Colorado Reaches Crossroads Against Washington State

It's been a particularly odd and peculiar year for the Colorado Buffaloes and their fans. 

Last season was a remarkable run that ended with the Buffs playing in the Pac-12 Championship game after winning 10 games during the regular season. And after a decade of losing football, the wonder and joy of returning to winning form was a welcome respite from the years of disappointment.

Before this season began, excitement permeated all who had an interest in Colorado football. The coaches, the players, and fans expected the team to continue their winning ways based on the foundation  built by head coach Mike MacIntyre. 

Through recruiting and player development, it took Mac three years to turn a down program into a team able to compete in the Pac-12. Just looking at wins and losses, however, did not tell the whole story. Mac's teams won four, two, and then four games again in those first three years. But each year the Buffs got closer and closer to competing equally in the Pac-12. 

Then, in year four, they finally started winning the close games.

And they also started to win big against some of the struggling teams. Things were finally good again in Buff land. And the Colorado faithful were excited. First a trip to the conference title game, and then a bowl for the first time in a decade. Thanksgiving weekend in 2016 left the Buffaloes with a 10-2 record and most CU fans were giving football thanks for the first time in longer than they cared to remember. Excitement for the future was sky high.

Since that weekend last November, the Buffaloes have won only four of nine games.

There not only lost, but were blown out of both the conference title game and the bowl game. And this season, the Buffs are limping along with a 4-3 record. They were 3-0 against over-matched non-conference foes Colorado State, Texas State and Northern Colorado. And even though the Buffs won those games, they looked very uninspired doing so.

Once they started Pac-12 play, things got ugly quickly. Washington came to Boulder and handed Colorado a beating that was eerily similar to the one the Huskies dealt CU in the Pac-12 title game. Fans and coaches rationalized that game by pointing out that UW was a top 10 team.

Following the Washington debacle, CU lost their next two conference games to teams that were struggling so badly that their coaches were rumored to be on the hot seats as far as job security. Both Jim Mora at UCLA and Rich Rodriguez at Arizona got much needed wins against Colorado. Those two losses left Colorado looking stunned at 3-3.

Last week, finally, the Buffaloes played a team truly struggling. In fact, things were so bad that the Oregon State head coach Gary Anderson walked away from a guaranteed $12 Million contract and resigned. The Buffs faced one of the worst teams in the country, and walked away with come-from-behind 36-33 win. More discouraging is that the 3 point win came against a team that had not been within 28 points of any FBS teams this season.

But, it has been argued, the Buffs won the on road in a Pac-12 game. They were the ONLY team in the league to win a conference game on the road last week. 

It's a tough conference to begin with and winning on the road is very difficult. Last week, three Top 25 teams in the conference went on the road against Pac-12 foes and they all lost. Top 5 Washington lost at Arizona State. Top 10 Washington State was thrashed by California 37-3. And Top 25 Utah lost on the road to USC.

Utah lost to a fellow Top 25 team, but UW and Wash State lost to teams with records of .500 or worse. It's a tough league.

Now the Buffaloes reach a crossroads in their away game at #15 Washington State.

If they win, they move to within one game of qualifying for a bowl game. If they lose, they fall to .500 with a 4-4 record with giant-killers Cal and Arizona State looming before season ending games against heavyweights USC and Utah.

Will the Buffaloes play like they aspire to be in the Top 25? Or will they play like a team that loses big to every Top 25 team on their schedule? The Buffs haven't beaten a Top 25 team ranked above them anywhere since 2008 when they beat West Virginia. And they haven't beaten a Top 25 team on the road since 2002 against UCLA.

Time is running out if the Buffaloes want to make a bowl game for the second consecutive year. Are they and their coaches up to it? Will they celebrate an important victory or find more ways to rationalize another loss?

What's Happened to the Pac-12 Predictions in 2016?

Mike MacIntyre's 4th Colorado Buffaloes team entered the season finished to pick last yet again in the Pac-12 South. What else is new? So-called prognosticators in most cases are nothing more than those who review the last few seasons before sharing their "expert" advice.

Before the season, most of the media picked Stanford to win the North and UCLA to win the South. After those two, the next picks were Oregon and USC. The Washington Huskies were the 5th team selected in the Pac-12. Utah won 10 games last year and at one time were ranked #3 in the country, but they were expected to be only the 7th best team in the Pac-12 this hyear.

How has all this panned out? Stanford has stumbled to a 6-3 record while UCLA has collapsed to 3-6, a futile record that they share with Oregon. 

