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?
Showing posts with label UCLA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UCLA. Show all posts
Friday, October 20, 2017
Saturday, October 7, 2017
Arizona Preview and Commentary on Colorado Football After the UCLA Loss
It's been a busy week without the normal time available for writing, but one in which my comments were directed at other sites. What follows is some of what was written as commentary on other sites. Some people agreed with me passionately, while others took exception to my attempts at insight.
Oct. 2
Oct. 3
Stuart at CU at the Game took the prior comment as an indication that I thought MacIntyre would or should be fired if the Buffaloes lost this week to Arizona. That led to the following exchange.
Oct. 4 - Me
The Colorado Buffaloes will take the field against the Arizona Wildcats in a little over 15 hours. These are my thoughts as to the importance of this game.
Colorado and Mike MacIntyre went 10-2 last year in the regular season. It was the first winning record in a decade. Since that time, the have played in the Pac-12 Championship game, a bowl game and the first five games of this season.
Against top notch opponents to end the season last year, the Buffs were beaten handily and did not look good doing it. In the first three games this season, the Buffaloes did manage to win but looked uninspired and unimpressive in their three non-conference games.
In the first two conference games this year, the Buffaloes have been beaten handily at home by Washington and lost on the road to a reeling UCLA team with one of the worst defenses in the country. The Bruins had been giving up around 45 points per game, and the Buffaloes managed to score around half that amount.
Colorado did seem to be emotionally invested the entire game against UCLA for the first time since last season, but still lost.
Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez, like Jim Mora at UCLA, finds himself on the coaches hot-seat lists because of poor play by his team. Mora was able to inspire his team to a big win over Colorado. It remains to be seen whether RichRod can do the same thing this week with the Wildcats.
If the Buffaloes can come out and play as a team which deserves to be in the conversation for a Top 25 team and win handily at home against Arizona, it could turn around a season of struggle. A big win could set them up for better things in the second half of the season.
A win would bring them to 4-2, with a game against Pac-12 doormat Oregon State next week. Another win there and the Buffs would be one win from qualifying for a bowl.
If the Buffaloes come out flat and emotionless like most of the prior seven games, an inspired Arizona could come in and pull off the upset. If that happens, the Buffaloes would fall to 3-3 with the meat of the Pac-12 schedule still ahead of them. A loss here would put a severe hit on their desire to go to a bowl for a second consecutive year.
I described last week's tussle as a "bellwether game" with a big win or loss. The close loss put the Buffs in the position that their backs are now firmly against the wall. Only a win will get them where they want to be. A loss will relegate them to the lower levels of the Pac-12.
It's the first game of October. Will the Buffaloes rise to the occasion to save their season or not?
Oct. 2
After the loss to UCLA, head coach Mike MacIntyre once again stated that this Buffaloes team would “win a lot of games” this year. Since we’re five games in already, I’m looking for a little context on what qualifies as “a lot of games” when Mac talks.Is “a lot” 10 games? Eight games? Six games? Or What?In MacIntyre’s seven full seasons as a head coach, he’s had TWO winning seasons and FIVE losing seasons. More telling than the 2 vs 5 is the drastic differences each represents. It’s really either feast or famine.In the two winning seasons (one each at CU and San Jose State), Mac has a record of 20-6. In the five losing seasons, Mac has gone 16-46. For the fellow math geeks out there, that means the losing seasons averaged roughly 3-9 (3.2-9.2).It’s even more glaring when looking at conference games. In the two winning seasons, Mac’s teams went 13-2 during conference games. In the five losing seasons, Mac’s teams went 5-37 against conference foes.Although the Buffs still have a winning record so far this season at 3-2, they are 0-2 in the Pac-12. With arguably the two weakest teams this year on tap the next two weeks, one wonders if Mac and staff will have the guys ready to play.For most of us fans, time and games are running out if the goal is to win “a lot” of games this year.
Oct. 3
Mike MacIntyre’s future depends upon this game against Arizona perhaps more than any other since he arrived in Boulder. Arizona is a horrible Pac-12 road team the last several years. Last year they were 0-4 and outscored in the Pac on the road 192-71. In 2015 they were outscored 225-125 on road with a 1-4 record.
The last time Arizona won on the road in the Pac-12 was when they beat Colorado in 2015.
Colorado has looked pretty uninterested and uninspired this year so far. That falls on MacIntyre and the coaches. If they lose this game at home, the rest of the season will be lost. The fans and the players will stop caring.
Colorado needs to win the game and win big to get this season salvaged. If they struggle at home to a clearly inferior team, the rest of the Pac-12 schedule looks like murderer’s row in comparison.
If the Buffs lose, it will be clear that MacIntyre has lost the faith of his team, and that will not likely be restored. The countdown to reality is on.
Stuart at CU at the Game took the prior comment as an indication that I thought MacIntyre would or should be fired if the Buffaloes lost this week to Arizona. That led to the following exchange.
Oct. 4 - Me
Nobody does or should think MacIntyre will be fired. Why would he be fired? Some may be hoping that he wins enough games to be lured away back to his part of the country, and some are hoping he turns things around and gets the Buffs back in the annual bowl extravaganzas year after year.Stuart
Most fans don’t have the same warm fuzzy feelings about the offensive play-caller. BL did a good job against UCLA. But the games in which his play-calling outsmarted a good defense are pretty much non-existent. One good game doesn’t get him off the hook for the years of head-scratching play calls.
The Pac-12 is a tough league to play in, especially on the road. It’s not really a surprise that a struggling UCLA (or any other Pac-12 team) is tough to beat on their home turf.
That said, the Buffs need to take advantage of every opportunity they have. They only play 12 games (and a bowl if they earn it and yearn for it). The key to being a good team is being UP for every game, which is something they have not done this year.
Some of us are concerned that a third straight loss, especially to a horrible road team like Arizona, would portend a likely collapse this season. We are all hoping for an inspired CU team to show up and finally live up to pre-season expectations. If not, we have a mostly lost decade to look back upon and prepare us for our feelings of despair about losing football.
The truth may be that the Buffs are not as good as advertised. And since Mac won’t let anyone watch his practices, he takes the blame when he makes statements that are clearly not true about how good, prepared, and dominating his team will be.
The best coaches I have watched over too many decades had certain traits in common: They voluntarily took the blame when their players were not prepared because it’s why they get paid; and they protected their kids from having blame pushed onto them. These are not NFL players, they are college kids.
If some of us seem too critical of MacIntyre, maybe it’s because we believe that is where the blame should go. Everyone in the press knows Mac doesn’t handle criticism well… but, hey, we’re football fans, not his therapist. He can pay them to work on his feelings, and he can afford it.
“Nobody does or should think MacIntyre will be fired. Why would he be fired?”Me
Your previous post opened with … “Mike MacIntyre’s future depends upon this game against Arizona perhaps more than any other since he arrived in Boulder”.
Not sure how else to read that …
I certainly hope that Mac’s future will go many more years. The implication is that if the Buffaloes lose to Arizona it will signal a downturn from the gains the program made last year. And that if the CU goes on to have a dismal ending to the 2017 it will be hard for Mac to reclaim the faith of the fans and the players.
MacIntyre made a national name for himself last year and was rewarded with National Coach of the Year honors from numerous sources. Considering the general disregard for what Colorado would do THIS year from the media is pretty telling. So far, it seems the prognosticators were more right than MacIntyre about how good the Buffaloes would be, especially the O-line and scoring.
In football, there are watershed moments that portend the future. Before the UCLA game I wrote how a big win or loss (point wise) would be a serious indicator but that a close win or loss like they had would put the pressure on the next two games with Arizona and Oregon State to set the tone for the rest of the year.
Colorado MUST beat Arizona at Folsom if they want to salvage this season. If not, they have a good chance of ending up near the bottom of the Pac-12 yet again. If they don’t beat Arizona, even teams like Oregon State will believe that they can beat Colorado, especially playing at home.
The quote you gave of mine above covers a multi-year period since his arrival in Boulder. I’m just pointing out that trends in football tend to go on for several seasons. The Buffs went from being blown out every game to getting close but still losing. Then they finally started to win the close ones and win some big last year in Pac-12 play. If they start moving the other direction, as a pendulum always does sooner or later, it will be hard to change that momentum.
