal is a very good team and CU is pretty mediocre. If you look at the reality of what is happening on the field, Colorado is every bit as good as Cal. The difference right now is that Cal has turned the corner and learned to finish games on top.

Colorado is very close to doing the same thing. It's a process. The Buffs have lots of young players and a young offensive coordinator who is still honing his chops at the Pac-12 level. Brian Lindgren has turned the Buffs offense into a group that can puts lots and lots of yards on the opposition. That is good. But he and his unit still go through times of miscommunication, poor play calling, and avoidable turnovers. Unfortunately, those mistakes are often just enough to have the Buffs on the losing end when the game ends.

It will get better. In fact, it is already so much better. Two years ago the Buffs were losing by an average of 32 points a game in conference play. Last year, the number was down to 25 points a game. Although the Buffs actually won one conference game each of the last two years, the overall pattern was the Buffs being smoked early and often when they took the field against Pac-12 opponents.

That is not the case this year. Colorado put up big yards against Arizona State, but a few mistakes kept putting them in the hole and they ended up losing a game by 14 they easily could have won. Against Cal, five breakdowns on defense led to losing a game by three points the Buffs should have won by 20.

Against Oregon State, the Buffs put themselves in a 14 point hole to begin the game. The came back to take the lead, but then had one of those quarters in which the offense could not do anything right. They came back yet again but could not overcome the double digit lead at the end.

Many fans are frustrated that the Buffs are coming up just short this season. They really need to remember how much fun it is to be still in the game when it ends. The Buffs are playing conference foes tough week in and week out for the first time since they joined the Pac-12. After three conference games, the Buffs have twice fallen by 5 points or less. Better yet, the 22 points in deficit in three games is three points less than the average conference score last year.

Look at those numbers again:

• 2012 -- outscored in Pac-12 play by an average of 32.
• 2013 -- outscored by 25 on average.
• 2014 -- outscored by 7.3 after three games.

That's almost an 18 point positive difference from last year!

Buff fans should enjoy and appreciate how far these Buffs have come from just two short years ago. The Coors Events Center has quickly become the best place to watch college basketball in the Pac-12 over the last three years because of the raucous fans. Wouldn't it be great if CU students and football fans could do the same for Folsom Field?

Large and vocal crowds would do a great deal to push the Buffs around the corner toward becoming a winning program once again. And fans who have been staying away from Folsom should get out there to see the games in person. Pac-12 games are a blast to see from the stands. Many of the best players in the country play in the conference.  Get out to see them and support your Buffaloes.

Colorado Earns Respect as Buffs Prove They Can Score Big Points in Pac-12 Play

In the first three years that Colorado was playing in Pac-12 games, their opponents scored 40 or more points 22 times. In fact, their Pac-12 opponents scored 50 or more 8 times during from 2011-13.

During that same time span, Colorado only scored more than 40 points twice in Pac-12 play. That 22-2 difference pretty much sums up that the first three years in the league were extraordinarily tough. Mike MacIntyre was the head coach in only one of those first three years, but his Buffs have made steady improvement and are now poised to shoot it out with their conference foes.

The Pac-12 is an offensive league. Points are scored at a high rate and no team can ever be counted out. Arizona scored 36 points in the 4th quarter to come back and beat California.  Utah gave up a 21 point lead to Washington State to lose by one. Colorado was twice up by 14 points against Cal only to lose the game by three points in double overtime. The "Berkeley Shootout" saw 115 points scored and 14 touchdown passes.

Colorado showed against Arizona State that they could move the ball up and down the field against a very good Pac-12 team. Turnovers and mistakes led them to lose after dominating the last three quarters against the Sun Devils. Against California, the Buffs again put massive yards up, but this time put up a score to match with 56 points. Unfortunately, Cal scored 59, but the game confirmed that the Buffs finally possessed the offensive firepower to put big points on the board in conference play.

The next step for Colorado is continuing improvement toward eliminating big plays by the competition. Take away five defensive breakdowns for Colorado against Cal and the Buffs win by 20 or more.

California scored 35 points on plays of 25, 26, 40, 75, and 92 yards. Those 258 yards in five plays represented 44% of the Golden Bears' yardage on the day. They also led to almost 60% of the Bears' points.

By comparison, Colorado's ball control offense moved the ball in much smaller chunks. The yardage on their longest 5 touchdowns combined was only 96 yards total. Those scores covered 30, 25, 22, 12 and 7 yards. The yardage on those 5 touchdowns represented only 15% of their total offense of 630 yards.

What the Buffs have going for them is that their offensive style allows them to control the ball and the clock. If opposing defenses play deep to take away the long ball, the Buffs are adept at chipping their way down the field. If opponents play too close to the line, the Buffs can go over the top to score. Going forward, that style of ball control gives the Buffs their best chance to win. As they continue to improve and their running game becomes more reliable, the Buffs will be harder and harder to stop.

The Buff defense is still giving up a lot of points, but other league teams are working much harder to score them. In years past, the Buffs were usually going against 2nd and 3rd stringers (or 4th!) in the second half. This year, Cal and ASU had their starters in the entire game. The Buff D has also developed a swagger that has not been seen in Boulder for a long time. It's good to see and a sign of better things to come.

If fans only look at the final scores, it might seem hard to see the great improvements made by the Buffs in 2014. It is necessary to watch the games to see how improved they are. They are hitting harder as a group and scoring more points as well. They are scratching and clawing to become relevant in the best conference in the country. Before our very eyes, they are learning to compete to the final whistle. And before long, they will be learning to win in the Pac-12 on a consistent basis.

--------------------------

Seeing the Buffs play this year, especially in person at Folsom Field, will also give Buff fans a chance to see Nelson Spruce obliterate the record book for receivers at Colorado. Just as casual fans turned out to watch Chauncey Billups play hoops at CU, they should also do the same for Spruce. They should also cross their fingers that Spruce blesses Colorado with one more year before going off to the NFL.

Colorado Buffs Looking to Control Tempo and Limit Turnovers Against California

The Colorado Buffaloes hit the road this weekend against the California Golden Bears. To hear some folks tell it, you would think the Buffs were going against the greatest offensive machine in the Pac-12. Or the country. Balderdash!

Some coaches like their teams to throw the ball. A LOT. But throwing the ball 60 times a game does not automatically make the QB the next big thing or the team a winner on the field. Look at some of the examples right here in the conference.

• Arizona State put up 626 yards and 38 first downs against UCLA. Their QB threw for 488 yards, and completed 42 of 68 passes. Big win for the Sun Devils? NO! UCLA crushed ASU 62-27.
• Cal's QB Jared Goff set lots of passing records in Berkeley last year. The Golden Bears finished 1-11.
• Washington State throws for almost 500 yards per game this year. Their record is 1-3.
• In the Colorado game vs. Arizona State, the Buffs dominated time of possession, had 55% more first down, and outgained the Sun Devils by 120 yards. ASU won 38-24.

It's interesting that Arizona State threw only 25 passes in their win in Boulder, yet threw 68 in their beat down by UCLA.

What's the moral of this story?

The key is to control the game, not just throw lots of passes for big yardage. In fact, it could be argued that it is frequently the case that lots of yardage through the air only shows that the team was behind and trying to catch up.

Some coaches throw the ball so much that they don't know how to control the clock with the running game. Last week against Arizona, Cal gave up 36 points in the fourth quarter to lose after being ahead by 22 points at halftime.

The key to the game against Cal will be to control the tempo of the game and to limit Cal's big plays for scores.

Cal will put big yardage up against Colorado, but that does not mean they will win. The Buffs have gotten much tougher in the red zone than they have been in years. Where in years past the red zone for Buff opponents usually meant a touchdown, this year they are finding the sledding much tougher, and that a field goal is all they come away with.

Two other areas the Buffs must win are special teams play and turnovers. One of the reasons that Arizona State was crushed by UCLA was that they turned over the ball 4 times and also allowed a kickoff to be returned for a touchdown.

If the Buffs can hold onto the ball, and continue the outstanding play on special teams (for the last couple of games), along with creating several turnovers by the Bears, they have an excellent shot at leaving Cal with their third win of the season.

Fans should remember that last year's four win team had only two of those wins against FBS level school. There are no FCS teams on the schedule this year.

The turnover battle will be key for this game. In 2010, the Buffs turned the ball over 5 times and California crushed them by a score of 52-7. Last year, the Buffs and Bears each had only one turnover, and Colorado cruised by a score of 41-24.

It Was 20 Years Ago Today! The Miracle at Michigan

It was twenty years ago today

Kordell Stewart made a magic play

He threw the ball a football mile

And Westbrook caught the ball with style

Blake Anderson tipped the ball up high

Then Michigan fans began to cry

And Keith Jackson screamed out "Incredible!"

 Twenty years later and the play still lives on as one of the greatest game ending Hail-Mary passes in the history of college football. Click the video to relive how Keith Jackson called the play at Michigan's Big House in front of more than 100,000 screaming fans.

It was also one of the greatest comebacks ever for top 10 teams playing one another. Colorado had trailed 26-14 with less than three minutes to play. The Buffs scored a touchdown to pull to within six points with 2:30 remaining. They opted not to go for an onside kick but instead chose to play defense.