Meanwhile, Washington is 9-0 and ranked #4 in the country. Colorado is 7-2, ranked #12 in the latest CFP poll,  and alone in first place in the Pac-12 South. 

Utah is 8-2 and ranked #15. USC, after a poor start is on a roll and ranked #20. Washington State started the season 0-2, but has since won seven straight to be ranked #23. 

Arizona State and Arizona have had a rough patch unlike any in recent memory. The Sun Devils started the season 4-0, but since then they have lost 5 of 6. They have given up 180 points in their last four games. Arizona is winless in conference play (0-6) and have lost six in a row. They have given up 267 points in Pac-12 games, which is 44.5 per game.

Oregon will not be going to a bowl for the first time since the 2004 season. For UCLA, it will be first season not bowling since 2008. ASU will not go to a bowl for first time since 2010. Arizona has played in 8 bowl games in the last nine years. Not this year, though.

The moral of story, of course, is that the reason they play games is because any team in the conference can win or lose any conference game based on motivation, injuries, turnovers, horrible officiating or just plain luck.

North leader #4 Washington faces perhaps the most dangerous team on their schedule this weekend in USC. And South leader Colorado faces a down Arizona team with a long and proud history of taking down highly ranked teams in Tucson. Washington needed OT to beat them earlier this year. This is a game the Buffs must be prepared to take to the wire if necessary.

And best of all, these things represent the main reasons so many of us LOVE college football.

Colorado Buffaloes Look to Reverse History Against USC Trojans, Stay Atop Pac-12 South

The Colorado Buffaloes came into the 2016 knowing full well that they had only won only five conference games in five years in the Pac-12. Two of those came in 2011, their first in the conference. That season was followed by two years with only one Pac-12 victory apiece. 2014 had zero conference wins for the Buffs, and 2015 had a single conference win.

With their only conference victories over Arizona, Utah, Washington State, California and Oregon State, the Buffaloes were also well aware that there were SIX teams in the conference that they had never defeated since joining the Pac-12.

Oregon, Stanford, Washington, USC, Arizona State and UCLA had yet to lose to Colorado as a Pac-12 foe. The Trojans and the Sun Devils have never lost to Colorado in their histories. And the Buffs only have winning records (all-time) against three of their conference brethren (Arizona, Utah, and Washington State).

The Buffaloes came into the season with a stated goal of winning the Pac-12 championship.  Given their conference history, it was a bold goal to say publicly. And they knew that the only way it was going to happen is if they got some wins against teams that they had never defeated since joining the conference.

The first team on the schedule that met that criteria was the Oregon Ducks. Although Oregon was 16 games from playing for the national championship, the Buffs went into Eugene and defeated them 41-38.

Oregon State came to Boulder last week and became the first team in the Pac-12 to lose to the Buffaloes twice, and also became the first team with a multi-game losing streak to Colorado. And it wasn't even close. The Buffaloes won handily 47-6, in their largest conference victory in more than two decades.

The next two teams the Buffs play are ones that they have never defeated in their history. The Buffs are 0-10 against the USC Trojans going back to 1927, and 0-7 against the Arizona State Sun Devils going back to 2006. 

For the Buffs to achieve their stated goal of winning (or playing in the Pac-12 title game), they must first get by the two teams they have never beaten over the next two weeks. A loss to either team would put a serious damper on their ability to win the South, and losses to both would likely eliminate them from the race.

First up, tomorrow, is USC at the Coliseum (a place with marvelous history and a horrible place to watch football games). The Buffs are the better team so far this year, but the Trojans are trying to salvage their reputations after a dismal start to the season.

Some point to their dominating win over ASU last week as evidence that the Trojans have turned things around, but the reality is that before the ASU game, USC had lost all three games they played against FBS opponents. Alabama crushed them 52-6, and conference foes Utah and Stanford also took them down.

The losses to the Cardinal Trees and the Utes looked better before both teams lost last weekend. Stanford was shellacked  by Washington 44-6 and Utah lost to an unranked Cal.

The only team the Colorado has lost to this year was in Ann Arbor to a Michigan team that is ranked #4 in the country. On top of that, the Buffs were beating the Wolverines until their punting team fell apart (leading to 28 points for Michigan) and were still in the game until losing their starting QB Sefo Liufau.