I’ve written many times in praise of MacIntyre (check my blog), but I feel that when criticism is warranted it should be given. If you want to be the highest paid state employee then you should expect folks to have high expectations. He can’t expect only accolades.
The Colorado Buffaloes will take the field against the Arizona Wildcats in a little over 15 hours. These are my thoughts as to the importance of this game.
Colorado and Mike MacIntyre went 10-2 last year in the regular season. It was the first winning record in a decade. Since that time, the have played in the Pac-12 Championship game, a bowl game and the first five games of this season.
Against top notch opponents to end the season last year, the Buffs were beaten handily and did not look good doing it. In the first three games this season, the Buffaloes did manage to win but looked uninspired and unimpressive in their three non-conference games.
In the first two conference games this year, the Buffaloes have been beaten handily at home by Washington and lost on the road to a reeling UCLA team with one of the worst defenses in the country. The Bruins had been giving up around 45 points per game, and the Buffaloes managed to score around half that amount.
Colorado did seem to be emotionally invested the entire game against UCLA for the first time since last season, but still lost.
Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez, like Jim Mora at UCLA, finds himself on the coaches hot-seat lists because of poor play by his team. Mora was able to inspire his team to a big win over Colorado. It remains to be seen whether RichRod can do the same thing this week with the Wildcats.
If the Buffaloes can come out and play as a team which deserves to be in the conversation for a Top 25 team and win handily at home against Arizona, it could turn around a season of struggle. A big win could set them up for better things in the second half of the season.
A win would bring them to 4-2, with a game against Pac-12 doormat Oregon State next week. Another win there and the Buffs would be one win from qualifying for a bowl.
If the Buffaloes come out flat and emotionless like most of the prior seven games, an inspired Arizona could come in and pull off the upset. If that happens, the Buffaloes would fall to 3-3 with the meat of the Pac-12 schedule still ahead of them. A loss here would put a severe hit on their desire to go to a bowl for a second consecutive year.
I described last week's tussle as a "bellwether game" with a big win or loss. The close loss put the Buffs in the position that their backs are now firmly against the wall. Only a win will get them where they want to be. A loss will relegate them to the lower levels of the Pac-12.
It's the first game of October. Will the Buffaloes rise to the occasion to save their season or not?
Saturday, September 30, 2017
2017's Bellwether Moment Arrives for Colorado Buffaloes
Although the Colorado Buffaloes sit at 3-1, one third of the way through the regular season, things seem to be amiss in the Buffaloes program. After finally having a breakthrough winning season last year, most fans expected Colorado to double down on all the hard work that had brought them from worst to first in 2016.
With one of the easiest non-conference schedules in the FBS, the Buffaloes were expected to romp in their first three games and then show the country how far they'd come in the rematch of last season's Pac-12 Championship game. Instead, Mike MacIntyre's team seemingly sleepwalked to 3-0 against over-matched opponents and then were bulldozed yet again by the Washington Huskies in a carbon copy of their beat-down last December.
Now the Buffaloes venture outside the State of Colorado for the first time this season, and travel to Pasadena to take on UCLA in the Rose Bowl. Even though the Bruins have struggled mightily this season, they are still favored to beat Colorado. How will the Buffs react to that?
Washington is a Top 5 or 6 team, so CU knew they would be the underdog. Although UCLA has some outstanding players who are destined to end up in the NFL, collectively they are not a very good team. They are ranked worse than 100th in numerous categories on defense. Yet they are still favored to beat Colorado. It will be telling to see how the CU coaches and players play out this game.
If Colorado comes out and plays a full game for the first time this season, and dominates the Bruins, they can fully expect to contend for the Pac-12 South title. This is especially true with USC having already lost this weekend.
If the Buffaloes are manhandled by UCLA like they were Washington, however, it could turn into a long and disappointing season in Boulder. Coach MacIntyre's coach of the year trophies from last year will make interesting resume topics if the Buffaloes fall back to their losing ways.
This game may very well be the most important game of the year for MacIntyre as the Buffaloes. Indeed, it will be a bellwether game for good or bad if the score isn't close.
If it's a close game win for Colorado, they can still move forward and improve their team. If it's a close loss, the Buffaloes can learn and still go bowling. But a loss of any sort or magnitude will likely take them out of the running for the Pac-12 South.
The question at hand, 90 minutes before kickoff, is whether the 2016 inspired Buffaloes finally show up and show they care or not. The next few hours will be very telling.
With one of the easiest non-conference schedules in the FBS, the Buffaloes were expected to romp in their first three games and then show the country how far they'd come in the rematch of last season's Pac-12 Championship game. Instead, Mike MacIntyre's team seemingly sleepwalked to 3-0 against over-matched opponents and then were bulldozed yet again by the Washington Huskies in a carbon copy of their beat-down last December.
Now the Buffaloes venture outside the State of Colorado for the first time this season, and travel to Pasadena to take on UCLA in the Rose Bowl. Even though the Bruins have struggled mightily this season, they are still favored to beat Colorado. How will the Buffs react to that?
Washington is a Top 5 or 6 team, so CU knew they would be the underdog. Although UCLA has some outstanding players who are destined to end up in the NFL, collectively they are not a very good team. They are ranked worse than 100th in numerous categories on defense. Yet they are still favored to beat Colorado. It will be telling to see how the CU coaches and players play out this game.
If Colorado comes out and plays a full game for the first time this season, and dominates the Bruins, they can fully expect to contend for the Pac-12 South title. This is especially true with USC having already lost this weekend.
If the Buffaloes are manhandled by UCLA like they were Washington, however, it could turn into a long and disappointing season in Boulder. Coach MacIntyre's coach of the year trophies from last year will make interesting resume topics if the Buffaloes fall back to their losing ways.
This game may very well be the most important game of the year for MacIntyre as the Buffaloes. Indeed, it will be a bellwether game for good or bad if the score isn't close.
If it's a close game win for Colorado, they can still move forward and improve their team. If it's a close loss, the Buffaloes can learn and still go bowling. But a loss of any sort or magnitude will likely take them out of the running for the Pac-12 South.
The question at hand, 90 minutes before kickoff, is whether the 2016 inspired Buffaloes finally show up and show they care or not. The next few hours will be very telling.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Mike MacIntyre's Proclamations About Colorado Football have been WAY OFF this Year
Although Mike MacIntyre's Colorado Buffaloes have gone 3-1 to start the 2017 season, things are not going nearly so well as last year. The Buffs are averaging just over 26 points a game this year vs. the 42 points a game at this point last season.
That's almost 2 1/2 touchdowns less per game from an offense that Mac claimed would be "one of the best in the country" this year. What makes this even more alarming is that 2016's early season schedule was considered one of the more difficult ones in the country, whereas this season's was considered one of the easiest.
Of course, one of the prices a team pays for success (like winning the Pac-12 South) is that expectations of fans and boosters (and the Administration) goes up. Last year, after a decade of losing, any and every win was celebrated as special. This year, just winning isn't enough. The Buffs are expected to win well. And scoring 16 points a game LESS against weaker competition is not winning well.
Many are also concerned about MacIntyre's proclamations before and during the season. The aforementioned claim about one of the best offenses in the country was one. The claim that the Buffs' offensive line would be one of the best in Colorado's history was another that has not panned out. Mac also claimed that the CU defense would only be a work in progress that would likely have to be "saved" by the exploits of the offense. He was wrong. It has been the defense saving the day for the Buffaloes.
While the offensive output has declined by 16 points per game, the Buffs' D has stepped it and is allowing 4 fewer points than last year's team. Fortunately, the head coach was wrong about his defense.
And the offensive line that the head coach proclaimed would be the best in more than a decade has struggled with both run and pass blocking. The 14 sacks the line has allowed are one of the worst at the FBS level. In fact, only 5 of 130 teams at the FBS level give up more sacks per game.
What's the moral of this story? Or, more accurately, what questions do these numbers raise? Mostly this: Does Mac have an accurate take on his team? Or is he just proclaiming what he hopes?
Pac-12 play is now on for the rest of the year. The first conference game was a repeat of last year's disaster in the Pac-12 Championship game. The Buffs lost just as bad even though they were playing at home and had been pointing at the game for more than nine months as a chance to get revenge or at least redeem themselves. "Same as it ever was" must be ringing in their ears for what turned out to be nearly "an identical twin" to last December's game.