Michigan failed to gain a first down and had to punt the ball back to the Buffs. They began the drive at their own 15. On first down Stewart completed a 21 yard pass to Westbrook. With only six seconds left in the game, the Buffaloes had only one choice, the Hail-Mary.

Usually these kind of last ditch passes only work within 50 yards. Stewart had a big arm, for sure, but no one on the the Michigan sideline or the stands thought he could throw the ball 70 yards. In fact, he threw the ball 73 yards to the goal line, where it was tipped by Blake Anderson and pulled down by Michael Westbrook.

The play was well covered, with Michigan All-American Ty Law wrapped around Westbrook's legs. The Colorado receiver's hands were free, though, and they grabbed the ball for the touchdown and the win.

It was one of the greatest wins in Colorado history, and the play continues to hold a place of honor in the pantheons of college football.

---------------------
Apologies to John Lennon and Paul McCartney for the mangling of the lyrics to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Enjoy the video below.

Nelson Spruce on Way to Rewriting Colorado Record Book for Wide Receivers

Boulder--
Lurking just behind the brilliant light cast by Paul Richardson, wide receiver Nelson Spruce quietly moved up the Colorado record book during his first two years playing for the Buffaloes. Coming into the 2014 campaign, Spruce was 13th all-time with receptions at 99, and 20th in yards at 1,096.

Four games into his junior year, Spruce has exploded across the national stage. After four games, he leads the country with seven receiving touchdowns, and is 3rd in the country in both receptions (37) and yards (518).

The quick start to the season has moved team captain Spruce much higher in the Buff annals. His 136 catches ties him for fifth with Javon Green for career receptions.

Spruce hauled in a record 13 catches for 172 yards yesterday against Hawaii. It was two more than any CU Buff has ever caught in a football game. His total for the day also vaulted him past CU receiver legends Derek McCoy, Charles Johnson, and Rae Carruth.

Spruce has also jumped up to 9th all time in yards with 1,614. If he continues at the same pace for the rest of the season, Nelson would end the season being Colorado's all time leader for yards. The Buffs have had three wideouts who have posted more than 2,500 yards in their careers. Michael Westbrook leads the pack (2548), followed closely by Rae Carruth (2540) and Scotty McKnight (2521).

Even if Spruce's numbers fall off a bit, his senior season next year promises to obliterate every career record for receptions in the history of Colorado football. His next catch will move him into 5th all alone, but he needs 16 more before catching Phil Savoy. Only 20 catches ahead of him is Paul Richardson. Spruce needs 417 yards to catch Javon Green for 8th place at 2,031 yards.

Buff receiving coach Troy Walters and head coach Mike MacIntyre know that the meat of the Buffs schedule is still ahead of them. The final eight games of the regular season are all against very tough Pac-12 opponents. While Buff fans would like to see Spruce tear up the field, they also know that the level of competition is rising ever higher.

As the Colorado team continues to improve and come together, they look forward to the new challenges each week. From the beginning of the season, they have said that their goal is to go 1-0 each week. After four weeks, they're 2-2, but showing passion and resiliency not seen by the Buffs in years.

Led by a defense which seems to get stouter by the week, the Buffs are working to make their offense less error prone. Turnovers and untimely penalties too often put a crimp in the team's goals. But the steadiest parts of the offense week in and week out have been Nelson Spruce and freshman Shay Fields. Together they have combined for 64 catches and provide valuable and reliable targets for QB Sefo Liufau.

Coming this week is a trip to play Cal in Berkeley. Cal struggled badly last season and finished 1-11. That included a loss to Colorado. The Bears came into 2014 looking like a much better team and it showed.

This year they started 2-0 and were putting a serious beating on Arizona in Tucson before collapsing toward the end of the game. After being up 28-6 at halftime, the Bears gave up an astonishing 36 points in the fourth quarter to lose 49-45 on a last second "hail-mary" pass that Arizona caught for the winning touchdown.

Cal would like to avenge their loss to Colorado last season, and they also want to defend their home turf. Colorado will be in for a tough game on the road. Of course, nearly ALL Pac-12 games are tough to win on the road.

If Nelson Spruce has his way, Colorado could head back to Boulder next weekend with a winning record after 5 games. One thing he would really like to put in the Colorado record book is a winning record and Colorado's first appearance in a bowl game since 2007.

Colorado Buffaloes Defense Comes Up Big, Keeps Hawaii Out of Endzone for Win

BOULDER-- 
Mike MacIntyre's Colorado Buffaloes evened their record at 2-2 on Saturday when their defense allowed no touchdowns in a game for the first time in more than four years. The stout performance by the defense kept the Buffs in front for all except 17 seconds in their 21-12 win.

Even more impressive than holding the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors to four field goals was the fact that mistakes and misfires by the offense frequently gave Hawaii excellent field position.

(Photos by Mark Rubi) -- The Buffs and Rainbow Warriors meet at midfield following Colorado's 21-12 win at Folsom Field.


The Buffs' first play from scrimmage mirrored last week against Arizona State when they threw deep into triple coverage only to have the ball intercepted and returned into Colorado territory. After Hawaii drove to the Buff 21, standout cornerback Greg Henderson sacked the quarterback, stripped the ball, and recovered the fumble.

The teams punted back and forth several times before Hawaii successfully drove to the Colorado 16 for a first down. The D once again rose to the occasion and pushed Hawaii back to the 17 before they had to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.

Following a nice 26 yard return by Freshman Phillip Lindsay, the Buffs once again went deep on the first play. This time, Nelson Spruce fought off the defender for the catch and ran 40 yards for the touchdown. The play went for 71 yards. The Buffs never trailed again.

The Buffs dominated the 2nd quarter and went in to halftime with a 21-6 lead. Their offense struggled throughout the rest of the game, but the defense continued to rise to the task and keep Hawaii at bay.

The Colorado Buffaloes played sterling defense and did not allow a touchdown for the first time in more than 4 years.

The Rainbow Warriors did have their chances to get back in the game. They took the kickoff for the 2nd half and promptly drove down the field. They had a 3rd and 1 at the Colorado 21, but the defense again knocked them back with a two yard loss. Hawaii had to settle for another field goal and trailed 21-9.

After trading punts, the Colorado offense once again turned the ball over on an interception. This time the ball was returned all the way down to the Colorado 7 yard line. It was the second time in the game that Hawaii was at Colorado's doorstep with a first and goal. Once again, however, the Colorado defense came up big and held Hawaii out of the endzone. The field goal by Hawaii made the score 21-12 with more than 3/4 of the second half left to play.

Although fans in the stands (and home on TV) were beginning to worry as Hawaii inched closer back into the game, the Buffs were able to keep Hawaii off the board for the rest of the game.

Nelson Spruce had a record setting day with 13 receptions for 172 yards. It broke the old record of 11 catches by numerous players.

Big Dogs Beware: Colorado Poised to Turn Corner Against Pac-12 Foes

In every conference, they have what are commonly referred to as the "Big Dogs" which dominate conference play. When you play in the Pac-12, those big dogs are a pack of six schools which do fairly well on an almost annual basis during the football season.

The Big Dogs of Pac-12 football these days are (alphabetically):

• Arizona State
• Oregon
• Stanford
• UCLA
• USC
• Washington

Those six teams combined to win 61 games last year. Before this season, the Colorado Buffaloes had played these titans a total of 17 times in conference play. Their record? 0-17. The average score for those 17 games was 49.5 - 12.5. That's right, Colorado had averaged losing to these teams by 37 points per game.

In fact, in only one of those 17 games did one of those Big Dogs fail to score at least 42 points. Washington won in 2012 by 38-3. The three points scored by the Buffs in that game were not the worst they had done. The Oregon Ducks beat CU 45-2 in 2011, and Stanford shut out the Buffs 48-0 in 2012.

What's the point? In all 17 of those games, Colorado was completely manhandled in every phase of the game. In most cases, the Buffs were going up against 2nd and 3rd stringers after halftime. The stat sheets after those games showed Colorado giving up massive amounts of yards as well as points.

That all changed this past Saturday night against the Arizona State Sun Devils. Colorado was not only "in" the game until the very end, but had completely dominated the stat sheets following the first quarter. The Buffs put an astounding 523 yards on the Sun Devils in the final three quarters, while holding ASU to 204 yards in that time. The ASU starters (not counting injuries) were on the field the entire game.

Unfortunately, the Buffs committed three turnovers which led directly to 14 points for the Sun Devils. Take those away, and you have a tie game. More importantly, one of the interceptions should have gone for a touchdown for Colorado. Nelson Spruce was WIDE open deep down the field, but the moonball toss to him was so high that the ASU safety was able to come from all the way across the defensive backfield to intercept the ball. What should have been a Colorado touchdown instead led to an Arizona State touchdown.

Later, right after Colorado had cut a 17-0 deficit into a 17-14 nail-biter, the Buffs fumbled the ball deep in their own end and gave the Sun Devils a 7-point gift to put them down by 10 again at the half. The Sun Devils took the opening kickoff and scored another touchdown and were once again up by 17. Although Colorado dominated both sides of the ball for the rest of the game, the 17 points were too many to overcome. Colorado lost 38-24.