More importantly, the Buffs showed at Oregon that they could come back late in a game after two turnovers gave the Ducks the lead. And the game was sealed by a defensive stop in the end zone.
The Buffs have been battle tested and have been hardened. They showed that to be true by their big win over the Beavers last week.

The Trojans lost the only close game they played, and they have been beaten badly once (by 46) and handily once (by 17) in their three losses. A bad ASU defense offered little to test USC and the game was out of hand quickly.

What we will find out tomorrow is whether the Buffs are as good as they have looked so far. Can they win another game on the road against a traditionally top program? Can they get over their history emotionally to play the Trojans strong?

We will see. The first quarter will likely be the telling period. If the Buffs are ahead or close after the first quarter, things bode well. If the Buffs can avoid turnovers and special teams mistakes, things also bode well.

If their defense plays as strong as they have for the entire year, the Buffs should win this game. If the offense plays as strongly as they have the entire season (minus the interceptions at Oregon), the Buffaloes should win handily.

If the Buffaloes don't win, chances are they will be able to look in the mirror and know why.

Colorado Posts Largest Conference Winning Margin in 24 Years, Routs Oregon State 47-6 and Takes Over 1st Place in Pac-12 South

The question most Colorado fans had at the beginning of the season is whether the Buffs could finally "turn the corner" in Mike MacIntyre's 4th season at the helm. The question has been answered emphatically the last two weeks with a win on the road at Oregon and a Folsom Field annihilation of Oregon State.

The Buffs have not only turned the corner, they are accelerating out of the curve.

The comparisons between MacIntyre and the great Bill McCartney have been hot and heavy for several years now. The similarities are rather remarkable. McCartney's record after 3 seasons was 7-25-1. MacIntyre's record after 3 was 10-27. McCartney's first three teams won only 4 conference games. MacIntyre's first three won only 2 games against conference foes.

For the first coach Mac, the turnaround came in year four (1985) when the Buffs won 7 games after winning only one the previous year. The job of McCartney was so impressive to his fellow coaches in the Big 8 that he was voted Coach of the Year even though Barry Switzer's Oklahoma Sooner team won the National Championship. 

Now, in Mike MacIntyre's 4th season, the Buffs stand at 4-1. More importantly, CU is 2-0 in conference play. What does that mean?

The Colorado Buffaloes will go to bed tonight knowing that they are alone in first place in the Pac-12 South Division. 

With Cal's goal-line stand to win against Utah, and USC's throttling of Arizona State, the only team in the South with a perfect conference record is Colorado. To put it in more perspective, the last time the Buffs won consecutive conference games was 2010. This was different, however. The 2010 Buffs lost their first 5 conference games before the two game winning streak. The last time they won two in a row when it mattered was 2005.

Colorado still has seven conference games to play this season. But, none of the teams remaining on the schedule looks unbeatable. USC is 2-3. Arizona State, undefeated coming into today, was exposed as a horribly flawed team. 

Even Stanford, a preseason pick to make the national championship playoff, was destroyed against Washington in their worst loss in almost a decade. The Buffs know they can play with anyone in the conference. But, they won't play Washington unless both make it to the Pac-12 Championship game.

But today, right now, the Buffs look like serious contenders to win the Pac-12 South. And Mike MacIntyre looks like a serious threat to win Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors.

Why Aren't Pac-12 Teams Winning Conference Games at Home?

Cue the music to The Twilight Zone... because something very mysterious is going on this year in Pac-12 football. In a top to bottom conference in which every league game is to tough to win, the one historical advantage that every team banked upon were the all-important "home games."

It's an old adage in college football that if you want to go bowling at the end of the season, the key was to win all your home games and play .500 on the road. By and large, those numbers will give you at least 9 wins year in and year out (unless you play in the SEC, where most of the teams seem to have seven or eight home games every year). Nine wins means a trip for the holidays.

This year, the world of Pac-12 football has turned upside down. Eleven games into conference play, and the home teams have only won TWICE!