More concerning was that the game against Washington was the 6th straight game that the Buffaloes had struggled to play a full game since winning 10 of 12 in the 2016 regular season. Since that time, the Buffs have lost three of six. They got beaten handily (by roughly 4 touchdowns a game) in their three losses and have looked uninspired in their three wins against markedly weaker competition.
This week, the Buffs travel to Los Angeles to take on UCLA at the Rose Bowl. Watch for the next post to look back on how Jim Mora and the Bruins emotionally exposed Colorado and Mike MacIntyre last season. The Buffs won, but it was ugly, ugly, ugly.
Along with the misreadings of Mac, followers of CU have been bothered by the lack of offensive imagination. Many fans have pointed out (loudly) that Colorado's offensive play caller Brian Lindgren has been out-coached on game day more often than not since he came aboard with MacIntyre for the 2013 season.
He doesn't seem to adjust well to what defensive scheme his team is facing. When going against very bad teams against the run, Lindgren seems to forget that and go pass heavy. When teams stack the box with seven defenders to take away the run, Lindgren calls running plays up the middle. Fans have found it very infuriating.
In the first three years that Lindgren called the plays, opposing coaches knew CU didn't have the players on the field to compete. They could just line up and win. No special schemes needed. Since Colorado has developed their on-field talent to be the equal of the other Pac-12 teams, the opposing coaches have gone after the tendencies of the coaches calling the plays.
On offense, that's Brian Lindgren. He and Mac must have a very special relationship, because Mac fired the defensive coordinator before Jim Leavitt for bad coaching. When will Mac hold Lindgren accountable? Lindgren doesn't have to be fired, but maybe he needs to get back on the field and work during games with his young quarterbacks instead of sitting up in the booth. Face to face coaching and encouragement is much better than phone contact, especially when things are not going well.
Where does the buck finally stop, Mr. MacIntyre?
That's almost 2 1/2 touchdowns less per game from an offense that Mac claimed would be "one of the best in the country" this year. What makes this even more alarming is that 2016's early season schedule was considered one of the more difficult ones in the country, whereas this season's was considered one of the easiest.
Of course, one of the prices a team pays for success (like winning the Pac-12 South) is that expectations of fans and boosters (and the Administration) goes up. Last year, after a decade of losing, any and every win was celebrated as special. This year, just winning isn't enough. The Buffs are expected to win well. And scoring 16 points a game LESS against weaker competition is not winning well.
Many are also concerned about MacIntyre's proclamations before and during the season. The aforementioned claim about one of the best offenses in the country was one. The claim that the Buffs' offensive line would be one of the best in Colorado's history was another that has not panned out. Mac also claimed that the CU defense would only be a work in progress that would likely have to be "saved" by the exploits of the offense. He was wrong. It has been the defense saving the day for the Buffaloes.
While the offensive output has declined by 16 points per game, the Buffs' D has stepped it and is allowing 4 fewer points than last year's team. Fortunately, the head coach was wrong about his defense.
And the offensive line that the head coach proclaimed would be the best in more than a decade has struggled with both run and pass blocking. The 14 sacks the line has allowed are one of the worst at the FBS level. In fact, only 5 of 130 teams at the FBS level give up more sacks per game.
What's the moral of this story? Or, more accurately, what questions do these numbers raise? Mostly this: Does Mac have an accurate take on his team? Or is he just proclaiming what he hopes?
Pac-12 play is now on for the rest of the year. The first conference game was a repeat of last year's disaster in the Pac-12 Championship game. The Buffs lost just as bad even though they were playing at home and had been pointing at the game for more than nine months as a chance to get revenge or at least redeem themselves. "Same as it ever was" must be ringing in their ears for what turned out to be nearly "an identical twin" to last December's game.
More concerning was that the game against Washington was the 6th straight game that the Buffaloes had struggled to play a full game since winning 10 of 12 in the 2016 regular season. Since that time, the Buffs have lost three of six. They got beaten handily (by roughly 4 touchdowns a game) in their three losses and have looked uninspired in their three wins against markedly weaker competition.
This week, the Buffs travel to Los Angeles to take on UCLA at the Rose Bowl. Watch for the next post to look back on how Jim Mora and the Bruins emotionally exposed Colorado and Mike MacIntyre last season. The Buffs won, but it was ugly, ugly, ugly.
Along with the misreadings of Mac, followers of CU have been bothered by the lack of offensive imagination. Many fans have pointed out (loudly) that Colorado's offensive play caller Brian Lindgren has been out-coached on game day more often than not since he came aboard with MacIntyre for the 2013 season.
He doesn't seem to adjust well to what defensive scheme his team is facing. When going against very bad teams against the run, Lindgren seems to forget that and go pass heavy. When teams stack the box with seven defenders to take away the run, Lindgren calls running plays up the middle. Fans have found it very infuriating.
In the first three years that Lindgren called the plays, opposing coaches knew CU didn't have the players on the field to compete. They could just line up and win. No special schemes needed. Since Colorado has developed their on-field talent to be the equal of the other Pac-12 teams, the opposing coaches have gone after the tendencies of the coaches calling the plays.
On offense, that's Brian Lindgren. He and Mac must have a very special relationship, because Mac fired the defensive coordinator before Jim Leavitt for bad coaching. When will Mac hold Lindgren accountable? Lindgren doesn't have to be fired, but maybe he needs to get back on the field and work during games with his young quarterbacks instead of sitting up in the booth. Face to face coaching and encouragement is much better than phone contact, especially when things are not going well.
Where does the buck finally stop, Mr. MacIntyre?
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
How Do the Power Five Conferences Perform Academically According to the World University Rankings?
How do the Power Five Conferences perform academically?
Football season has begun with a bang, and once again fans from around the country are in heated debate as to which schools and conferences are the best in the land.Of course, most of those debates are centered around football. Especially down in SEC country, where football is much more important than academics.
The World University Rankings were released today and this article will look at where Power Five Conference schools landed on the Top 100 of the charts.
This is a tough ranking because the Power Five schools are competing not only with each other but also other top universities from around the world.
In Grand Countdown Fashion, the list of Power Five Conferences from Worst to First.
#5 -- The Southeastern Conference (SEC) -- ZERO
The SEC landed a big fat ZERO for schools on the "Wonderful One Hundred" list of top universities in the world. The closest to making the Top 100 was Vanderbilt at #105.
#4 -- The Big 12 Conference -- ONE
The Big 12 beat the SEC by one by landing the University of Texas on the Top 100. The Longhorns came in at #49 worldwide.
#3 -- The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) -- FOUR
The ACC landed FOUR schools on the "Wonderful One Hundred" that was released today. Those schools were:
-- #17 - Duke University
-- #33 - Georgia Tech University
-- #56 - North Carolina University
-- #100 - University of Pittsburgh
#2 -- The Pac-12 Conference -- SIX
The Pac-12 landed SIX schools on the Worldwide Top 100, including four on the ultra prestigious Top 25. Those four were more than any other Power 5 conference.
-- #3 - Stanford
-- #15 - UCLA
-- #18 - California
-- #25 - Washington
-- #66 - USC
-- #100 - Colorado (tied with ACC's Pittsburgh)
#1 -- The Big Ten Conference -- TEN
The overall academic excellence award surely goes to the Big Ten, which placed 10 of their conference schools on the Worldwide Top 100. The Pac-12 may have had a few higher up in the rankings, but the Big Ten pounded the rankings like no other conference.
-- #20 - Northwestern
-- #21 - Michigan
-- #37 - Illinois
-- #43 - Wisconsin
-- #56 - Minnesota
-- #60 - Purdue
-- #69 - Maryland
-- #70 - Ohio State
-- #77 - Penn State
-- #83 - Michigan State
The verdict is in and three of the Power Five conferences put a total of 20 schools on the Top 100 worldwide. Those were the Big Ten with 10, the Pac-12 with six, and the ACC with four. The SEC, the self-proclaimed kings of college football had a total of zero.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
The Colorado Buffaloes Have Delivered a Magical Season. It's Time for Fans to Return the Favor!
The Colorado football family has enjoyed a magical season so far in 2016. The Buffaloes sit at 8-2, and their six conference wins this season has more than doubled their previous five year total since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.
Folsom Field has once again become a hard venue to play in for opposing teams. And, as Ryan Moeller pointed out, the Buffs are now a team with a "certain swagger" to how they carry themselves off and on the field. It's the end result of countless hours of relentless work to turn the Buffaloes from one of the worst teams in the country to one which is now in the Top 10 of teams ranked for the College Football Playoff.