While some fair-weather fans bemoaned yet another loss, the more astute Colorado fans noted that the Buffs had played one of the conference "Big Dogs" tough for the very first time since joining the Pac-12. They noted that Colorado was equal or superior  in most of the statistical categories against the Sun Devils. The two parts that ASU won, however, determined the outcome. The Sun Devils won the turnover battle and the final score.

The Buffs almost doubled their average score against the "Big Dogs" and also held the Sun Devils to a tie for the least amount of points scored against them by the big six. The 14 point loss was far and away the closest game against any of those teams. Remember, the Buffs average loss to the Big Dogs was by 37 points.

Head Coach Mike MacIntyre  and his players have said time and again that they are not looking for moral victories. That is good. They are pursuing real wins against conference opponents. In three years in the Pac-12, the Buffs have defeated 4 conference teams one time apiece. They have beaten Arizona, California, Utah and Washington State.

The way the Buffs played indicates that they are ready to be competitive on a regular basis against conference foes.  After a 4-24 record in three years against Pac-12 teams since they joined the conference, being competitive is a MAJOR step up.

The Buffs may not win six games this year to become bowl eligible. Buff fans have to remember that two of last year's four wins came against lower division FCS teams. There are none of those teams on this year's schedule.

Remember that UMass played Boston College tough for 30 minutes and only trailed 7-6 at the half. That is the same Boston College team that whipped USC last weekend. Colorado had to come back to beat UMass, but they did come back and win.

Hawaii only has a record of 1-2 coming into the game this weekend, but their two losses were very close games against Pac-12 opponents. Norm Chow is a great coach and the Rainbow Warriors are a much better team than people think. The Buffs will have to play hardnose and smart football to beat them.

This writer has been watching the Buffs for 30 years now, many of them as a season ticket holder. I have travelled to see them play. I have been to bowl games. I was there for some of the best times and teams in Colorado history. I have also seen some of the worst times.

For the first time in a long time, I am hopeful and proud of the way the Buffs have started to improve. I see good things ahead for these young men. College football is not as simple as it used to be. Learning from one coaching staff is difficult enough. Some of these young men are on their 3rd, but their hard work and the teaching ability of the coaching staff is finally start to pay dividends.

Look for that investment to begin paying off very soon. These Buffs CAN play in the Pac-12, and if last week was any indication, they can also put up a fight against the Big Dogs!

Colorado Looking to Improve on the Arizona State Experience

The 1970's were a very good decade for the Arizona State Sun Devils. The were coached by the legendary Frank Kush. He was 176-54-1 as a head coach. He was 6-1 in bowl games. The field at Sun Devil Stadium is named after him.

Kush's teams were so good that the Fiesta Bowl was created in response to the Sun Devils being shut out of major bowls around the country. Nobody wanted to play them. So the Fiesta Bowl was created for the winner of the Western Athletic Conference and played at Sun Devil Stadium.

In the first five Fiesta Bowls, the Sun Devils played in (and won) four of them. All this after the undefeated (11-0) ASU squad was shut out of the major bowls in 1970. The Fiesta Bowl was in place starting in 1971 and the Sun Devils were on their way.

• 1971 -- Sun Devils go 11-1 and defeat Florida State in the inaugural Fiesta Bowl.
• 1972 -- ASU goes 10-2 and defeats Missouri in the Fiesta.
• 1973 -- Devils go 11-1 and defeat Pittsburgh.
• 1975 -- Arizona State again goes undefeated (12-0) and beats Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.
• 1977 -- ASU wins only 9 games and finally loses their first Fiesta Bowl to Penn State.

In 1978, Arizona State and Arizona joined the Pac-8, which was renamed the Pac-10. The joke in the western part of the country at that time was that the newly expanded conference should have been named the Bigger 10, a reference to the Pac tie in with the Big 10 for the Rose Bowl.

Arizona State fans were excited to have their team be a member of the biggest and baddest conference in the country. They were part of the Conference of Champions and an undefeated season would usually be considered a National Championship.

Things did not work out as they planned. Kush was fired during the 1979 season after a former player filed a lawsuit against the university and the coaching staff for mental and physical harassment. Kush would eventually be found to be not liable in the case, but by then he was no longer in collegiate coaching.

Without their head coach of 21 years, the dreams of conference and national championships in football took a severe detour. In the 35 years since joining the Pac-12, Arizona State has only TWO outright conference championships (1986 and 1996). They tied USC in 2007 for their only other claim to a conference championship. 

In that same time frame,

• USC has 10 outright titles, and six shared titles.
• UCLA has 4 outright and three shared titles.
• Washington has 4 outright and three shared titles.
• Oregon has 4 outright and one shared title.
• Stanford has 3 outright and one shared title.

The point is that the Pac-12 is a tough conference to play and win in. Few teams in the entire country have the financial support of Oregon and USC, and NO teams in the country have more D-1 high school prospects in their backyard than USC and UCLA.

Now in their 4th season in the Pac-12, Colorado has yet to qualify for a bowl game, let alone win a conference championship. Fans of the Buffaloes are excited to be a member of the Pac-12. They are excited that the program seems to be moving in the right direction under head coach Mike MacIntyre.

But the Buff faithful are hoping for a better record over the next 30 years than a paltry 2 outright conference championships. They are doing their best to upgrade the facilities and selling points of the university, but sometimes that is not enough. In the Big 8 days, Colorado was the academic powerhouse of the conference. In the Pac-12, they're lucky if they are considered to be in the upper half.

The Pac-12 is a tough place to play, but it is an honor to be in that company. Colorado fans need to remember that, and glory in the fact that nearly EVERY destination on a road trip to see the team in conference play is a major improvement on the old options of Norman, Lincoln, or any place in Kansas.

Go Buffs!

Colorado Fans Look to Past for Inspiration, Seek Upset Against Arizona State

BOULDER-- Heading into Saturday Night's Pac-12 clash at Folsom Field between the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Colorado Buffaloes, the tone that many Buff fans are taking is that the game will be a wipe-out, and that Colorado has no chance at all of making a stand and protecting their turf in the first home game and conference game of the season.

Some long-time fans, however, say "Look to the past!"

Since Colorado joined the Pac-12, the Buffs have played the Sun Devils three times and been beaten soundly at each turn.  Arizona State comes into the game ranked #16 in the AP poll. In 2011, the Sun Devils  were ranked 23rd, and were unranked  in both 2012 and 2013.

Some older fans point out that while Arizona State is a good team and deserving of their current ranking, the fact is they are not a nationally dominant team by any stretch of the imagination. They say to look a few years (okay, 28) to the past to see what the Buffs have historically overcome.

The year was 1986. It was a turning point in Colorado Buffaloes history.

Buff faithful began the year with a swell of anticipation. The year before (1985) had seen Colorado win a total of SEVEN games. That may not seem like a lot, but the six seasons prior to 1985 saw the Buffs win only 14 out of 66 games. Fans were excited! They thought that seven wins and a bowl game would be an annual thing. Then the season started...

The CU Buffs under Head Coach Bill McCartney started the season 0-4.

That's right. They lost their first four games. Colorado State, Oregon, Arizona and Ohio State all beat the Buffs to start the season. And Oregon was pretty horrible back then.

Fans immediately started to worry that the Buffs would be back to their old ways where only a couple of wins per season was all they could expect. McCartney had been named Big 8 Coach of the Year in 1985, but some fans were calling for his head after the Buffs started the season so poorly in '86.

Then, something unexpected happened. The Buffs went to Missouri in week 5 and pulled out a thrilling 17-12 victory. The next week they dominated Iowa State in Boulder by 31-3.

The next game had big, bad Nebraska coming to Boulder.

No game on any football schedule at that time gave Buff fans more to dread than the hated Huskers. In the 24 years prior to 1986, Nebraska had beaten Colorado 23 times. They had outscored the Buffs 826-268 in that time. That works out to an average score of 34-11, which was a pretty standard ass-kicking back in the day.

How dominant a team was Nebraska back then? Year in and year out, they were one of the best in the country. During that 24 year stretch, Nebraska came into their game with Colorado ranked in the TOP 10 a remarkable 16 TIMES! In eleven of those games, the Fuskers were ranked in the TOP 5!

If Colorado fans are looking at challenges, Arizona State is nowhere near the challenge of Nebraska if taken in a historical perspective.

Even though Colorado had not beaten Nebraska since 1967, those 1986 Buffs showed up all the same. While those of us sitting in the student section were a loud bunch, many of the more than 52 thousand in attendance were wearing Nebraska red. Many Colorado fans with season tickets  paid for the rest of their games by selling tickets at inflated prices to Nebraska fans with deep pockets.

Nebraska rolled into Boulder that beautiful October day undefeated at 6-0, and sporting the #3 ranking in the country. Like they had done for almost an entire quarter century, Husker fans entered the game with Colorado with delight, because it was as certain a victory as just about any conference rivalry could be.

Three hours later, the Colorado Buffs had won 20-10. 