And it is NOT because the ranked teams are beating up on the unranked (UR) teams. In fact, there seems to be no rhyme nor reason. Out of those eleven games, these are the numbers:

• UR Stanford beats #6 USC in L.A; 41-31
• #21 Stanford beats UR Oregon State in Corvallis; 42-24
• UR Cal beats UR Washington in Seattle; 30-24
• #9 UCLA beats #16 Arizona in Tucson; 56-30
• #18 Utah beats #13 Oregon in Eugene; 62-20
• #19 USC beats UR Arizona State in Tempe; 42-14
• UR Arizona State beats UCLA in L.A.; 38-23
• UR Oregon beats UR Colorado in Boulder; 41-24
• UR Washington beats #17 USC in L.A.; 17-12

Breaking those numbers down, this is what we see:

• FIVE UNRANKED teams have won on the road in conference play.
• THREE of those UNRANKED teams have beaten RANKED teams on the road.
• ONE ranked team has beaten a lower ranked team.
• ONE lower ranked team has beaten a higher ranked team.
• Only TWO ranked teams have beaten UNRANKED conference foes on the road.
• Perennial power USC has lost TWICE at home already to UNRANKED Pac-12 teams. 

The only two times that Pac-12 teams have won at home are:

• #24 Cal beats UR Washington State; 34-28
• #18 Stanford beats UR Arizona; 55-17

Things are stranger than fiction this year in Pac-12 football. How long will it go on?

Pac-12 Football: The Split Personality Reigns Supreme

Only five weeks into the 2015 college football season and to quote Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, "What a long, strange trip it's been!" In the preseason AP Top 25 poll, the Pac-12 had SIX teams in the Top 22 and a total of EIGHT which received votes.

Preseason:
# 7 -- Oregon
# 8 -- USC
#13 -- UCLA
#15 -- Arizona State
#21 -- Stanford
#22 -- Arizona

Two weeks in and things have changed. Arizona State lost to #27 Texas A&M, Stanford lost to Northwestern.

Week 2 Poll:
# 7 -- Oregon
# 8 -- USC
#13 --UCLA
#22 -- Arizona
#21 -- Utah

Stanford and Arizona State drop out of Top 25, Utah joins.

Oregon loses to then #5 Michigan State and drops in polls.

Week 3 Poll:
#  6 -- USC
#10 -- UCLA
#12 -- Oregon
#20 -- Arizona
#21 -- Utah

USC loses to Stanford, Stanford re-enters Top 25 but is still ranked behind USC.

Week 4 Poll:
# 9 -- UCLA
#13 -- Oregon
#16 -- Arizona
#18 -- Utah
#19 -- USC
#21 -- Stanford

Utah destroys and humiliates Oregon in Eugene, UCLA manhandles Arizona in Tucson, USC rips Arizona State. Undefeated California enters the poll and Oregon and Arizona drop out of Top 25.

Week 5 Poll:
# 7 -- UCLA
#10 -- Utah
#17 -- USC
#18 -- Stanford
#24 -- California

Arizona State dismantles UCLA in L.A.,  Stanford rips Arizona. Stanford finally is ranked ahead of USC

Week 6 Poll:
# 5 -- Utah
#16 -- Stanford
#17 -- USC
#20 -- UCLA
#23 -- California

After five weeks, Utah has jumped from unranked to #5. Oregon, Arizona State and Arizona have fallen out of the Top 25. Stanford has dropped out and then rejoined the Top 25. California is ranked for the first time in years.

The powerful Pac-12 has only two undefeated teams left... and that will change this weekend when Cal takes on Utah.

Only 3 teams are undefeated in conference play (Stanford, Cal and Utah) and that will drop to two after this weekend. Stanford has a bye.

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Week by week, teams that played awful and lost the week before come back and upset a ranked team the next week. How it plays out is anybody's guess.

Will Dr. Jekyll show up and dominate? Or will Mr. Hyde ruin the day once again?


 

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'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.

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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.

CU Basketball: Buffs Thrashed by ASU -- Time to Take a Cold Hard Look at the Future

One of the great things about having a ranked team when most of your players are underclassmen is that the future looks bright for your program. One of the bad things about having a team dominated by youngsters is the risk that they will wander aimlessly without a true leader.

Such is the case with Tad Boyle's Colorado Buffaloes, who have looked lost and clueless as to which way to turn since projected first round NBA pick Spencer Dinwiddie blew out his knee and was lost for the season. Add in that Tre'Shaun Fletcher hurt his knee and is lost for the next couple months, and the Buffs' psyche just added insult to injury.

After Dinwiddie went down with CU enjoying a lead on the road at Washington, the Buffs proceeded to fall apart and lose that game. The shocking loss of one of the best players in the country gave a viable excuse to the Buff faithful. Even the next game, a loss at home to a ranked UCLA team, seemed reasonable as the Buffs looked to retool their game without Dinwiddie.

Thankfully, a bad to mediocre USC team came into town and the Buffs jumped on them early before coasting to a 21 point win. Unfortunately, what the Trojans gave the Buffs may very well have been bad medicine.