Fans should appreciate the quality of football being offered to them this month. They would have to look all the way back to 1996 to find a November in which the Buffs played two games against ranked opponents while also being ranked themselves.
This year is a special treat for the Buffs family, because both of those games are set to be played at Folsom Field. Number 20 Washington State, riding an eight game winning streak, comes to town this Saturday to pit the Pac-12's #1 team from the North against the #1 team from the South.
Next week, #11 Utah comes to Boulder. If the Buffs win both these games, they will represent the South division in the Pac-12 championship game. If they lose even one of the two, the championship game scenario becomes much more unlikely.
Some have erroneously reported that if the Buffs lose even one game that they cannot win the South. That is not true. But they would need serious help. The Buffs would absolutely have to beat Utah, and USC would have to lose to UCLA (unlikely, I know, but Trojan-Bruin rivalry is not based on records). That would give the Utes and the Trojans three conference losses, and the Buffs would only have two if they beat Utah and lose to Wazzu.
What is absolutely true is that any loss would end Colorado's unlikely possibility of playing in the college football playoffs. What is also true is that if Colorado wins the last two games and earns a trip to the Pac-12 Championship game, it will mean ending the season against FOUR ranked teams if CU's bowl game is counted.
These things make this a rare year for those in the stands at Folsom Field. The opportunity to watch TWO ranked teams take the field in Boulder does not happen very often, and to have it happen twice in the Golden Games of November is rarer still.
Fans should enjoy the job that has been done by Mike MacIntyre and his entire coaching staff. And they should also appreciate the work done by a remarkable group of student athletes.
We can show our appreciation by making Folsom Field LOUD, PROUD, and CROWDED for the final games of the year. The Buffs have done their part this year to make this season magical. It's time for Buffs fans to do their part as well and give their boys a full house to play in these last two weeks.
Go Buffs.
Folsom Field has once again become a hard venue to play in for opposing teams. And, as Ryan Moeller pointed out, the Buffs are now a team with a "certain swagger" to how they carry themselves off and on the field. It's the end result of countless hours of relentless work to turn the Buffaloes from one of the worst teams in the country to one which is now in the Top 10 of teams ranked for the College Football Playoff.
Fans should appreciate the quality of football being offered to them this month. They would have to look all the way back to 1996 to find a November in which the Buffs played two games against ranked opponents while also being ranked themselves.
This year is a special treat for the Buffs family, because both of those games are set to be played at Folsom Field. Number 20 Washington State, riding an eight game winning streak, comes to town this Saturday to pit the Pac-12's #1 team from the North against the #1 team from the South.
Next week, #11 Utah comes to Boulder. If the Buffs win both these games, they will represent the South division in the Pac-12 championship game. If they lose even one of the two, the championship game scenario becomes much more unlikely.
Some have erroneously reported that if the Buffs lose even one game that they cannot win the South. That is not true. But they would need serious help. The Buffs would absolutely have to beat Utah, and USC would have to lose to UCLA (unlikely, I know, but Trojan-Bruin rivalry is not based on records). That would give the Utes and the Trojans three conference losses, and the Buffs would only have two if they beat Utah and lose to Wazzu.
What is absolutely true is that any loss would end Colorado's unlikely possibility of playing in the college football playoffs. What is also true is that if Colorado wins the last two games and earns a trip to the Pac-12 Championship game, it will mean ending the season against FOUR ranked teams if CU's bowl game is counted.
These things make this a rare year for those in the stands at Folsom Field. The opportunity to watch TWO ranked teams take the field in Boulder does not happen very often, and to have it happen twice in the Golden Games of November is rarer still.
Fans should enjoy the job that has been done by Mike MacIntyre and his entire coaching staff. And they should also appreciate the work done by a remarkable group of student athletes.
We can show our appreciation by making Folsom Field LOUD, PROUD, and CROWDED for the final games of the year. The Buffs have done their part this year to make this season magical. It's time for Buffs fans to do their part as well and give their boys a full house to play in these last two weeks.
Go Buffs.
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Where Have You Gone, Colorado Offense? Must the D do it all?
In some ways, 2016 has already been a magical season for long-suffering fans of the Colorado Buffaloes. For the first time in almost a decade, the Buffs know they are going bowling. Pre-season hot-seat head coach Mike MacIntyre is now listed as a top 5 candidate for Coach of the Year.
Better than that even is that these Buffs who were picked to finish last in the Pac-112 South are alone in first place in their division with two out of three of their last games at Folsom Field. This season, for the first time in what seems like forever, the Buffs control their own destiny.
Last season, the Buffs defense made a large improvement under the guidance of new coaches Jim Leavitt (Coordinator and Linebackers) and Joe Tumpkin (Safeties). Buff fans expected the D to be even better this year, and the defense has outperformed even the most generous prognosticators.
After nine games, the Buffs have given up only 155 points, slightly over 17 points a game. But that stat is skewed because 45 of those points were scored by #2 Michigan in Ann Arbor. The main reason the Buffs are in first place in the Pac-12 South it that they are giving up only 16 points per game against conference foes. As the season goes along, though, the D is becoming a dominant force. They have given up only 15 points total in the last two games, against Stanford and UCLA.
In a few hours from now, they will take on the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson. Arizona has had a horrible year, but they are a historically solid program with eight bowls in the last nine years. That won't happen this year, but the UA players and their head coach Rich Rodriguez are a proud bunch who would love nothing more than to take down a ranked team to help salvage their season.
Meanwhile, the Buffs offense has struggled mightily the last few games. In three of the last four, the Buffs have averaged less than 16 points per game. That's a far cry from the 42+ points per game the Buffs scored earlier in the season.
It will be important to get the offense going tonight, for sure, because the next two opponents, Utah and Washington State, are both ranked in the Top 25.
After many explosive plays earlier in the season, they seem to have dried up for the Buffs. The have had 38 plays of 20 yards or longer (including 13 of more than 40), but only TWO total in the last two games. Both of those were runs by Phillip Lindsay. The Buffs have not had a pass completion longer than 20 yards since the Arizona State game.
Even though the Buffs stand at 7-2, Buff fans are wondering loudly what happened to the explosiveness of the offense. They point out that early in the season that the Buffs were an unknown since they had a new co-offensive coordinator in Darrin Chiaverini and a new commitment to the hurry-up offense. That speed of play seemed surprising to many of the teams on the schedule, and the pace allowed the Buffs to surprise people with big plays over and over again. They even did it to #2 Michigan, the best defense in the country.
Lately, though, some of the better coaches in the league have seemed to figure out how to slow the Buffs big play offense, particularly in the air. David Shaw, Jim Mora and Clay Helton (with help from defensive mastermind Clancy Pendergrast) have quite effectively taken away the big passing game of the Buffs.
Granted, Stanford and the LA schools have the talent in the defensive backfield. But Michigan has a great secondary as well. What the Buffs seem to have lost is their element of surprise that was in their favor early in the season. It seems like they have fallen back to the bad form of being completely predictable in their play-calling.
Also, the offensive co-coordinators Brian Lindgren and Darrin Chiaverini, have been horrible at making in-game adjustments to their game plans. They also have a very questionable habit of going away from what is working. It's like they want the Buffs to be a dominant passing team even when the opponent gears their defense to stopping the pass. Likewise, they choose to run between the tackles against stacked box defenses.
Fortunately, the Buffs SHOULD be able to put numerous big plays on the board tonight against a reeling Arizona team. But the coaches need to be ready, because better teams are ahead and the Buffs cannot waltz to the Pac-12 championship game. USC is rolling right now, and they are just behind the Buffs and win the tiebreaker due to their victory over CU. Utah is also just behind, but the Buffs play them to end the regular season.
Most importantly, the Buffs must strive to be better. We have seen the strides made by the D this year to become one of the best in the country.
But the offense seems to be collapsing with inconsistency at the most important time of the season. The players can't be faulted though. The Buffs offense is really not good enough to be dominant if the opposing defensive coordinator has a good idea what plays the Buffs will call.
I know I am not alone in being able to pretty accurately anticipate what plays Lindgren will call in certain situations. And that's from watching the games once (sometimes twice). The Buffs need to realize that their opponents are studying their game film to find a way to stop them. In the last two games (and three of the last four), it has worked like a charm.