The final score stayed emphatically on the scoreboard throughout the day and into the night and "WE DID IT!" ran as the headline of the Boulder Daily Camera Sunday edition. The win against Nebraska was the third of six wins in seven games for Colorado to end the regular season. A nearly one hour highlight video shows the Buffs from the locker room before the game until the final celebration.

The win was a turning point toward the greatest era of Colorado football. They won seven games in '87, eight games in '88, and 11 games each year in 1989 and 1990. The Buffs were named National Champions after the 1990 season and played for the title after the 1989 season.

Those Big 8 (and one NC) championship teams came just three years after the Buffaloes had started the '86 season 0-4. Two victories set the stage for a remarkable upset that catapulted the Colorado Buffaloes to the top of the collegiate football world over the next few years.


Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre has the Buffs poised to make a turn for the better.

After winning four games last year (and quadrupling the win total of 2012), Buff fans entered the 2014 season hoping for a breakthrough. A bad loss to Colorado State and an unimpressive win over UMass has left CU fans champing at the bit and sharing their anger on social media and news outlets.

Those fans should look to the past for inspiration. The Buffs may not defeat Arizona State, and Las Vegas odds-makers believe they won't. But the entire country believed the same thing about their chances against Nebraska in 1986, and instead of another defeat, the Colorado Buffs turned the corner toward becoming a national power.

Looking for another more recent example? The 2007 Buffs were coming off a 2-10 record in 2006. They were 2-2 when undefeated and #3 Oklahoma came to town and lost by a score of 27-24.

How about another Pac-12 story? Also in 2007, Stanford was coming off a 1-11 record in 2006. They were 1-3 when they faced the #1 USC Trojans in the Los Angeles Coliseum.  USC was a 41 point favorite. Stanford  won the game 24-23. Point spread wise, it's one of the biggest upset in the history of college football.

There's a reason they call it an upset. Whatever happens, it will not be the biggest upset in Folsom Field or Pac-12 history if the Buffs win. It won't even be close.

It's Time to Remember Just How Young this Colorado Buffaloes Defense Really Is

It's two games into the 2014 CU Buff football season, and fans are starting to panic already. The feeling has even occurred to this writer. We have to remember to breathe.

It's only the 2nd season at the helm for Mike MacIntyre, and fans are already outraged that the team he inherited (the worst team in CU history) is not ready to go bowling. Is that really a surprise?

Buff fans need to remember that so much of the disappointment they feel is in their heads and their heart, and less so with the reality of the playing field. College football is a very interesting dynamic. It is the place where fans watch the growth of high school boys into college men, some of whom do well enough at their sport to move on the NFL.

With very few exceptions, young men fresh out of high school and even in their first few years of college are not ready to be dominant players at the collegiate level. We also have to remember that these young men are STUDENT athletes, who must attend to their scholastic responsibilities as well as their jobs as football players.

In most of the top tier football programs in the Power Five Conferences, a formula that has been in place for decades dictates the development of those high school boys into collegiate level football players. The best case scenario for those programs is as follows for the young men.

• Freshman Year -- Redshirt, grow their bodies, and acclimate to college life away from home.
• Redshirt Freshman Year -- Work with the scout team, grow their bodies, become better acquainted with "system" their coaches operate.
• Sophomore Year -- Grow their bodies and begin to learn from the upper classmen the nuances of collegiate football, and how to read opposing teams.
• Junior Year -- Learn, grow bodies and compete for playing time.
• Senior Year -- Be counted upon as a major contributor to the team on the field and in the locker room.

Of course, life does not unfold like that all the time. Sometimes an exceptional talent comes along and gets onto the field of play as a starter much sooner. Sometimes injuries force young men to miss time or force them into playing before they are ready when the guys on the depth chart in front of them go down. In some cases, attrition does the same thing.

In most cases, the key behind a championship caliber team is how they play on the defensive side of the ball. Teams can have all the offensive firepower in the conference or the country and still go down to defeat if their defense cannot keep the opposition out of the end zone.

College offenses are more complex and difficult to read by defensive players than ever before. It's one of the reasons why so many games have scores in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Many offenses these days are designed with the idea that they can score on ANY PLAY. The teams that are content on working the ball down the field are rarer every year.

That being the case, it is more important than ever to have the defense manned by young men who have been learning the collegiate game for at least three years before becoming starters. It's no longer enough to be big and fast. They also need to know how to read the opposing team. Having 4.4 speed doesn't help if you're running in the wrong direction.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

How young is the Colorado Defense compared to their Pac-12 peers? Very young indeed.

A quick look at the defensive depth charts across the Pac-12 shows how many lower classmen are listed as starters.

• Arizona (4)
• Arizona State (4)
• California (4)
• Colorado (6)
• Oregon (1)
• Oregon State (0)
• Stanford (0)
• UCLA (3)
• USC (2)
• Utah (5)
• Washington (3)
• Washington State (3)

Not only does Colorado have more lower classmen as starters on defense, their depth chart behind the starters is even more loaded with them. Of the nineteen young men listed behind the starters on defense, 14 of them are also underclassmen (that's 74%).

It's no wonder that the Buffs have a hard time, when a majority of their defensive players have never been given the opportunity to learn the collegiate game with sufficient time.

Think of it like law school. How would it be if a month into your first semester you were being counted on to pass the bar and lead a big case?

Most people would be forgiven if the quality of their case was not the same as someone who spent three years in law school and couple of years interning as law clerks.

The same mindset should be used when dealing with the young Buffs playing defense. It is a testament to the quality of young men that MacIntyre has brought in that they are able to play at the high level they already do.

Fans should remember that they are only going to get better. In fact, in two more years, when the depth chart is rightly dominated by juniors and seniors, the quality of play from Colorado defense will seem like a night and day difference.

It won't be because they are smarter or more dedicated or faster. It will be because their brains have been given the opportunity to learn the craft of playing major college football. And, on top of that, many of them will have lots of game experience to go on as well.

The biggest weakness of the Colorado Buffaloes defense is youth, inexperience, and immaturity. Opposing Pac-12 coaches will do their very best to exploit that weakness while they can, because the time is coming when Colorado will be on a level playing field when it comes to the age and experience of their starters.

That one step in the wrong direction this season that leads to a first down or touchdown for the opponent, will soon be a step toward a sack, an interception or a big tackle for no gain. Now is the time to watch them learn and get better as they go. If we want to watch professionals play, the Denver Broncos are just down the road.

Colorado Buffs Win a Rare One on the Road

All Buff fans know that the Colorado football team has been having a tough time for a good long while now. 2007 was the last time that CU managed to win half their games and qualify for a bowl game.

That Independence Bowl game following the 2007 season was a pivotal point for two programs with great histories. The Colorado Buffs and the Alabama Crimson Tide entered the game with identical 6-6 records. The Tide prevailed 30-24 in a close game that was supposed to be the start of good things for both programs.

It was the turning point for Alabama under Nick Saban, as they went on to win 3 of the next 5 National Championships, and are now considered to be the most dominant program in the country.

What about Colorado? Following a rare road win in 2007 against Texas Tech, the Buffs went on to lose 23 straight games played on the road, not counting neutral site games. They haven's been to a bowl game since the clash with Alabama.

They finally broke that string at the end of the 2011 season when they managed to take down Utah on the road in the season finale. Their next road game took the Buffs to Fresno State, where they gave up 35 points in the first quarter on their way to losing 69-14.

They were on their way to being blown out again the next week at Washington State when the Cougars pulled one of the biggest meltdowns in conference history by giving up a 20 point lead in the final 7 minutes of the game and losing to CU. If nothing else, that gave the Buffs 2 wins out of their previous three road trips. That winning percentage would not hold up, however, as the Buffs had lost every road game since then until...

Colorado 41, UMass 38

Forget the fact that Colorado was a 17 point favorite going into the game.

Forget that since the Minutemen had joined the FBS, they had a combined record of 2-23.

Forget everything about UMass, and remember that road victories for the Buffs don't happen very often. That being the case, Buff fans should savor this victory because it might be a good long time before they see another one.

In fact, it might be a good long time before the Buffs see a victory of any kind. Arizona State's potent offense, led by chief gunslinger Taylor Kelly, is champing at the bit to get on the field with the Buffs. Even Hawaii, who comes to Boulder the week after the Sun Devils, is greatly improved. Their one point loss to a top 25 Pac-12 team in the first game of the season has them thinking that the Buffs might be ripe for the taking. And after that, it's nothing but Pac-12 level offenses and defenses for the Buffs to contend with.

For one week, at least, Buff fans and players should enjoy the knowledge that the team won one on the road. Enjoy the feeling. You never know when you'll be able to feel it again.

Buffs Go East Looking for a Win -- Will it Be Bad Medicine?

Colorado is coming off a bad loss to in-state rival Colorado State. It was the 2nd time in three years that the Buffs came back to Boulder from Denver with their tails between their legs. This week, the Buffs make their longest trip ever in the continental US to Boston / Foxborough to play UMass at the home of the New England Patriots.

All the pundits and writers this week point out that this game against the Minutemen will be the easiest of the season. That might be the kiss of death, however, as most of those same pundits prognosticated a dominating win for CU over CSU last week.