Their next game was on the road at the #1 team in the country, the University of Arizona. The Wildcats did to CU what the Buffs had done to USC.  Arizona raced out to an 18-4 lead before coasting to a 12 point win in which they were never challenged.

Buff fans held out high hopes that the loss to Arizona was to be expected even WITH Dinwiddie in the lineup, and that the 69-57 loss was MUCH better than the 90-65 shellacking the Buffs took last year in Kansas. Fans said the only game the Buffs could expect to win on this trip was against Arizona State in Tempe.

Unfortunately, the Sun Devils exposed the Colorado team to be a rudderless team without a captain to lead them. ASU destroyed the Buffs 72-51. Colorado fell out of the top 25 last week and after the game at ASU, the chances they make it back this year are slim and none.

After starting the season 14-2, Colorado has lost four of the last five. The Buffs now own a record of 15-6 and have ten games remaining in the regular season to see if they can win five and salvage a 20 win season. Two of those games come against Washington State and USC, who are the the only weak basketball links in the Pac-12. (Some might argue that Oregon State belongs in that list, but the Buffs don't play them again anyway).

The rest of the Buffs schedule is much tougher. They can look forward to their next three games being played here in Boulder at the Foam Dome, where they have been very tough to beat since Boyle became the coach. Then it's off to Los Angeles for two games, back to Boulder for two, then they play their last three on the road in Utah and the Bay Area.

Can the Buffs win five of the last ten? Not if they continue to play like they did tonight. Earlier this year, the Buffs set a team record by making ALL 27 free throws in game. Tonight, CU tossed brick after brick from the line and made only 9 of 24. Sadly to say, even if they had made the other 15, they still would have lost.

The next three games will be key for Colorado. If they win all three (and they should be winnable at home), the team has a chance to right the course. Winning even two of the three will be a good sign. If they win one or none, the season is effectively over. Even the NIT will look the other way.

Boyle really needs to evaluate the best and most efficient way to use this team. Maybe they need to run on offense and pressure on defense to take advantage of their athleticism. The problem with the young guys is that if you give them too much time to think, they end up thinking too much and forgetting to play the game.

NOTE: The Buffs have been slipping all over the floor the last several games, going back to the Dinwiddie injury. Maybe CU should be taking a hard look at what shoes they are choosing to wear.

USC Again Shows Poor Form, Hires Sarkisian Away From Washington

You gotta hand it to those Trojans, they don't give a damn about any "gentleman's agreements" when it comes to their head football coaches. Today, USC hired Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian to be their new head coach, even though he was under contract to a fellow Pac-12 school.

It's not the first time that Southern Cal has pulled this stunt. Following the 1986 season, they reached across the desert to Tucson, Arizona and hired Larry Smith away from the Wildcats with the much deeper coffers available to USC. Arizona fans, and even those from other conference schools, were outraged. The Trojans just shrugged.

The only other case of a conference coach jumping programs in recent memory is when Bruce Snyder left Cal for Arizona State following the 1991 season.  Although the Cal athletic director claimed that Snyder was lured away by bigger dollars in Tempe, Snyder vigorously denied that before his death in 2009.

Snyder had taken a very down Cal program and turned it into a 10 win team for the first time since Pappy Waldorf's 1949 Cal team. Snyder said that he had a handshake agreement with Cal AD Dave Maggard for a new contract, but that Maggard left Cal for a job with Miami before the contract was signed. The interim AD, Bob Bockrath, refused to honor the deal and Snyder felt he was honor-bound to leave Cal.

Rick Neuheisel left Colorado for Washington following the 1998 season, but Colorado was then in the Big 12 conference and NOT a fellow conference member.

Twice in 27 years, the USC Trojans have gone trolling for head coaches within their own conference. They know that it cannot happen to them because no one else in the Pac-12 pays nearly as much as USC. They also know that they do not even have to disclose how much they pay their head coaches, or AD's, since they are a private school with no state requirement to share that information.

Of course, critics of the program also point out that USC also has a history of their boosters paying at least some of their players very well also. That being the case, hiring coaches away from fellow conference members is hardly their biggest sin. Let's just not have to listen to them bitch and moan about how few players they have under scholarship, which was due entirely to the penalties handed down to them for cheating in the first place.

Update:

Any moral high ground held by Washington after Sarkisian was hired away was lost after UW reportedly offered to double the pay of UCLA coach Jim Mora to come to Washington. Mora turned them down, but did use the offer to sweeten his contract with the Bruins.