The saving grace has been the DEFENSE. But the Buffs cannot insist that the D does it all if they want to make it to the Pac-12 Championship.
Better than that even is that these Buffs who were picked to finish last in the Pac-112 South are alone in first place in their division with two out of three of their last games at Folsom Field. This season, for the first time in what seems like forever, the Buffs control their own destiny.
Last season, the Buffs defense made a large improvement under the guidance of new coaches Jim Leavitt (Coordinator and Linebackers) and Joe Tumpkin (Safeties). Buff fans expected the D to be even better this year, and the defense has outperformed even the most generous prognosticators.
After nine games, the Buffs have given up only 155 points, slightly over 17 points a game. But that stat is skewed because 45 of those points were scored by #2 Michigan in Ann Arbor. The main reason the Buffs are in first place in the Pac-12 South it that they are giving up only 16 points per game against conference foes. As the season goes along, though, the D is becoming a dominant force. They have given up only 15 points total in the last two games, against Stanford and UCLA.
In a few hours from now, they will take on the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson. Arizona has had a horrible year, but they are a historically solid program with eight bowls in the last nine years. That won't happen this year, but the UA players and their head coach Rich Rodriguez are a proud bunch who would love nothing more than to take down a ranked team to help salvage their season.
Meanwhile, the Buffs offense has struggled mightily the last few games. In three of the last four, the Buffs have averaged less than 16 points per game. That's a far cry from the 42+ points per game the Buffs scored earlier in the season.
It will be important to get the offense going tonight, for sure, because the next two opponents, Utah and Washington State, are both ranked in the Top 25.
After many explosive plays earlier in the season, they seem to have dried up for the Buffs. The have had 38 plays of 20 yards or longer (including 13 of more than 40), but only TWO total in the last two games. Both of those were runs by Phillip Lindsay. The Buffs have not had a pass completion longer than 20 yards since the Arizona State game.
Even though the Buffs stand at 7-2, Buff fans are wondering loudly what happened to the explosiveness of the offense. They point out that early in the season that the Buffs were an unknown since they had a new co-offensive coordinator in Darrin Chiaverini and a new commitment to the hurry-up offense. That speed of play seemed surprising to many of the teams on the schedule, and the pace allowed the Buffs to surprise people with big plays over and over again. They even did it to #2 Michigan, the best defense in the country.
Lately, though, some of the better coaches in the league have seemed to figure out how to slow the Buffs big play offense, particularly in the air. David Shaw, Jim Mora and Clay Helton (with help from defensive mastermind Clancy Pendergrast) have quite effectively taken away the big passing game of the Buffs.
Granted, Stanford and the LA schools have the talent in the defensive backfield. But Michigan has a great secondary as well. What the Buffs seem to have lost is their element of surprise that was in their favor early in the season. It seems like they have fallen back to the bad form of being completely predictable in their play-calling.
Also, the offensive co-coordinators Brian Lindgren and Darrin Chiaverini, have been horrible at making in-game adjustments to their game plans. They also have a very questionable habit of going away from what is working. It's like they want the Buffs to be a dominant passing team even when the opponent gears their defense to stopping the pass. Likewise, they choose to run between the tackles against stacked box defenses.
Fortunately, the Buffs SHOULD be able to put numerous big plays on the board tonight against a reeling Arizona team. But the coaches need to be ready, because better teams are ahead and the Buffs cannot waltz to the Pac-12 championship game. USC is rolling right now, and they are just behind the Buffs and win the tiebreaker due to their victory over CU. Utah is also just behind, but the Buffs play them to end the regular season.
Most importantly, the Buffs must strive to be better. We have seen the strides made by the D this year to become one of the best in the country.
But the offense seems to be collapsing with inconsistency at the most important time of the season. The players can't be faulted though. The Buffs offense is really not good enough to be dominant if the opposing defensive coordinator has a good idea what plays the Buffs will call.
I know I am not alone in being able to pretty accurately anticipate what plays Lindgren will call in certain situations. And that's from watching the games once (sometimes twice). The Buffs need to realize that their opponents are studying their game film to find a way to stop them. In the last two games (and three of the last four), it has worked like a charm.
The saving grace has been the DEFENSE. But the Buffs cannot insist that the D does it all if they want to make it to the Pac-12 Championship.
Friday, November 11, 2016
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Nine Games Into 2016, Mike MacIntyre Off the Hot Seat and Up for Coach of the Year
Mike MacIntyre entered the 2016 season on everybody's list of hot-seat coaches. The Buffs had won a total of TWO conference games over Mac's first three years as head coach at Colorado. My oh my, how things have changed.
Through 9 games this season, the Colorado Buffaloes are 7-2 and alone in first place in the Pac-12 South. Their FIVE conference wins so far have already doubled their total wins against Pac-12 foes since joining the conference in 2011.
And, Mac has gone from being on everybody's hot seat to one of the favorites for National Coach of the Year awards. If the Buffs win out the season and Mac takes CoY honors, he will join his father in winning such an award. George MacIntyre won several national coach of the year awards in 1982 while coaching at Vanderbilt.
Unfortunately for Mac, the coach listed as the odds-on-favorite for the coaching honors is Chris Petersen of the undefeated and #4 ranked Washington Huskies. If UW and Colorado both win their remaining regular season games, they will meet in the Pac-12 championship game. The winning coach may very well win coach of the year.
Big turnarounds for Buffs programs leading to coaching awards is not new at Colorado. Bill McCartney's 4th season saw the Buffs go from one win the prior year to seven in 1985. The original Mac won Big 8 coach of the year that season, beating out Barry Switzer of Oklahoma. What made it all the more impressive for Bill Mac is that OU won the national championship that year.
Through nine games this year, MacIntyre has earned a solid A grade. There is even speculation that Mac is now being sought after by programs in search of a head coach. Baylor has been mentioned as the leading candidate.
What will Mac do if the Buffs win out, play in the Pac-12 title game, and defeat whoever represents the North? He'll be fielding calls and offers if it happens, and he just might walk away with coach of the year awards as well.
The worst case scenario, however, is that the Buffaloes continue to struggle on offense and lose one or more of their remaining games. That would likely end the possibility of playing for the Pac-12 title, and with it would go the elusive coach of the year award. He might still be sought after by other programs, but certainly not with the same fervor that would be present if the Buffs win 10 games.
If the Buffs do win 10, Mac's grade will rise to an A+. If the Buffs fall flat in the last few games, the grade could fall all the way down to a B.
The Buffs surprised everyone around the country early in the season with their explosive offense. Now that there is film to look at the Buffs have been slowed down considerably by opposing defensive coordinators. USC, Stanford and UCLA all put shackles on the big plays the Buffs made often early in the season.
USC exploited the Buffs' seeming inability to adjust on the fly and took the victory. Stanford and UCLA also shut down the Buffs, but the games were won by Colorado due to outstanding defensive play which held the Cardinal and Bruins to a combined 15 points between them.
It's up to Mac and his offensive staff to get the Buffaloes back on track to explosiveness and playing as well as the defense. If they do, the Buffs can play against anyone in the country. Just ask Michigan. Colorado scored more points against the Wolverines in Ann Arbor than anyone the Wolverines have played.
If not, the Buffs will still have had an outstanding turnaround season. But they also will have to deal with the fact that expectations for the program have risen substantially. Fans want them challenging for championships, not being content to just get to a bowl game.
My oh my, how things have changed. Stay tuned for how it ends up.
Through 9 games this season, the Colorado Buffaloes are 7-2 and alone in first place in the Pac-12 South. Their FIVE conference wins so far have already doubled their total wins against Pac-12 foes since joining the conference in 2011.
And, Mac has gone from being on everybody's hot seat to one of the favorites for National Coach of the Year awards. If the Buffs win out the season and Mac takes CoY honors, he will join his father in winning such an award. George MacIntyre won several national coach of the year awards in 1982 while coaching at Vanderbilt.
Unfortunately for Mac, the coach listed as the odds-on-favorite for the coaching honors is Chris Petersen of the undefeated and #4 ranked Washington Huskies. If UW and Colorado both win their remaining regular season games, they will meet in the Pac-12 championship game. The winning coach may very well win coach of the year.
