Colorado Football 2013: Connor Wood Named Starting Quarterback for Rocky Mountain Showdown

Head coach Mike MacIntyre has named Connor Wood the starting quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes for the Rocky Mountain Showdown against Colorado State this Sunday.

QUARTERBACK - Connor Wood (6'4" - 225 lbs)

To the surprise of no one, junior Connor Wood extended his fine showing from the spring through summer workouts to fall camp. Under the excellent tutelage of QB Coach / Offensive Coordinator Brian Lindgren, Wood is starting to resemble the player that was one of the most highly sought after QB recruits in the country coming out of high school.


BACK-UP QUARTERBACK - Sefo Liufau (6'4" - 210 lbs)

True freshman Sefo Liufau has lived up to expectations and moved to 2nd on the depth chart. This gives the Buffs two tall quarterbacks on the two-deep for the first time in years, which should allow them to see over the very tall linemen. It also will help in seeing over the sizable crown on Folsom Field.

Sophomore transfer  Jordan Gehrke (6'1" - 190 lbs) and sophomore Stevie Joe Dorman (6'2" - 215 lbs) are listed as tied for third sting.





 

Friday Night CU Buff Musings: Hirschman, Bakhtiari, and Roberson

It's a beautiful late April Friday night/Saturday morning in Boulder...

Normally, this time of year is pretty slow on the news for Colorado Buff fans of hoops and pigskin, but 2013 has offered some interesting tidbits. Here are the subjects, the pertinent details, and my humble opinions on each.

Nick Hirschman:

-- Nick entered the spring practices under new coach Mike MacIntyre with five other QB's all starting from scratch.

-- After the first half of the practices, he was one of four named as still competing for number one QB.

-- By the end of spring he had elevated himself to co-starter with Connor Wood after last year's starter Jordan Webb injured his knee and Shane Dillon was moved down the depth chart.

-- He was identified by the coaches as one of the leaders of the team being counted on to help lead the team through summer workouts.

-- Then, he surprised everyone by announcing via Twitter that he would transfer to another school. Since he is graduating next month, he can transfer to another school without having to sit out a year. He has two years of football left before he runs out of eligibility.

-- MacIntyre released him from his scholarship with a few restrictions on where he could transfer.

-- Then, Hirschman gave an interview saying that he left because he was not named the starter at the end of spring.

Opinion:

First, I want to congratulate Nick on his impending graduation and wish him all the luck and success that life has to offer. That said, I think that Nick leaving the Buff football program is probably for the best. As the backup QB for the worst FBS team in the country last year, methinks that Nick was in no position to be demanding as far as a starter position goes this fall. He was offered the opportunity to compete and he was doing well, but then he decided to walk away. This was not the sign of a leader that Colorado needs right now. Fortunately, Connor Wood really seems to be coming into his own at this time, and is showing signs of why he was one of the most highly sought after QB's in the country coming out of high school. It's possible the development of Wood and the impending arrival of Sefo Liufau this summer provided too much of a challenge and Nick wanted to head somewhere that he might be guaranteed a starting spot. Good luck with that.

David Bakhtiari:

-- David was one of the bright spots for the Buff football team the last several years.

-- He opted not to go through another head coaching change at Colorado and decided to enter himself in the NFL Draft.

-- He became the 7th Buff ever to declare for the NFL. The first six were all drafted.

-- Somebody convinced him that he would go in the first or second round of the draft, which would come with a pretty good payday.

-- Someone convinced him that he was the 6th best offensive tackle in the draft.

-- After the first three rounds of the 2013 NFL draft, David has not heard his name called. A total of NINE offensive tackles have already been chosen in the first three rounds.

Opinion:

I really hope that David hears his name called soon when the draft resumes with round four. He is a talented guy who might very well have a NFL future. I commented early on when David declared for the draft that he could use another year of development before he was truly ready. The NFL is a hard club to get into, as David should know. His older brother has been cut something like 14 times trying for a career in the NFL. The best of luck to David, although I really wish he was going to be back in Boulder this fall as the Buffs try to get things turned around.

Andre Roberson:

-- Andre has been one of the stalwarts of the resurgence of Colorado Basketball under Tad Boyle.