History does not look kindly on the Buffs. In 2012, after falling to CSU 22-17 in a much closer game than the one this past weekend, the Buffs and coach Jon Embree hosted Sacramento State (a FCS team) in Boulder. That year, the Buffs used the opportunity to beat on a team from a lower division by...

Losing 30-28 in one of the most embarrassing losses in Colorado history to that time.

Not many folks talk about that loss to Sacramento State now, because it was just the beginning of a run of ineptitude that haunts the program to this day. Over the next 10 games, the Buffs gave up 500 points! It could have been much worse, but many of the conference foes showed some mercy and called off the dogs.

The worry right now is how the Buffs will respond to their shellacking by CSU, in which the score did not really demonstrate how badly the Buffs were dominated. Earlier this week, head coach Mike MacIntyre opined that the Buffs "dominated for 65% of the time, and that CSU dominated for 45%" of the game. His numbers don't add up, nor does his analysis. The Buffs were dominated from 3 minutes into the 2nd quarter, and outscored 31-7 in that time. CSU achieved that by running the ball down the throats of the Colorado defense.

Some Buff faithful point at that CSU lost to Colorado last year, and then turned their season around and went on to win 8  out of 14 games, including a bowl victory over a Pac-12 team. They use that tidbit as motivation that Colorado can also turn their season around and still get to a bowl game.

Is is possible? Of course, anything is possible.

Is it likely? Not likely at all. Current odds show the Buffs listed at 225-1 against them winning the Pac-12. We share that distinction with Cal and Washington State at the bottom end of the scale.

Those wishing for the Buffs to make an appearance in a poll had their wish granted this week when Colorado was ranked #21 in one poll. Unfortunately, the poll was for the Bottom 25. Fortunately, CU gets to play a fellow traveller in the Bottom 25. UMass comes in at #14. Since it a rank of ineptitude, the higher ranking Minutemen will be 17 point underdogs to the Buffaloes.

No matter how this game goes, however, it will not serve as a true defining moment for the Colorado Buffs. That will come next week against Arizona State, when the Sun Devils come to Boulder.

Buff players and coaches are hoping they have one win under their belts before ASU shows up. If not, 2014 looks to be every bit as disgraceful as the 2012 squad that it led to Embree's firing and the hiring of MacIntyre.

Let the games begin!

Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre Must Take Control of the Offense

Heading into what was supposed to be "gimme" win against UMass at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough (the home of the Patriots), the Colorado Buffaloes find themselves scrambling before the season gets any more lost. The Buffs and their fans came into the season assuming that the CU team would easily dispatch their three non-conference opponents and scoured the schedule to find 3 Pac-12 foes to defeat and earn the right to their first bowl game since 2007.

After the shellacking they took at the hands of Colorado State in the Rocky Mountain Showdown, Buff fans are now scouring the schedule to find any teams that the Buffs can beat at all. The Buffs, as a Pac-12 team, are supposed to have more talent than the likes of CSU, UMass, and Hawaii.

It's not even supposed to be a level playing field.

The Buffs have better facilities to practice and train in. They are able to better feed their athletes. They spend a lot more money on their program. With all that in place, the blame for the failures of the team falls squarely on the coaching staff.

CU fans found themselves longing for the play-calling of Eric Bieniemy.

That's pretty bad. Bieniemy once called a quarterback sneak on first down because he had not noticed that his team had made a first down on the prior play.

How bad was the play-calling of offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren? It was terrible. In his 2nd year at CU (and throughout his first), Lindgren has shown absolutely no ability to get his team into an offensive rhythm for an entire game (or even a half). He has a serious propensity for following a series or two of great success with the next 2 or 3 series of insisting on not doing what has been working. Or, by driving down the field and then changing the play-calling inside the red zone.

Buff fans are also asking, "Is this a team that wants to play at a fast pace (to supposedly take advantage of how 'in-shape' they are supposed to be in) or a team that methodically takes time off the clock? With Lindgren running the offense, the identity of this team when it has the ball is schizophrenic at best, and self destructive almost always.

MacIntyre jumped in to help coach the defensive backs, and it showed.

The weakest part of a horrible defense last year was the defensive backfield. Mac jumped in this spring and fall camp and worked with the DB's. It worked, because they pretty much shut down the record setting passer from CSU. Grayson averaged around 300 yards a game last year, and the Buffs held him to 134 yards in the Rocky Mountain showdown.

In fact, 84 of those 134 yards passing by CSU came in the last 17 1/2 minutes of the game. By that time, the CSU running game was so dominating the Buffs' defensive line that the DB's had to start moving forward to help stop the run. Only then did CSU start completing passes on a consistent level.

Let Lindgren focus on the QB's, and let Mac call the plays.

Sefo Liufau has obviously made himself a little quicker this year, but nobody is ever going to confuse him with Kordell Stewart or Darian Hagan. He is not an offensive threat when running, but he can use his feet to keep the opposing defense from disregarding him.

Sefo and Lindgren need to work on his pocket work. They are doing much like they did last year in regard to spreading out the passes, which mostly means they are not spreading them around at all. Last year, Paul Richardon and Nelson Spruce got the vast majority of passes thrown their way. This year, it appears that Lindgren wants to do the same thing with Spruce and the true freshman Shay Fields. The two of them combined for 15 of the 24 completions.

Another problem with the passing game is that Sefo does not seem to know how to "look off" his receiver to confuse the defense. What that means is that he tends to look directly at his intended receiver for their entire route. Defensive backs see where Liufau is looking from the time he gets in the pocket and they KNOW where the ball will be thrown. It also makes it much easier when they know that most of the passes will be thrown to the same two guys.

Last year, 59% of the completed passes went to Richardson and Spruce. In the game against CSU, 62.5% of the completions went to Spruce and Fields. That's okay if your receivers are dominating and scoring at will. It's not okay when your team has won only 4 out of 13 games under Lindgren.

Maybe Lindgren was spoiled working with David Fales.

Watching highlights of Fales, he seems to have the tendency of watching his receiver run the route too. The difference between Liufau and Fales, however is that Fales scanned the field of play with the eyes of a hawk to determine which of his receivers was likely to be open BEFORE the play started. It was only then that the ball was snapped and Fales hit his target so often that he was considered one of the best QB's in the country.

The other difference is that when the guy Fales thought would be open wasn't, he was able to adjust down the line. In 2012, Fales had eight receivers with 10 or more catches, six with 26 or more, four with 47 or more, and two with 62 or more. Fales was able to spread the wealth to lots of different receivers and San Jose State was a much harder team to defend because of it.

Lindgren got much of the credit for that San Jose Spartan team in 2012 that won 11 games and ended up in the top 20 at the end of the season. Perhaps that credit would be better directed at David Fales. The success of Lindgren's offensive schemes has been very limited without Fales in the line-up.

In a two year span, Lindgren went from Offensive Coordinator for the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks to the same position for a Pac-12 team.

Some coaches are able to make quantum leaps up the ladder in a very successful way.

San Francisco 49er Head Coach Jim Harbaugh is often used as an example. He went from coaching a FCS program at the University of San Diego for three years to head coach at Stanford. He made the Cardinal, a perennial also ran in football, one of the most dominant teams in college football. After 4 years at Stanford, he became head coach for the NFL 49ers. He quickly turned a down team into a contender. He won NFL coach of the year in 2011 and guided the team to the Super Bowl in 2012.

Lindgren cannot be compared to Harbaugh. For one, Harbaugh spent 14 years at quarterback in the NFL. Lindgren was 7 years old when Harbaugh was playing NFL football.

This is not to say that Brian Lindgren does not have a bright future as a coach.

What is being said is that Lindgren needs more seasoning before taking over an offense that has to compete in the Pac-12. He needs to spend more time with his quarterbacks and less time trying to create an offense and calling plays.

If Lindgren ever expects Liufau to be nearly as good as David Fales, he needs much more attention than a trip to the Manning Passing Academy. Liufau needs a coach who devotes all his time to the quarterbacks at the University of Colorado. And Lindgren needs to focus on one thing (coaching the QB) before being thrust into the lion's den of Pac-12 football.

Colorado State Embarrasses Colorado 31-17 in Rocky Mountain Showdown

The final score may not look so bad on paper, but the reality of the matter is that the Colorado State Rams are a much better football team than the University of Colorado. This writer, for one, hopes that CSU wins the remainder of their games. If they can get by Boise State and Boston College, they have a chance to run the table.

The thing they need to find out now is whether they were really that dominating or whether Colorado really is as bad as they looked. Can an offensive line made up of new starters all across the board (after the starting left tackle was injured early in the game) really be counted on to open holes big enough to drive hybrid four wheel drive vehicles through? Or is the Colorado defensive line really that bad? Only time will tell.

Unfortunately for Colorado, their offensive line played as poorly as their defensive line. Just like last year, the Buffs cannot run the ball, especially when they are lined up to do nothing but run the ball. They get a first down inside the 5 yard line and bring on the power run package of blockers as if challenging the defense to stop them from running the ball. Sadly, the challenge was accepted and the CSU defensive front DID stop them on three consecutive running plays. From that point on, Colorado State completely dominated the rest of the game.