Big turnarounds for Buffs programs leading to coaching awards is not new at Colorado. Bill McCartney's 4th season saw the Buffs go from one win the prior year to seven in 1985. The original Mac won Big 8 coach of the year that season, beating out Barry Switzer of Oklahoma. What made it all the more impressive for Bill Mac is that OU won the national championship that year.
Through nine games this year, MacIntyre has earned a solid A grade. There is even speculation that Mac is now being sought after by programs in search of a head coach. Baylor has been mentioned as the leading candidate.
What will Mac do if the Buffs win out, play in the Pac-12 title game, and defeat whoever represents the North? He'll be fielding calls and offers if it happens, and he just might walk away with coach of the year awards as well.
The worst case scenario, however, is that the Buffaloes continue to struggle on offense and lose one or more of their remaining games. That would likely end the possibility of playing for the Pac-12 title, and with it would go the elusive coach of the year award. He might still be sought after by other programs, but certainly not with the same fervor that would be present if the Buffs win 10 games.
If the Buffs do win 10, Mac's grade will rise to an A+. If the Buffs fall flat in the last few games, the grade could fall all the way down to a B.
The Buffs surprised everyone around the country early in the season with their explosive offense. Now that there is film to look at the Buffs have been slowed down considerably by opposing defensive coordinators. USC, Stanford and UCLA all put shackles on the big plays the Buffs made often early in the season.
USC exploited the Buffs' seeming inability to adjust on the fly and took the victory. Stanford and UCLA also shut down the Buffs, but the games were won by Colorado due to outstanding defensive play which held the Cardinal and Bruins to a combined 15 points between them.
It's up to Mac and his offensive staff to get the Buffaloes back on track to explosiveness and playing as well as the defense. If they do, the Buffs can play against anyone in the country. Just ask Michigan. Colorado scored more points against the Wolverines in Ann Arbor than anyone the Wolverines have played.
If not, the Buffs will still have had an outstanding turnaround season. But they also will have to deal with the fact that expectations for the program have risen substantially. Fans want them challenging for championships, not being content to just get to a bowl game.
My oh my, how things have changed. Stay tuned for how it ends up.
Friday, November 4, 2016
Colorado Buffaloes IMPLODE Emotionally, But Dominant Defense Pulls Out Another Win
Mike MacIntyre and the Colorado Buffaloes were served up a triple scoop of psychological warfare by UCLA. The Buffs' angry and emotional response almost allowed the reeling Bruins to pull off an upset big enough to propel them toward a bowl game at the end of the season. Almost.
Bruins head coach Jim Mora is no dummy. And he is a hell of a recruiter. Last signing day the Bruins signed FOURTEEN 4-star recruits, including NINE of the ESPN Top 300. In the last four years, Mora's Bruins signed a total of 46 four-star players. That number is enough to have Buffs fans frothing at the mouth.
UCLA obviously came in with a specific game plan to mess with the heads of the Colorado Buffaloes, and the Buffs took it hook, line, and sinker. And it almost cost them the game on national television. Almost.
Jim Mora knows that UCLA and USC are the big fish when it comes to feeding on the recruiting grounds of California. Teams like Colorado have to settle for the leftovers and the under-the-radar players that Mike MacIntyre is so adept at identifying and signing.
The Buffaloes have nearly 40 players from the state of California on their roster. So it's safe to say that a LOT of the players from these two teams knew and/or played against each other in high school. And the fact of the matter is that the kids playing for UCLA were higher rated recruits. They knew it and the Buffs from California knew it as well.
Most of the Buffs from the Golden State grew up hoping for a scholarship offer to from the Bruins or Southern Cal. It would allow them to stay closer to home and the inherent support system that allows. Home cooking is a sports metaphor with real meat to it.
Then, there is the case of history. In Colorado's first five years in the league, UCLA and the Pac-12 had their way with Colorado. Sometimes it was close, but the Buffs always seemed to end up on the losing side before this season. All the bragging rights going back to high school belonged to the Bruins players. They were better in high school, and now they were better in college. Until this year, that is.
Like it was said before, the UCLA coach is a smart guy. He knew coming into this game that the Buffaloes were a better team on the record books and the stat sheet. The Buffs were 6-2, while the Bruins were 3-5. The Bruins had five close losses that came down to the last drive of the game (that should sound achingly familiar to Colorado fans).
The Bruins have had too much raw talent to be blown out. That's what Mora has banked on this year: Keep it close and find SOMETHING to put the Bruins over the top. The Bruins' coach knew that the only hope of beating the Buffs in Folsom Field was to turn it into a street fight and hope the Buffs would lose their cool. The Buffs did lose their cool, and it almost cost them the game. Almost.
UCLA came out talking smack from the get-go, and taking cheap shots in the piles hoping to draw angry responses from the Buffs. It worked like a charm. It's an old adage in football that it's always the SECOND piece of bad behavior that gets called by the refs. So the Bruins poked, prodded, and yanked on helmets and limbs while mouthing off non-stop. Unfortunately, the Buffs responded just as the Bruins hoped.
And the horribly clueless Pac-12 refs basically lost control of the game. The refs looked like a bunch of suburbanites who had been dropped in the ghetto, and their only protection was a yellow flag. They were too scared to call the Bruins (except on couple very egregious plays), and instead focused on the Buffs trying to protect themselves and their QB. On one play, when the Buffs should have had 2nd and goal from the one yard line, CU was hit with a 15 yard penalty after a UCLA player literally dragged Sefo Liufau from the pile by his head with no response from the refs. No, the refs did not drop a flag until one of the CU receivers tried to get between Liufau and the Bruin.
One could say that the Colorado players lost their cool, but that started from the top. Mike MacIntye was played like a fiddle by Mora, and emotionally drawn into a near melt-down on the sidelines. He was wide-eyed and screaming at the refs as well as his own players.
Mora, on the other hand, was cool as a cucumber. He stayed calm, even while delaying the start of the second half while complaining that the safety of his players was being risked by the dangerous jeopardy of possibly tripping over marshmallows. Yes, marshmallows.
Another meltdown on the Buffs staff happened high above the field, where play caller and co-offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren continued to call passing plays against a very good pass defense and ignoring the running game against a horrible UCLA team against the run. In the Bruins last game, Utah tailback Joe Williams gained 332 yards against them.
What happened? The Buffs insisted on throwing into heavy coverage, and turned the ball over FOUR times. Anybody with access to replay knows that the Buffs really threw 4 interceptions. Calling one a "fumble" doesn't make it any less of a turnover. And, if it leaves the hand of QB with his arm moving forward, and is caught before it hits the ground five yards down the field, it is an interception. More worrisome is that the Buffs threw four pics and also fumbled three times.
If one just looks at the box score, one might come to the conclusion that the Buffs ran the ball 52 times and only threw it 33. But that would be a gross distortion of the truth. Almost HALF of the CU rushes were by the QB (all but one by Liufau). So, if you take away the dozen or so "runs" by the Buffs that were actually scrambles off of called passing plays, it is quite clear the Buffs offensive play-caller Lindgren REALLY wanted to win this game in the air. Gosh darn it, that's what his plan was BEFORE the game, and no way he's gonna change his play calling.
Mac's gotta do something. The UCLA game was the THIRD out of the last FOUR that the Buffs play calling on offense has been the weakest part of their game. It cost them a loss against USC, and the only reason the Buffs won against Stanford and UCLA is because the Colorado defense is so damned good under Jim Leavitt, Joe Tumpkin and the rest of the defensive staff.
The Buffaloes are good enough this year that they don't need to have Sefo try to win it all by himself. But Lindgren seems intent on ignoring whatever defensive strategies are facing the Buffs and winning it the way he wants it to be. Load the box like USC, and we run it up the middle. Lindgren doesn't seem to care. In one of the interceptions last night, the CU receiver was surrounded by no less than FIVE Bruins. FIVE. With that pattern, is it any wonder UCLA took it from our QB four times?
Today is the day that MacIntyre needs to look at the film and realize how easily manipulated he and his team were during the UCLA game. There are three games left between now and their stated goal of playing for the Pac-12 championship.
The Buffs, their head coach and their offensive play caller need to get their heads straight. They have to eliminate the hard-headed refusal to adjust their play-calling. And they have to eliminate their soft-headed response to negative emotional stimulus, from Mac on down. They can't continue to kill themselves with penalties and poor play-calling and hope the defense bails them out.