-- Over the last two seasons, Andre has been one of the best rebounders in all of college basketball, and is one of the reasons why CU has been to the Big Dance two years in a row.

-- Andre was named the Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Year for this past season.

-- Andre is currently deciding on whether to end his Colorado career early and try to get into the NBA. He scheduled a press conference on Friday to announce his decision... and then cancelled the press conference at the last minute.

Opinion:

Like his head coach has stated in interviews, it seems that someone is pressuring Andre to declare for the NBA draft. As good as Andre is on the court, the fact is that his offensive game is not yet at an NBA level. There is a great chance that if Andre declares for the draft that he faces the very real chance of not being drafted. Unlike the NFL, the NBA draft has only TWO rounds. While there a few undrafted free agents doing well in the league, such as Jeremy Lin, the fact is that having his game ready at all levels will help Andre make it to the next level. The Buffs look to be loaded with talent next year and having that kind of support can only help Andre grow his game. If he does decide to leave, I wish him all the luck in the world... which he might need because the next stop if the NBA turns you down is usually Europe. Good luck whatever you decide to do, Andre.

The Ominous Tale of Jordan Webb: It's Time for Colorado Football Fans to Show Some Class

As a University of Colorado graduate and die-hard football fan since attending CU in the 1980s, there have been very few times that I was more embarrassed by Buff football than last year's season-long disgraceful display. That changed drastically on Tuesday following the reports that CU quarterback Jordan Webb had torn his ACL and would be lost for the year. It was sad to hear that a young man like Webb would need to devote many months of his time to rehab after surgery. It was sadder still to read some of the comments of so-called Buff fans rejoicing at the injury. To be blunt, it made me sick that fellow supporters of the Buffs could be so classless.

As everyone knows, the Buffs last year were arguably the worst D-1 team in the country, and certainly the worst in Colorado's long and storied football history. The fault for that lies squarely on the noggins of the former paid heads of the program - Head Coach Jon Embree, Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy, and Defensive Coordinator Greg Brown, and also previous head coach Dan Hawkins, who left the program in shambles.

Even though these men all made many hundreds of thousands of Colorado taxpayer dollars, there seems to be small but vocal group of professed fans who would like to blame Jordan Webb for the woes of the football team last year. The idea is asinine. The CU football team is made up around 100 young men who are full time students who are also required to devote hundreds of hours a year devoted to football. None of them, including Jordan Webb, are personally responsible for the woes of the Buffs last year. For that matter, Webb deserves credit for leading the team to their only win last year by scrambling into the end zone for the game winning touchdown as time expired against Washington State.

Buff fans should rejoice that they finally have a head coach in Mike MacIntyre who has proven that he can develop talent and lead a moribund program into national prominence. He has done it before and he will do it again. He and his fellow coaches that he brought with him to Colorado deserve the chance to do their jobs.

By the same token, Jordan Webb and every one of his teammates should be honored for their commitment to the University of Colorado. Only a handful of these young men will go on to play in the NFL. They know this. Most of them do the jobs they do to earn an education and because they love to play football. Their dedication to CU and the very real risk of injury should be applauded and respected. None of them should ever again have to read stupid comments about how the school is better off with a player being injured.

It is interesting to note that some of the same "fans" who delight in the injury to a young man also seem infatuated with the idea that high school kids who are highly rated by recruiting services are the only way for Colorado to become relevant once again on the gridiron. The fact is that none of the recruiting services has the manpower to effectively cover all high schools throughout the country. One of the reason that D1 football coaches are paid so much is their ability to evaluate talent. Another skill is being able to develop high school players into good college football players. We need to let our new coaches do this. Having vocal fans speaking positively about injuries to our own players gives rival coaches yet another chip to add to the pot in the poker game that is college football. We do not want to lose out on the opportunity to get good players to come to CU because rival coaches can point to published reports of Buff fans who talk about how great it is when players they do not like get hurt.

I do not know Jordan Webb personally, but I would like to apologize to him for the lack of class showed by some Colorado football fans. Good luck with your surgery and rehab. And please know that the vast majority of CU fans would never ever cheer an injury by any CU player, or any player we play against either. We support you and the team, but realize that it is just a game after all.