After Colorado kicked a field goal to take a 10-0 lead, the play calling of Offensive Coordinator Brian Lindgren became truly offensive. It was unimaginative and certainly showed that Lindgren is incapable of adjusting his play calling during the game. Coach McElwain of CSU and his staff adjusted well and turned the game around after CU dominated the first quarter.

Colorado plays two teams in the next three weeks that only went 1-11 last year. After the sorry display against Colorado State put on by the Buffs, it is certainly possible that Hawaii and UMass are licking their chops to get onto the field with Colorado. Even if the Buffs do win against those teams, chances are that they will be the only two victories the Buffs can expect to see this year.

Earlier today I wrote about the Buffaloes being a team in search of an identity. The sad fact is that the Buffs has found an identity, and that is they there are a poorly coached football team. It would be pointless to single out individual players as the cause for Colorado's disgraceful performance. Football is a team game and the Buffs lost as a team.

The coaches, however, deserve to be called on the carpet. They failed in every aspect of the game. The coordinators (Lindgren and Kent Baer) , the line coaches (Gary Bernardi and Jim Jeffcoat), and the so-called special teams coach (Toby Neinas). They came up with the game plans, and they are responsible for the results.

The clock is ticking now and the job security that MacIntyre and his staff felt during the offseason and camp is a whole lot less secure. All fall camp, fans have heard nothing except how much better the Buffs would be in the trenches and on special teams. At this point, those claims are nothing but lies.

It doesn't look to get any better with a fierce Pac-12 schedule ahead. Buff fans and their dwindling confidence in the CU football program figures to take another big hit when the Arizona State Sun Devil juggernaut comes to Boulder on September 13th for the season's home opener. It may very well be the first of many lopsided scores in conference play. Also look for it to be the first in a long line of dwindling attendance at Folsom Field.

Unless magical changes occur in the very near future, this season looks to rival the infamous 2012 season for Colorado football futility. Mac needs to shake up his team from top to bottom, including the coaches. It's obvious that going with they guys with the "most experience" only works when those guys have experience winning.

Colorado Buffaloes a Team in Search of an Identity in 2014 and Beyond

Heading into today's Rocky Mountain Showdown, the University of Colorado Buffaloes enter the game as a team in search of an identity. If they hope to win six games and become bowl eligible for the first time since 2007, they need to establish who they are and then be that team.

The Buffs have been a team in search of a real identity for a long time. 

Their run toward to the bottom of the football pile began with Dan Hawkins, whose only apparent goal was to make his son Cody the all time leading passer in Colorado history. He accomplished that goal, but he turned a team that had been to bowl games 17 of the previous 21 seasons into a program that was a shell of its former glory. Hawkins destroyed the foundation of the house that Bill McCartney built, and left the program in a shambles with no depth, horrible player development and in-fighting on the team by young men who wanted to be more than supporting players for the head coach's son.

The run continued when the CU Brass decided to hire two ex-Buffs from the glory days to come in and run the program. Enter Jon Embree and Eric Bieniemy, who were great players for the Buffs but who were completely unqualified for their new jobs as Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator. Their main tone during their two year stay was to curse and yell at their players and to whine and sulk about how the school was not committed to football.

In truth, the school brass was definitely NOT committed to the football program and they showed that to the entire country by having the lowest paid football coaches and Athletic Director in the Big 12 and the Pac-12 following the change in conferences. However, lack of support from the top does not excuse the horrible relationship the coaches had with their players, the woeful recruiting of student athletes who were unqualified to get into the program, and game-day play calling that was so bad that it was embarrassing to CU fans around the country.

Colorado found its identity under Bill McCartney.

Following the horrible days of the Buffs under Chuck Fairbanks, the Buffs turned to Michigan assistant coach Bill McCartney, who was highly recommended by the Wolverines' legendary coach Bo Schembechler. McCartney played college ball at Missouri under another coaching legend, Dan Devine.

It took time for Mac to transform the the Buffaloes. They won only 7 out of 33 games during his first three years. What he did, however, was instill a philosophy of playing hardnose defense. He was named the Big 8 coach of the year in 1985 after his team went from one win in '84 to seven wins in '85. They gave up on average only 14.5 points per game, and all four of their losses in the regular season were to ranked teams (3 in the top 7, and one ranked #12).

To take advantage of his strong defensive team, McCartney abandoned the pass-happy days under Fairbanks in which the Buffs once gave up 82 points to Oklahoma while scoring 42 of their own. The 124 combined points was a shocker to the nation (this was before overtime games added 4 or 5 touchdowns to the real score).

McCartney went completely in the other direction and changed to the wishbone offense for the 1985 season. It was an offensive scheme that allowed a team without as much talent to compete against more dominant programs. They committed to running the ball with the triple option and began a run of nine bowl games in the next 10 years under McCartney (including a national championship).

McCartney knew that controlling the ball on the ground also controlled the clock and gave his strong defense a chance to stay fresh and dominate the other team. The coaching staff also went after great punters during recruiting. They realized that during defensive struggles with top teams like Nebraska and Oklahoma that they could move down the field slowly just by trading punts several times.The Buffs had three All-American punters during the late 1980's.

As the Buffs found more and more success, better players came knocking. With the addition of great talent, the Buffs were able to move back toward a traditional offense that more equally used both running and passing. Three years after winning the national title as a predominantly running team, the Buffs had Rashaan Salaam earn the Heisman Trophy playing for a team with a strong passing attack as well as a dominant running game.

Bill McCartney retired after the 1994 season.

After Mac stepped away from college football, the Buffs had 10 win seasons the next two years under Slick Rick Neuheisel. Buff fans thought that it would just be a continuation of the good times under McCartney. By year three, however, it became clear that Neuheisel was just a kid who had found the keys to his daddy's Ferrari and had taken it out for a two-year joyride.

When it came time for the players that he was responsible for developing to play, the Buffs were no longer a top program. The Buffs lost 10 games in the last two years of Neuheisel's reign. Mac's last six teams lost a combined 11 games. Knowing that the cupboard was bare and that NCAA rules had been broken, Neuheisel bolted to Washington after the '98 season. (His time in Washington also led to run-ins with the NCAA, but this article is about CU, not the Slickster.)

What lessons can be learned by Mike MacIntyre?

The first thing that Mac and his staff had to do when they got to Colorado was to take a group of individuals and turn them into a team. All indications are that his staff has done an excellent job of restoring a sense of family to a program had become completely dysfunctional.

They have had to work on developing skills for individual players while also facing down the fact that prior coaches had left important positions on the team bare of recruits. 2013 saw a total of nine offensive linemen available for nine positions. It also saw a bunch of underclassmen defensive backs getting their trial by fire in the Pac-12 while also learning a new system.

This year, the Buffs have much better depth and higher level of talent across the board. But they also play in the toughest conference in the country. If they want to compete and become a team that once again looks to go to a bowl at the end of each season, they need to commit to an offensive and defensive philosophy that will allow them to do that.

If their defense is weaker than their opponents offense, they need to find ways to control the ball to limit the opportunities to score by the other team. The Pac-12 offers an excellent example.

Look at how Stanford has consistently shut down the Oregon Ducks. 

The Quackers want to score on every play, to wait only 10 seconds to run each play, and as many possessions as they can get. They want a minimum of five possessions per quarter and want their scoring drives to last less than minute.

Unfortunately for Oregon, Stanford knows how to control the ball and limit the Oregon possessions to 2 or even 1 per quarter. They know that Oregon cannot score touchdowns unless they have the ball. And Stanford also plays hard-nose, knock-down, rough-you-up defense. The do not allow the Ducks to get into a rhythm, and every year the Ducks high flying offense and national title aspirations are dashed by the boys from Palo Alto.

Stanford usually falls short once or twice a season, but their whole philosophy is designed to beat Oregon. And they implement that philosophy very well.

What will Colorado's "philosophy" be during the 2014 season?

Every team in the country "wants" to run and/or pass the ball well. They all "want" to play good defense. They all "want" to be winning teams. The question for Mike MacIntyre and his Colorado staff and team is:

What are they willing TO DO to make their wants come true? Are they going to give lip service to running the ball, or are they going to do it? Same goes for the passing game. As Yoda said a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

"Do or do not. There is no try."

Delusional CSU Fans Looking for an Upset Against Colorado in the Rocky Mountain Showdown

Lots of folks around the country and even Colorado like to make fun of Boulder and its lifestyle. That's okay. It's all in fun. And in many cases it's jealousy. That's okay too. Nobody makes much ado about Fort Collins because, frankly, most people around the country have no idea where the home of Colorado State University is located (other than being in Colorado, that is).

Boulder, however, is a completely different matter. It's the home of the University of Colorado. It's the location of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is here. IBM is in Boulder. Google has offices in Boulder. The home of Mork and Mindy is in Boulder. A Heisman Trophy and an NCAA football championship trophy also have a place in Boulder. CU has the greatest live mascot in all of college athletics. And the magic little town below the Flatirons also has the most highly educated population level in the United States.

It's easy to see why those up in Fort Collins might be a little jealous. It also makes sense why more Ram-leaning folks go the CSU game against Colorado than to any other game. I mean, really, where else can they see a real live buffalo leading a team onto the gridiron? It's a lot more impressive than a sheep with horns.