If the head coach loses his cool over and over, how hard is it for the players to follow suit? The Buffs need to understand the psychological ploys that will be thrown at them, and refuse to be baited into losing their composure. They need to remember that they are in first place in November, ranked, and needing to play big boy football the rest of the season.
Winning out the rest of the way will be the best revenge.
Bruins head coach Jim Mora is no dummy. And he is a hell of a recruiter. Last signing day the Bruins signed FOURTEEN 4-star recruits, including NINE of the ESPN Top 300. In the last four years, Mora's Bruins signed a total of 46 four-star players. That number is enough to have Buffs fans frothing at the mouth.
UCLA obviously came in with a specific game plan to mess with the heads of the Colorado Buffaloes, and the Buffs took it hook, line, and sinker. And it almost cost them the game on national television. Almost.
Jim Mora knows that UCLA and USC are the big fish when it comes to feeding on the recruiting grounds of California. Teams like Colorado have to settle for the leftovers and the under-the-radar players that Mike MacIntyre is so adept at identifying and signing.
The Buffaloes have nearly 40 players from the state of California on their roster. So it's safe to say that a LOT of the players from these two teams knew and/or played against each other in high school. And the fact of the matter is that the kids playing for UCLA were higher rated recruits. They knew it and the Buffs from California knew it as well.
Most of the Buffs from the Golden State grew up hoping for a scholarship offer to from the Bruins or Southern Cal. It would allow them to stay closer to home and the inherent support system that allows. Home cooking is a sports metaphor with real meat to it.
Then, there is the case of history. In Colorado's first five years in the league, UCLA and the Pac-12 had their way with Colorado. Sometimes it was close, but the Buffs always seemed to end up on the losing side before this season. All the bragging rights going back to high school belonged to the Bruins players. They were better in high school, and now they were better in college. Until this year, that is.
Like it was said before, the UCLA coach is a smart guy. He knew coming into this game that the Buffaloes were a better team on the record books and the stat sheet. The Buffs were 6-2, while the Bruins were 3-5. The Bruins had five close losses that came down to the last drive of the game (that should sound achingly familiar to Colorado fans).
The Bruins have had too much raw talent to be blown out. That's what Mora has banked on this year: Keep it close and find SOMETHING to put the Bruins over the top. The Bruins' coach knew that the only hope of beating the Buffs in Folsom Field was to turn it into a street fight and hope the Buffs would lose their cool. The Buffs did lose their cool, and it almost cost them the game. Almost.
UCLA came out talking smack from the get-go, and taking cheap shots in the piles hoping to draw angry responses from the Buffs. It worked like a charm. It's an old adage in football that it's always the SECOND piece of bad behavior that gets called by the refs. So the Bruins poked, prodded, and yanked on helmets and limbs while mouthing off non-stop. Unfortunately, the Buffs responded just as the Bruins hoped.
And the horribly clueless Pac-12 refs basically lost control of the game. The refs looked like a bunch of suburbanites who had been dropped in the ghetto, and their only protection was a yellow flag. They were too scared to call the Bruins (except on couple very egregious plays), and instead focused on the Buffs trying to protect themselves and their QB. On one play, when the Buffs should have had 2nd and goal from the one yard line, CU was hit with a 15 yard penalty after a UCLA player literally dragged Sefo Liufau from the pile by his head with no response from the refs. No, the refs did not drop a flag until one of the CU receivers tried to get between Liufau and the Bruin.
One could say that the Colorado players lost their cool, but that started from the top. Mike MacIntye was played like a fiddle by Mora, and emotionally drawn into a near melt-down on the sidelines. He was wide-eyed and screaming at the refs as well as his own players.
Mora, on the other hand, was cool as a cucumber. He stayed calm, even while delaying the start of the second half while complaining that the safety of his players was being risked by the dangerous jeopardy of possibly tripping over marshmallows. Yes, marshmallows.
Another meltdown on the Buffs staff happened high above the field, where play caller and co-offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren continued to call passing plays against a very good pass defense and ignoring the running game against a horrible UCLA team against the run. In the Bruins last game, Utah tailback Joe Williams gained 332 yards against them.
What happened? The Buffs insisted on throwing into heavy coverage, and turned the ball over FOUR times. Anybody with access to replay knows that the Buffs really threw 4 interceptions. Calling one a "fumble" doesn't make it any less of a turnover. And, if it leaves the hand of QB with his arm moving forward, and is caught before it hits the ground five yards down the field, it is an interception. More worrisome is that the Buffs threw four pics and also fumbled three times.
If one just looks at the box score, one might come to the conclusion that the Buffs ran the ball 52 times and only threw it 33. But that would be a gross distortion of the truth. Almost HALF of the CU rushes were by the QB (all but one by Liufau). So, if you take away the dozen or so "runs" by the Buffs that were actually scrambles off of called passing plays, it is quite clear the Buffs offensive play-caller Lindgren REALLY wanted to win this game in the air. Gosh darn it, that's what his plan was BEFORE the game, and no way he's gonna change his play calling.
Mac's gotta do something. The UCLA game was the THIRD out of the last FOUR that the Buffs play calling on offense has been the weakest part of their game. It cost them a loss against USC, and the only reason the Buffs won against Stanford and UCLA is because the Colorado defense is so damned good under Jim Leavitt, Joe Tumpkin and the rest of the defensive staff.
The Buffaloes are good enough this year that they don't need to have Sefo try to win it all by himself. But Lindgren seems intent on ignoring whatever defensive strategies are facing the Buffs and winning it the way he wants it to be. Load the box like USC, and we run it up the middle. Lindgren doesn't seem to care. In one of the interceptions last night, the CU receiver was surrounded by no less than FIVE Bruins. FIVE. With that pattern, is it any wonder UCLA took it from our QB four times?
Today is the day that MacIntyre needs to look at the film and realize how easily manipulated he and his team were during the UCLA game. There are three games left between now and their stated goal of playing for the Pac-12 championship.
The Buffs, their head coach and their offensive play caller need to get their heads straight. They have to eliminate the hard-headed refusal to adjust their play-calling. And they have to eliminate their soft-headed response to negative emotional stimulus, from Mac on down. They can't continue to kill themselves with penalties and poor play-calling and hope the defense bails them out.
If the head coach loses his cool over and over, how hard is it for the players to follow suit? The Buffs need to understand the psychological ploys that will be thrown at them, and refuse to be baited into losing their composure. They need to remember that they are in first place in November, ranked, and needing to play big boy football the rest of the season.
Winning out the rest of the way will be the best revenge.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Colorado Buffaloes Hold Stanford Without a Touchdown, Win 10-5 at "The Farm"
The Colorado Buffaloes traveled to Stanford and beat the Cardinal for the first time since joining the Pac-12. It was the second consecutive home loss for head coach David Shaw, who came into the game with a Stanford record of 58-16 (with only five home losses) since taking over as head coach in 2011.
The five points scored by Stanford represented the fewest that Stanford has scored in the Shaw era, and the fewest since they scored only 3 points against Arizona State in 2007. More importantly for the Cardinal this year, the team has scored only FOUR offensive touchdowns in the last 5 games.
Colorado, on the other hand, shook some monkeys off their backs with the win. California, one of their prime recruiting grounds, has not been kind to the Buffs over the years. The Buffs came into the game having won only TWO out of 23 games in the Golden State.
The Buffs also managed to win despite some serious problems. Two drives with "first and goal" ended with the Buffs missing chip shot field goals. Another field goal of slightly longer also missed the mark. Things were so bad that punter Alex Kinney attempted a field goal after Chris Graham missed his first two attempts. Kinney's attempt missed as well.
It was a sign of how things have changed for the Buffs. Over the years since joining the Pac-12, a major breakdown in any aspect of the team usually led to yet another big loss.
That is not the case now. Jim Leavitt's defense played lights out, causing multiple turnovers and keeping last year's Heisman runner-up Christian McCaffrey under wraps for the most part. A full 40% of Stanford's points came on a safety when the Buffs opted to give up the two points with 8 seconds remaining rather than try to punt out of the end zone.
Mike MacIntyre's Buffaloes now leave California with a 6-2 record, bowl eligibility, and first place in the Pac-12 South heading into their "bye-week" before hosting UCLA on national television on Thursday, November 3. Things have most definitely changed for the Colorado Buffaloes.
