The Colorado Buffaloes finally made it to a bowl game after 3287 days, and the rust of nine years certainly showed. The Buffs were manhandled in every facet of the game by Oklahoma State and left the Alamo Bowl field with a 38-8 thrashing by the Cowboys.
Looking back on the game, the result was not really surprising. The Buffs have certainly moved up in the world of college football, but they are not really a Top 10 caliber team just yet. That time is coming, but today is not that day.
They are most certainly a team in the lower part of the Top 25, and that is heads and shoulders higher than they have been in more than a decade. Over the past 10 or so years (before this season), even marginal teams have put a hurting on the Buffaloes. This year Colorado put a hurting on the poor and marginal teams.
Against teams that did not end up in pre-bowl Top 25, Colorado went 9-0 this year. The Buffs outscored those teams 362-154. That's an average of around 40-17.
Against teams that did end up in the pre-bowl Top 25, the Buffaloes won only one of five games. They were outscored by those teams 150-73. That's an average of 30-14.
It was a tale of two seasons for the Colorado Buffaloes. Against the unranked teams, it was the best of times. Against the ranked teams, however, it continues to be tough sledding.
Some will argue who to fault for the numerical discrepancies, but it's a team game. The offense scored almost 4 touchdowns less against the good teams. The defense gave up an extra 13 points each game.
This writer would point out that turnovers by the offense and special teams led to extra points given up by the Buffs. And some would add that poor execution by the offense often kept the D on the field for extended periods, leading to fatigue. Others might point out that the higher scores given up by the Buffs were after the D gave in to the futility of their task when the offense or special teams quickly destroyed good defensive work.
Football is a game of momentum and passion. Once a unit feels that their work is futile, adrenaline falls and they become a step slower. Sometimes that is all that is needed to give up a big play. And with each big play, the sense of futility gets stronger.
The goal of these Buffaloes going into spring ball should be to maintain their dominance of the lesser teams, and learn how to play well against the Top 25. This is not just on the players, but more pointedly to the coaches.
Colorado's turnaround this year was wholly unexpected by the rest of the country and Pac-12. The Buffs had been so bad for so long that nobody expected their play to be so good. As Pac-12 South champions this year, they better realize that every team in the conference will be gunning for them next season. They better be ready.
The Buffs know now that they can go bowling every year by beating the bad and marginal teams on their schedule. If they want to win championships and bowl games, however, they need to take the next step.
The offensive coordinators and play callers need to realize that good defensive teams and coordinators will shut them down if they are too predictable in their play calling. And they need to be able to adjust their play calling when the opposing defense is doing something specific (like stacking the box) to slow them down. The play-calling cannot rely only on what they WANT to do. The Buffs are not that good yet. They need to attack what the defense is doing, and you don't attack a stacked box by running up the middle.
Another year of working with strength guru Drew Wilson will help immensely. The Buffs did the pushing around this year in the majority of their games, and next year should be even better.
MacIntyre should continue to hone his staff so that all those coach of the year awards he earned will lead to even better days ahead for the Buffaloes.
2016 was an excellent step for Colorado. Beating the teams you should beat is the mark of a good football team. Bowls will be the result as long as they continue to do just that.
Fans are hoping the year has really stoked the hunger to excel for the team. They ended the season with two lopsided losses. They should not want it to happen again and be willing to work hard enough to ensure that it doesn't.
The guess here is that the culture has effectively changed, and that The Rise will continue next year. Go Buffs!
No comments:
Post a Comment