In any case, we digress. The subject at hand was delusions. An article published earlier today in the Coloradoan talked about the three keys for CSU to beat Colorado in the Rocky Mountain Showdown in Denver tomorrow. The first thing the article mentioned was running the ball and doing it well. Good advice nearly always.

The delusional part came next. The writer made the claim that "top to bottom, CSU has more talent at running back than it did last season." Really? Last year, the Rams had Kapri Bibbs, who set a CSU record by rushing for 1,741 yards and became only the 3rd player in D-1 history to rush for 30 touchdowns in a season. Bibbs now plays for the Denver Broncos. Unless the Rams plan to change their offensive philosophy to running the wishbone (thus having 3 backs behind the quarterback), there is no chance "top to bottom" or even sideways that they will have more talent on the field at the running back position than they had last year.

The next "key" was to keep Colorado under 300 yards passing. Sad to say, the Buff having under 300 yards passing will most likely be due to them rushing for more than 250 yards and eating up the clock while they do it. What the CSU faithful need to hope for is that the revamped Colorado line does not dominate the clock and wear down their defense. If Colorado has big passing numbers and small rushing numbers, it means that offensive line of Colorado is not doing its job.

The Buffs passed for 400 yards last year but took 46 passes to do it. Take away the 157 yards on two Paul Richardson TD catches and Colorado only had 243 yards on 44 passes, which works out to 5.5 yards per pass. Those numbers are good enough to beat the likes of CSU, but they will not hold up against the rigors of Pac-12 play.

The last "key" listed in the Coloradan was the play of CSU wide receivers. They will have their hands full since the Colorado defensive backfield finally has some depth as well as talent, and should be better than it has been since Gary Barnett was coaching. That's saying a lot, since the 2011 NFL draft took Colorado cornerbacks in the first and fourth rounds.

The real key to CSU beating Colorado is if the Buff team and its fans get stuck in construction traffic on highway 36 and don't make it to the game on time. Don't count on it, though. The best advice would be for CSU fans to stay in Denver for the weekend and take in a show or go to the zoo. That way the trip down won't be a total bust. Colorado wins this one in a more impressive fashion than last year, and won't need Paul Richardson to do it.

It's Time for Colorado Buff Fans to Get Over Paul Richardson

With less than four days before the start of the 2014 Colorado Football season, some Buff fans are doing some serious hand-wringing and fretting over the fact that Paul Richardson has moved on to the NFL's Seattle Seahawks. They need to stop worrying.

The 2014 CU Buffs will be a better TEAM without Richardson.

While reading the stories and blogs (and their comments) about CU football, a common theme is that the Buffs will be unable to overcome the loss of Paul Richardson. Many of the comments by younger folks than myself give the impression that they think that Paul Richardson was the best player ever to don the Black and Gold. These people need to listen to their elders when we tell them that is not the case. In reality...

Richardson was the best player on some of the worst Colorado teams ever.

Colorado's record while he was in Boulder was 13 wins and 36 losses, and many of those were some of the worst losses in CU history. Although Paul stood out as a shining light in some very dark times for Colorado football, the fact remains that he was not enough of an impact player to make CU a winning team.

His stats from 2013 were impressive:

• 83 catches for 1,343 yards.
• 1 rush for 7 yards.
• 10 touchdowns.
• Total all purpose yards -- 1,350 on 84 touches.
• An average just over 16 yards every time he touched the ball.

Just a reminder, his team finished with 4 wins and 8 losses. In addition, Richardson was the "Go-To" guy on the team.

Compare Richardson's season with that of Mike Pritchard in 1990.

His stats from CU's National Championship team were amazing:

• 28 catches for 733 yards.
• 29 rushes for 450 yards.
• 16 kickoff returns for 331 yards.
• 11 touchdowns.
• Total all purpose yards -- 1,514 yards on 73 touches.
• More than 20.7 yards every time he touched the ball.

This team won the National Championship and Pritchard shared the spotlight with Eric Biemiemy, who finished 3rd in the Heisman Trophy race, and Darian Hagan, who finished 5th in the Heisman the year before.

The moral of the story is that Pritchard was a great player on a great team.

A winning team is not made by lots of passes to just one guy.

In addition to the National Champion team in 1990, every Buff fans should know about the 1989 and 1994 teams.

 The '89 team went undefeated in the regular season and lost in the Orange Bowl as the #1 team. That 1989 team threw a grand total of only 102 passes the entire year. But they had 4 receivers who averaged more than 24 yards per catch. They also rushed for 4,090 yards as a team.

The 1994 team may have been the most talented in Colorado history. 

Quarterback Kordell Stewart threw for 2071 yards and rushed for 639. His top 5 receivers that year were:

• Michael Westbrook -- 36 catches for 689 yards.
• Christian Fauria -- 35 catches for 356 yards.
• Rashaan Salaam -- 24 catches for 294 yards.
• Phil Savoy -- 17 catches for 283 yards.
• Rae Carruth -- 14 catches for 255 yards.

In addition to throwing the ball, the Buffs also featured a running game powered by Rashaan Salaam's 2055 yards and 24 touchdowns on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy.

(Those numbers do not reflect the bowl game -- Salaam rushed for 3 touchdowns, while Stewart took the Offensive MVP with 205 yards passing and 143 rushing.)

The team blew one game to arch-rival Nebraska to be denied the National Championship game. I watched from the stands as they destroyed Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl 41-24 to finish the season ranked #3.

The 2013 Buffs threw lots of passes. They had to. The were one of the worst teams in the country at rushing the ball.

Last year, the Buffs threw four times as many passes as the 1989 team that played for the National Championship.

They threw twice as many as the team that won the National title in 1990.

They threw 155 more passes than the 1994 team.

The 2014 Buffs must be able to run the ball and control the field.

Last year, the Buffs were the worst in the Pac-12 at getting into the red-zone and also into the end zone for touchdowns on their way to a four win season.

This year, if they want to be competitive in the best conference in the country, they need to change that. They need to compete in the trenches. If they continue to get manhandled on the lines, a great talent like Paul Richardson cannot make them a winning team.

Football is a TEAM sport, and great numbers for one guy don't mean squat.

A Look at the Newcomers for the CU Buffs on Defense and Special Teams to Keep an Eye On

It's officially game week in Boulder. 

On the horizon this Friday is the annual clash in Denver with CSU at the Rocky Mountain Showdown. Yesterday featured a look at newcomers (Freshmen, Redshirt Freshmen, and Transfers) on Offense for the 2014 Colorado Buffaloes football team.

Today features a look at the newcomers who might make an impact on Defense and Special Teams.

Mike MacIntyre's first year in Boulder was last year. He took over a squad that was lucky to win one game in 2012 that many Buff fans feel was the worst team in Colorado's long and storied history. He took that 2012 squad, and with the help of some marvellous newcomers to the program, turned it into a 4 win team.

On offense, freshmen QB Sefo Liufau and RB Michael Akins II worked their way into the starting line-ups and were major causes for hope among the Buff faithful.

On defense, Linebacker Addison Gillam had perhaps the best freshmen defensive year in the history of the program. He was a freshman All-American and set the CU record for tackles by a freshman.

Who will be the newcomers this year that will make an impact?

Among defensive backs, these young men are looking to make a name for themselves guarding the fleet hordes of wide receivers in the Pac-12 and chasing down speedy return men.

• Ahkello Witherspoon -- 6'3'' 185 lbs (Soph.)

Ahkello transferred to CU from Sacramento City College. Witherspoon was looked at by Coach MacIntyre when he was the head coach at San Jose State. They deemed the young speedster as too small in high school when he was only 5'8'' tall. But they kept in touch and Ahkello grew 7 inches after graduation while maintaining his speed.

Witherspoon caught everyone's attention in Spring practices and has maintained it throughout fall camp. He has all the intangibles of a great cornerback at both the collegiate and professional level. He has the size, speed and physicality to be the next great cornerback at Colorado.

• Ryan Moeller -- 6'0" 205 lbs. (RS-FR)

Ryan came to CU as a preferred walk on last year from Rifle, Colorado. He was a force of nature in high school who scored 50 touchdowns his senior year. To put that in perspective, the entire Colorado team scored a total of only 38 touchdowns in 2013, and 28 in 2012.

Moeller rushed for over 3000 yards and averaged over 40 yards per catch as a receiver. As a defensive back, he had 8 interceptions, two of which were returned for TD's. He was the 3A player of the year and also on the Denver Post All-Colorado team as well as being a small school All-American.

Ryan redshirted last year and has quickly moved his way up to being 2nd on the depth chart at Free Safety. With the season ending injury to starter Jered Bell, look for Ryan to compete for playing time and to be a terror on special teams.

• Evan White -- 6'2" 195 lbs. (Freshman)

As a true freshman, Evan had drawn raves from coaches and fans alike during fall camp. White came to CU from Cherokee Trail HS in Aurora, where he was an All-State performer. He has the speed that coaches love (11.03 in the 100 meters) and the physicality and propensity for big hits that will likely make him a fan favorite.

Coach MacIntyre is a big proponent of redshirting freshmen whenever possible, but has noted that it will be very hard to keep Evan White off the field on special teams.