Fortunately for Washington, they were able to do what many other schools had tried and failed -- they convinced Chris Petersen to leave Boise State. Petersen has the highest winning percentage in the FBS with a 92-12 record over eight seasons with the Broncos.

Washington and Petersen hope the moves works better than it did for former Boise State coaches Dan Hawkins and Dirk Koetter. Both had great success at Boise State, but found the winning much harder to do in the big boy conferences the Pac-10 and the Big 12. Koetter could not turn things around at Arizona State and Hawkins pretty much destroyed the program at Colorado.

Sefo Liufau Takes Over as Quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes, Ushers in New Youth Era in Boulder

Less than 4 1/4 games into his freshman season at the University of Colorado, Sefo Liufau found himself taking over at quarterback for the Buffaloes. Despite entering the game with a 25 point deficit, and facing a fired up Arizona State team that was dominating the Colorado offensive line, Sefo never blinked and ended up completing 69% (18 of 26) of his passes. He threw one touchdown pass and two interceptions.

Although Liufau was listed 2nd on the depth chart behind Connor Wood, the line from the coaching staff was that they planned to redshirt the young man out of Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, Washington if at all possible to allow him to acclimate to university life and grow and learn on the football field.

All was going according to plan during the first two games of the season. Wood completed 68% of his passes for 741 yards and 6 touchdowns in those two games. Wood threw only two interceptions during those games and the Buffs started the season with two wins.

Excitement was high in the Buffs program since new coach Mike MacIntyre had led the team to more wins in his first two games than the Buffs had experienced all of last year under fired coach Jon Embree. Riding high, the Buffs worked hard during a bye week and then the 1,000 year rains came to Boulder and Colorado and brought devastating floods. The result was that their game with Fresno State was ultimately cancelled.

After two long weekends away from being in live game situations, the Buffs headed to Corvallis to face Oregon State and had their dreams of a 3-0 start blown up and away by the winds and the Beavers. After flying high to start the season, the Buffs came crashing back to earth in a 44-17 beatdown.

The next week the #2 Oregon Ducks came to Boulder and showed why they are favored to be in the national championship game at the end of the season. The 57-16 whipping given by the Ducks was shocking in how quickly it happened after they fell behind the Buffs 10-8 in the first quarter. The responded with three touchdowns before the quarter ended and never looked back.

The first quarter against Arizona State in Tempe started the same way and before the Buffs could catch their breath in the desert they were behind by a score of 25-0. Out came Connor Wood and in came Sefo.

Unlike the first two games, the stats for Connor Wood against the Oregon schools and ASU were less than gaudy or even acceptable. He completed only 25 of 71 passes (35%) for only 351 yards and had 5 interceptions vs. 2 touchdowns. After Wood started 0 for 4 for zero yards and an interception and fumble and a 25 point deficit against the Sun Devils, MacIntyre pulled the starting quarterback position from Wood and the redshirt for Liufau.

Perhaps it was the play of some fellow freshman that led MacIntyre to allow Liufau to come off the bench. Addison Gillam went into the ASU game leading the Pac-12 in tackles and has already proven himself a star in the conference. Tailback Michael Adkins now gets more carries than listed starter Christian Powell. Wideout Devin Ross is now returning kicks and playing regularly with the offense. Defensive backs Chidobe Awuzie and Tedric Thompson are also finding themselves on the field with greater and greater frequency.

After Liufau's effort, MacIntyre announced that the new plan was to allow Sefo to start for the remainder of the season ("unless something happens" of course). That means that he will be working with the number one offense during practice and getting many more reps, which can only help his game and confidence.

His first start will be at home in Boulder against undefeated FCS team Charleston Southern, who agreed to come to Boulder to replace the lost game against Fresno State. After facing an aggressive ASU team, the game against CS should allow Sefo a little more time to think on his feet as he moves into his new starting quarterback role.

One thing Buff fans and coaches can look forward to is increased athleticism at the quarterback position with Liufau. On top of the high percentage of passes that Liufau completed in Tempe, he also showed a much nicer touch on short passes than Wood has shown this year. He also seems to have some live legs that will allow him to move in the pocket or run more effectively than Wood.

Will Sefo make some rookie mistakes? Of course he will, but it is all part of the learning process. Those of us old enough to remember when Darian Hagan came to CU know that it can take some time to harness great talent and get it moving in the right direction. Liufau clearly has the talent to be the next great quarterback at CU, but he has to be given the chance to get his time in and be able to compete from the opening kickoff week after week.

