Over the last several years, I have missed some or most of the college football season due to extended travels overseas. The Colorado Buffaloes have had some of their worst seasons during that time. Despite that, I managed to post on this blog more than 100 times with observations about things done well and things that have failed.
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I think that head coach Mike MacIntyre has a lot to offer the University of Colorado. He has experience in the NFL as well as experience rebuilding down programs. He has upgraded the talent level of his team, making them stronger and better able to compete at the Pac-12 level.
When his defensive coordinator was not getting the job done, he went out and got two home-run hires in Jim Leavitt and Joe Tumpkin. The effect they have had in bringing spirit back to the Colorado D has been immense.
Unfortunately, he seems entirely committed to offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren. This despite the fact that Lindgren is not a power five level offensive mind. His play calling is atrocious.
Lindgren fails to get his offense into any kind of rhythm except for maybe one or two drives before the games get out of hand. He does seem to excel in piling up yards against the 2nd and 3rd stringers of CU opponents after the Buffs are no longer in the game.
His clock management is bewildering and never seems to show a sense of urgency when it is needed. And lastly, he seems to call plays that seem designed to get his injured quarterback killed. Two years ago, he pulled the plug on five star quarterback transfer Connor Wood in favor of true freshman Sefo Liufau because Wood did not get the job done against Oregon and Oregon State.
Oregon and OSU won a combined 18 games that season. In the Oregon State game, Lindgren continued to call out passes to the sideline despite the fact that the wind was blowing 40 miles an hour and disrupting those passes. Coming off the worst season in Colorado history (2012), in which the Buffs were lucky to win one game, Wood had led the Buffs to a 2-2 record in 2013.
After starting the game 0-4 with an interception, Wood was benched in the game at Arizona State and Sefo Liufau has been the starter ever since. What has been the result?
- 2013 -- Liufau led the Buffs to two victories (Charleston Southern and a 1-11 Cal team)
- 2014 -- Despite setting numerous records, Liufau led to the Buffs to only two victories all season (over 4 win Hawaii, and 3 win UMass)
- 2015 -- Brought a three game winning streak over bad competition (Umass, Nichols, and Colorado State)
Lindgren dumped Wood after two bad games, yet the current quarterback has been unable to get into a rhythm the entire season this year. And last year, despite numerous records, he also turned the ball over an astonishing number of times.
What will it take for Lindgren to make a change? Maybe he realizes that his horrible play-calling is to blame. Mostly, Lindgren seems like a deer in the headlights against Pac-12 competition.
If MacIntyre survives the season as head coach, it will be a miracle unless Lindgren is shown the door. If Mac is let go, Buff Athletic Director Rick George has the perfect replacement on staff in Jim Leavitt. That will allow the Buffs to retain some semblance of continuity in a program that has had too many bad coaches and too many changes over the last decade.
Whatever happens the rest of this year, it will not be on my watch. Overseas travel beckons once again and I cannot imagine any Buff fan will be having a better time than I will.
Go Buffs.
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