• Yuri Wright -- 6'1" 170 lbs. (Soph.)

Yuri is not really a newcomer, but this year will be re-introduced to CU Buff fans after a redshirt year in 2013. Wright came to Colorado in 2012 as a celebrated 4-star recruit from Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey where he was a SuperPrep All-American.

As a true freshman in 2012, Wright was tossed into the fire and fed to the wolves of NFL caliber wide receivers in the Pac-12. He started six games that season, missing four games to injury.

Due to injuries and a desire to help the young man develop physically and academically, Coach MacIntyre chose to redshirt Wright last year. Look for Wright to compete for playing time in the nickel and dime packages so often used in the pass-happy Pac-12.

---------------------------------------------

At Linebacker, Buff fans are hoping to strike gold for a 2nd year in row.

• Deaysean Rippy -- 6'2" 220 lbs. (Soph. Transfer)

Deaysean comes to Colorado from the University of Pittsburgh. He redshirted his freshman year there and had to sit out a year after transferring to Colorado.

In high school, Rippy was a celebrated 4-star recruit and was considered one of the top prospects in the state of Pennsylvania. His cousin (Doug Rippy) was talented four year letterman at CU.

Buff fans are hoping that Rippy lives up to his promise and makes an impact sooner rather than later as a big time linebacker.

------------------------------------------

The Defensive Line is an area with a lot of questions. These newcomers may make the difference between 4 wins and 6 wins.

• Markeis Reed -- 6'4" 245 lbs. (RS-FR)

Markeis came to Colorado from Napa Valley, California as an outside linebacker prospect. He was moved to the line and redshirted last year to add weight and strength. Reed suffered a sports hernia early in fall camp and may miss the first several games of the season following surgery. Fans and coaches alike are looking for his return to provide speed and depth along the defensive front.

• Derek McCartney -- 6'3" 240 lbs. (RS-FR)

Derek is a Colorado legacy recruit. His grandfather is Bill McCartney, CU's all time wins leader and coach of CU's 1990 National Championship team. His father is CU great Shannon Clavelle, who went on to win a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers.

Last year during his redshirt, Derek was selected as the scout team player of the year. This spring, he was selected as the most improved defensive lineman. Buff fans and coaches are hoping that bloodlines make a difference and that Derek can grow into a top-tier defensive lineman in the Pac-12.

• Eddy Lopez -- 6'4"  300 lbs (Freshman)

With some of the other newcomers on the defensive front being counted on to be the "small but quick" type of linemen, coaches are happy to have "big guy" to anchor the group.

Eddy comes to Colorado from El Paso, Texas, where he was the co-defensive player of the year. Even though he is a true freshman, his work in camp will make it very hard for coaches to keep him off the field.

---------------------------------------------------

To the casual fan, Special Teams can be somewhat of a mystery. In reality, the work done by these performers can be as much of a determinant on the win/loss column as the Offense and the Defense.

On punts and field goals, everything starts with the guy holding the ball to begin the play. His job is to get the ball on target to the punter or the holder on field goals. The name of this position is Long Snapper.

• Wyatt Tucker Smith -- 6'2" 230 lbs. (Junior Transfer)

 Wyatt comes to Colorado from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. His work making every snap for two years helped his punter and placekicker earn All-American status last year. Wyatt was considered to by some to be the best long snapper in the country at the Junior College level.

He is currently #1 on the depth chart at his position.

--------------------------------------------

Another special teams performer that fans are anxious to see is a combination of Punter and Placekicker.

• Diego Gonzalez -- 5'11"  210 lbs. (Soph. Transfer)

Diego came to Boulder as a transfer from  Monterrey Tech in Mexico. He sat out a transfer year last season. He has three years of eligibility remaining. Ahead of Diego on the depth chart at both positions are seniors who are considered among the best in the Pac-12. Barring injuries to the starters, most of his work this year will be as a back-up and probably to help out with kickoffs.

As only those who have seen Diego practice can attest to, this young man has an extraordinarily powerful leg. The ball explodes off his foot. The sound it makes coming off his foot on kickoffs is unlike anyone at Colorado since Mason Crosby, the current Green Bay Packer kicker. The only other kicker at CU that I can remember that sound coming from a kicked ball came from two-time All-American punter Barry Helton back in 1985 and 1986.

If this young man can adjust to the speed of the game at the level of the Pac-12 and learn to be highly accurate, he will have a long career ahead of him in the NFL.

2014 Colorado Buffaloes Offensive Newcomers to Watch

The 2014 Colorado Buffaloes football season is starting in less than one week.

Head Coach Mike MacIntyre has closed practices so the Buffs can prepare for Jim McElwain's Colorado State Rams this coming Friday at the Rocky Mountain Showdown in Denver.

As with most programs across the country, the opening game of the season gives fans a chance to see new players for the first time. Since MacIntyre has opted to not share the depth chart heading into the big rivalry game with little brother up in Fort Collins, this will give a look at some of the young men who will be playing Offense (and Special Teams).

To qualify for the list of newcomers, these players have to be either Transfers, Redshirt Freshman, or True Freshman.

Starting with "Big Men" who toil in the trenches, CU fans are likely to see three new faces playing at various times.

Offensive Line Coach Gary Bernardi is a strong proponent of having his men know how to play several positions across the line. With that being the case, don't be surprised to some of these guys playing Tackle during one series and Guard later in the game. Or some might move from Guard to Center (or vice-versa).

This will be vastly different from last year, where the same five guys played nearly every snap at the same positions the entire season. That was necessary because of horrible depth last year, along with the desire to redshirt as many young linemen as possible.

New Offensive Linemen to Keep an Eye On -

• Shane Callahan -- 6'6" 300 lbs. (Soph.)

Shane is a Colorado native who was a four star recruit to Auburn University.  He was a backup last year for a team that made it to the National Championship game.

Due to some family issues here in Colorado, Shane transferred to CU and was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA. His arrival makes the Colorado offensive line a much better unit.

The only depth chart issued by CU was August 2nd before the start of camp. Since Callahan had not officially joined the team yet, he is not even listed. Expect to see A LOT of Shane Callahan this fall and for the next two years.

• Sully Weifels -- 6'3"  300 lbs. (Junior Transfer)

Sully comes to Colorado from Eagle, Idaho by way of the American River College in Sacramento. He was considered one of the top offensive linemen from the JC ranks this year. He will have two years of eligibility at CU.

Like Callahan above, Weifels gives CU much needed depth along the front line. Expect to see him tried at various positions as CU coaches come up with the best unit to lead the team.

• Jonathan Huckins -- 6'3" 305 lbs. (RS-FR) 

Jonathan arrived last year from The Woodlands, Texas. He redshirted last year and has added 15 lbs to his frame and a great deal of strength working with Dave Forman.

He entered fall camp listed 2nd on the depth chart at both Left Guard and Center. Expect to see Jonathan at several positions this season.

• Sam Kronshage -- 6'5" 285 lbs. (RS-FR)

Like Huckins above, Sam arrived last year from The Woodlands, Texas, where they were teammates in high school. Sam entered fall camp as the backup to Nembot at Right Tackle and 3rd at Left Tackle.

Like Huckins and Callahan, expect Sam to be on the field this fall at various junctures.


New Skill Position Players to Look For this Season -

• Phillip Lindsay, Running Back -- 5'8" 175 lbs. (RS-FR)

The redshirt freshman who played at Denver South has been compared favorably to Buff legend Eric Bieniemy, and not just for his size. He is fiery player that his head coach has nicknamed the Tasmanian Devil. He was the top running back prospect in Colorado in high school.

He was named the Offensive Scout Player of the Year during his redshirt year, and received the Fred Casotti Award this spring as the most improved running back.

Even though Phillip enters a crowded backfield competition with Christian Powell, Michael Adkins II, and  Tony Jones, expect coaches to get him on the field to showcase his moves and enthusiasm.

• Bryce Bobo, Wide Receiver --  6'2" 190 lbs. (RS-FR)

Bryce entered fall camp as the #1 receiver at the "X" wide receiver position. He came to CU from Charter Oak High in Covina, California. His teams in HS won the prestigious Sierra League titles his junior and senior season.

CU coaches have raved about the young man this spring and fall camp.  Expect Bryce to be a favorite target of QB Sefo Liufau this fall and in coming years.

• Shay Fields, Wide Receiver -- 5'11" 170 lbs. (Freshman)

Shay is a true freshman with speed to burn. He came to CU after playing at powerhouse St. John Bosco in California. His high school team last year finished the year 16-0 and was rated the #1 high school team in the United States.

Although Shay is a true freshman, expect him to get playing time both as a wide receiver and on special teams, where he excelled in high school as a return man.

• Lee Walker, Wide Receiver -- 6'0" 175 lbs. (Freshman)

Lee comes to Colorado from James Madison HS in San Diego. He took a year off after high school and entered fall camp as a true freshman. His bio lists him as 2nd on the depth chart at the "X" wide receiver position, but the depth chart lists him as 2nd at the "Z" wide receiver.

With the uptempo offense of Coordinator Brian Lindgren, expect to see quite a bit from Walker this season.