In a season which now looks to part of a rebuilding process, watching Sefo Liufau and some his fellow freshman grow and mature as players will give fans a peak into the future. Perhaps fans of the Buffs got spoiled by two wins to start the season and got our hopes up higher than they should be. But in retrospect, the condition of the program was horrible when MacIntyre and his staff showed up. It is much better than it was, and it will continue to improve.

The Pac-12 is a tough conference to play in (just ask Stanford after their trip to Utah). At this point in the process, the Buffs need to show improvement. The wins will be hard to come by, but they will come in time. Look at Mac's record at San Jose State. His teams struggled to win until turning the corner, and then they won at an amazing rate.

The nature of college football is much more aggressive than in years past. It used to be that teams tried to wear each other down, and now it seems like there are a lot of teams that are swinging for the fences on every down. It is certainly exciting, but sometimes it is hard to watch when the other team is dominating. All it takes is a half dozen breakdowns by some defensive players and good teams will score 50 on them. These fastbreak offenses are designed to take advantage of mistakes.

A great deal of football is psychological. Mac and his staff are working on these guys, but it's gonna take some time to get their heads right. It will be frustrating while we wait, but a whole lot of fun when it happens. Let's hope that Sefo Liufau is an important part of solving this puzzle.

Go Buffs!

For Colorado Buffs to Succeed, they MUST Learn to Convert on Third Down

As Mike MacIntyre's University of Colorado football team gets ready to head south to Tempe, to face the Arizona State Sun Devils this Saturday night, one thing has become perfectly clear: For this CU team to be successful, they have to show the ability to move the chains.

In the first two games, Colorado's offense managed to convert 12 of 30 third down chances into first downs. That means that 40% of the time that they faced a 3rd down, the result was a first down. Not coincidentally, the Buffs won those first two games.

In the last two games, the Buffs have managed to convert only TWO of THIRTY 3rd down opportunities. Two BIG LOSSES later, it is quite apparent that converting less than 7% of their 3rd downs is no way to have a chance to win a game. Even worse than that, in their last game against the Oregon Ducks, the Buffs converted ZERO of their 15 third down opportunities. That 0-15 set a Colorado record for futility.

The O-fer on third downs not only ended drives for the Buffs, they also ended serious scoring opportunities. No fewer than 10 of the Buff failures to convert on third down occurred in Oregon territory (one was on the 50 yard line). Just look at where these failures to convert in enemy territory happened:

• (1st Quarter) 3rd and 4 from the Oregon 23 -- Two yard pass over the middle from Wood to Spruce was dropped.
• (1st Quarter) 3rd and 10 from the Oregon 16 -- Three yard pass over the middle from Wood to Powell was dropped.
• (1st Quarter) 3rd and 15 from the Oregon 45 -- Powell run up the middle for 4 yards.
• (2nd Quarter) 3rd and GOAL from the Oregon 5 -- Wood pass to the right thrown out of the end zone.
• (2nd Quarter) 3rd and 2 from the Oregon 14 -- Run off a pitch to the left for Goodson results in no gain.
• (2nd Quarter) 3rd and 3 from the 50 yard line -- Incomplete 28 yard pass to Paul Richardson down the right sideline. 
• (3rd Quarter) 3rd and 8 from the Oregon 41 -- Screen pass from Wood knocked down by defensive lineman.
• (3rd Quarter) 3rd and 5 from the Oregon 48 -- Short outside pass to Adkins dropped.
• (3rd Quarter) 3rd and Goal from the Oregon 10 -- Adkins run up the middle for 5 yards.
• (4th Quarter) 3rd and 6 from the Oregon 45 -- 25 yard pass incomplete to Ross down the left sideline.

Unlike the last several years, the Buffs under offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren HAVE shown the ability to make big plays on offense. Connor Wood and his band of receivers have hooked up for some very long scoring (and non-scoring) plays. One of the biggest problems for the Buffs, however, has been their failure to score TD's once they get into RED ZONE.

Of Colorado's nine forays into the RED ZONE thus far this season, only one drive ended with a touchdown. Seven times the Buffs settled for field goals, and one time they turned the ball over on downs.

It has become quite clear that the Buffs can extend the field with Paul Richardson and D.D. Goodson, as both average more than 18 yards per catch. The problem seems to be that the Buffs cannot count on those 7-12 yard catches that result in First Downs, particularly when it comes to converting on third downs.

Honing the skill of playing small-ball can only help with third down conversions, and more than likely it will help with red zone efficiency as well. Having the running game consistently pick up 5 yards at a time would also help immensely. Right now they are only averaging a little over 3 yards per carry, and often on important plays they are stopped for essentially no gain. It's hard to harp on the quarterback when the running game offers no respite.

If the Buffs are to have any chance in Tempe, they must be able to control the ball better by converting on 3rd downs. Taylor Kelly is yet another Pac-12 quarterback who can rip a defense apart if given the chance. One of the best defenses to players like Kelly is an offense that keeps him off the field. Running the ball efficiently and converting on third down are the only ways for the Buffs to avoid being blown out in the desert.

The Hunt Continues: Colorado Buffaloes Look to go Sugar Bear Hunting against Central Arkansas at Folsom Field

The HUNT for victories continues! Six days after successfully bringing down the CSU Rams in Denver for the Rocky Mountain Showdown, the Colorado Buffaloes and Head Coach Mike MacIntyre open their home season at Folsom Field looking to add a Central Arkansas Sugar Bear head to the wall of their 2013 trophy room. In the process, they want to re-establish that Boulder is a tough place to play for visiting teams.

Why is that so important?

Mostly because it has been a long time since it was true. 2012 was the first time in the history of Folsom Field that the Buffs went through the entire season without a win at home. The most embarrassing loss among their 0-6 record at Folsom in 2012 was a loss to mediocre FCS team Sacramento State. It was not much better in 2011, as the Buffs won only one game at home against Arizona. That means that Colorado has only won one game at home in the last 11 tries. It is the primary reason that Jon Embree was fired.

New Honcho in Town

One of the main reasons that Mike MacIntyre was hired is that he had already demonstrated the ability to take a down program and rebuild it to respectability in a hurry. That was important because few programs in the FBS were more down than Colorado. Perhaps more important than the rebuilding itself was the fact that Mac did it right. He did not try to make things easier for the players on the field and in the classroom. NO! He raised expectations all across the board. More importantly still, he and his staff hold themselves accountable first.

One of the hallmarks of the last two coaching regimes (three if you count the last couple years of Gary Barnett) was a consistent blaming of the players when things did not go well. One of the reasons that Mac and staff will be successful in Boulder like they were at San Jose State is that they rightfully take the blame for problems their teams have on the field. It is the way it should be. After all, they and not the players are the ones making lots of money.

Central Arkansas Sugar Bears in Town

Like Sacramento State, Central Arkansas is a team from the FCS. Unlike Sac. St., the Sugar Bears are a good team. They are ranked #5 in the latest FCS poll, while Sacramento State opened the season in Tempe against Arizona State. The Sun Devils spanked 'em 55-0. Central Arkansas opened their season with a 58-7 win against the University of the Incarnate Word. (It must be true because I certainly could not have made that up!)

Check out the Bring the Buff blog by David Smith to find out lots more about Central Arkansas, their unique cereal sounding name, and their silver and purple football field.

How the game will turn out:

Central Arkansas has some good players, including more than a dozen transfers from FBS schools. They are coached very well by Clint Conque and his staff. And they are led by quarterback Wynrick Smothers, who was the offensive player of the year for his conference in 2012. They are an excellent FCS team who could play on an even keel with a good number of FBS teams. In fact, if this CA team were playing the 2012 Buffs, they would likely have smoked the Buffs.

This is NOT the 2012 Buffaloes, however, and chances are that the excellent coaching of Mac and staff will be enough to give the Buffs all they need to take down the Sugar Bears.

Connor Wood passed for 400 yards last week, and Paul Richardson is the #1 receiver in the country after week one. The defense is much more solid, the punter is one of the elite in the nation, and the place-kicker looks dangerous from 55 yards in.

Due to the offense run by the Sugar Bears, the Buffs will spend a lot of time in nickel and dime packages. Fortunately, the secondary looks much better than it has in years. The Buffs had only three interceptions all of last year. Look for their first and maybe second today against the Sugar Bears as Chidera Uzo-Diribe and his mates on the defensive front put lots of pressure on Smothers.

Central Arkansas will make some good plays, but the depth of CU, a loud and fired up student section, and the altitude of Boulder will be more than enough to carry the Buffaloes to victory. Make a place on the wall for a Sugar Bear head.