The way things have been going, Folsom Field should be packed to the hilt for the game. The Buffs are marching inexorably toward their goal of playing for a Pac-12 championship, and at this point they control their own destiny with three of their last four games being played at the most beautiful stadium in the country, Folsom Field.
More posts to come as stats and info becomes available.
The five points scored by Stanford represented the fewest that Stanford has scored in the Shaw era, and the fewest since they scored only 3 points against Arizona State in 2007. More importantly for the Cardinal this year, the team has scored only FOUR offensive touchdowns in the last 5 games.
Colorado, on the other hand, shook some monkeys off their backs with the win. California, one of their prime recruiting grounds, has not been kind to the Buffs over the years. The Buffs came into the game having won only TWO out of 23 games in the Golden State.
The Buffs also managed to win despite some serious problems. Two drives with "first and goal" ended with the Buffs missing chip shot field goals. Another field goal of slightly longer also missed the mark. Things were so bad that punter Alex Kinney attempted a field goal after Chris Graham missed his first two attempts. Kinney's attempt missed as well.
It was a sign of how things have changed for the Buffs. Over the years since joining the Pac-12, a major breakdown in any aspect of the team usually led to yet another big loss.
That is not the case now. Jim Leavitt's defense played lights out, causing multiple turnovers and keeping last year's Heisman runner-up Christian McCaffrey under wraps for the most part. A full 40% of Stanford's points came on a safety when the Buffs opted to give up the two points with 8 seconds remaining rather than try to punt out of the end zone.
Mike MacIntyre's Buffaloes now leave California with a 6-2 record, bowl eligibility, and first place in the Pac-12 South heading into their "bye-week" before hosting UCLA on national television on Thursday, November 3. Things have most definitely changed for the Colorado Buffaloes.
The way things have been going, Folsom Field should be packed to the hilt for the game. The Buffs are marching inexorably toward their goal of playing for a Pac-12 championship, and at this point they control their own destiny with three of their last four games being played at the most beautiful stadium in the country, Folsom Field.
More posts to come as stats and info becomes available.
Friday, October 21, 2016
Remembering My Dad and our First Visit to "The Farm" to see Jim Plunkett -- September 19, 1970
My father Fred and I first stepped foot on "The Farm" (more commonly known as Stanford University) on September 19, 1970 to watch a game between Stanford and San Jose State.
For years already in my young life, my father had been taking me to Arizona State University football games at Sun Devil Stadium, less than five miles from our home in Scottsdale. Shortly after moving from Arizona to Silicon Valley, my Dad managed to get tickets to see my first college football game in California. He thought was an important game for quite a few reasons.
My father was born and raised in Winslow, Arizona, just south of the largest Indian Reservation in the United States. The Navajo Nation Reservation covers more than 27,000 square miles across a Arizona, New Mexico and into Utah. Also not far from Winslow is the Hopi Nation, whose 6,558 square mile reservation lies within the Navajo Reservation.
My father grew up with Native Americans. The Indians and the Hispanics (my father's background) made up more than half of the population of Winslow. Despite their numbers, neither Hispanics nor the Native Americans (or other minorities like Blacks) were allowed to use the public swimming pool, except for one day per week so that the pool could be drained, cleaned, and refilled before the lighter skinned folks of Winslow used the pool again. Really.
My father also spent his youth working at the family's Hubbell Trading Post on the Navajo Reservation. The trading post's founder Don Lorenzo Hubbell was married to Lina Rubi. To my father, local Native Americans were not only his neighbors, but also his friends, and they made a large impact with how he would live his entire life.
Back in 1970, the nickname of the Stanford athletics teams was the "Indians" -- and the quarterback of their team was a Hispanic/Native American named Jim Plunkett. My Father wanted to see the young man play. It represented a serious change from his youth. He and some of his Hispanic and Indian friends were denied the chance for athletic scholarships to college because of their ethnicity. So, it was Army first, and college afterwards due to the GI Bill.
My father was very excited that one of the best football players in the country was the quarterback for Stanford. And Plunkett was an Indian both in heritage and as a Stanford player. My father was very excited to see the game.
Stanford has opened the season as the #10 team in the country. In their first game, they traveled to #4 Arkansas and beat the Razorbacks 34-28. The Indians jumped in the polls that week all the way to #4 for their game against San Jose State. That day, September 19, 1970, Plunkett led the Indians to a 34-3 manhandling of the Spartans.
Those first two weeks of the 1970 season were just the springboard for Plunkett. After his Consensus All-American season, he won the Heisman Trophy and every other award imaginable on his way to being the #1 overall draft pick in the NFL the following year. My Dad was very proud.
Jim Plunkett was the first player I got to watch in person that would go on to win the Heisman. For that, old and huge Stanford Stadium will always hold a place in my heart. But that place is gone now, having been replaced by a newer, shinier and much smaller version in 2005. Stanford is no longer called the Indians. They gave that up in 1972 because some thought it was degrading. And they are no longer called the Cardinals. That stopped in 1981 because they didn't want folks to think they were birds. They have been the Cardinal (as in the color) since that time, represented by a tree for a mascot. Really.
It would have been so nice for the Buffaloes and the Indians to be on the same field once again. And I wish I could go back in time to see more college football games with my father. C'est la vie. Time goes on.
Go Colorado Buffaloes!
Update: Final score, Colorado 10-5 over Stanford.
For years already in my young life, my father had been taking me to Arizona State University football games at Sun Devil Stadium, less than five miles from our home in Scottsdale. Shortly after moving from Arizona to Silicon Valley, my Dad managed to get tickets to see my first college football game in California. He thought was an important game for quite a few reasons.
My father was born and raised in Winslow, Arizona, just south of the largest Indian Reservation in the United States. The Navajo Nation Reservation covers more than 27,000 square miles across a Arizona, New Mexico and into Utah. Also not far from Winslow is the Hopi Nation, whose 6,558 square mile reservation lies within the Navajo Reservation.
My father grew up with Native Americans. The Indians and the Hispanics (my father's background) made up more than half of the population of Winslow. Despite their numbers, neither Hispanics nor the Native Americans (or other minorities like Blacks) were allowed to use the public swimming pool, except for one day per week so that the pool could be drained, cleaned, and refilled before the lighter skinned folks of Winslow used the pool again. Really.
My father also spent his youth working at the family's Hubbell Trading Post on the Navajo Reservation. The trading post's founder Don Lorenzo Hubbell was married to Lina Rubi. To my father, local Native Americans were not only his neighbors, but also his friends, and they made a large impact with how he would live his entire life.
Back in 1970, the nickname of the Stanford athletics teams was the "Indians" -- and the quarterback of their team was a Hispanic/Native American named Jim Plunkett. My Father wanted to see the young man play. It represented a serious change from his youth. He and some of his Hispanic and Indian friends were denied the chance for athletic scholarships to college because of their ethnicity. So, it was Army first, and college afterwards due to the GI Bill.
My father was very excited that one of the best football players in the country was the quarterback for Stanford. And Plunkett was an Indian both in heritage and as a Stanford player. My father was very excited to see the game.
Stanford has opened the season as the #10 team in the country. In their first game, they traveled to #4 Arkansas and beat the Razorbacks 34-28. The Indians jumped in the polls that week all the way to #4 for their game against San Jose State. That day, September 19, 1970, Plunkett led the Indians to a 34-3 manhandling of the Spartans.
Those first two weeks of the 1970 season were just the springboard for Plunkett. After his Consensus All-American season, he won the Heisman Trophy and every other award imaginable on his way to being the #1 overall draft pick in the NFL the following year. My Dad was very proud.
Jim Plunkett was the first player I got to watch in person that would go on to win the Heisman. For that, old and huge Stanford Stadium will always hold a place in my heart. But that place is gone now, having been replaced by a newer, shinier and much smaller version in 2005. Stanford is no longer called the Indians. They gave that up in 1972 because some thought it was degrading. And they are no longer called the Cardinals. That stopped in 1981 because they didn't want folks to think they were birds. They have been the Cardinal (as in the color) since that time, represented by a tree for a mascot. Really.
It would have been so nice for the Buffaloes and the Indians to be on the same field once again. And I wish I could go back in time to see more college football games with my father. C'est la vie. Time goes on.
Go Colorado Buffaloes!
Update: Final score, Colorado 10-5 over Stanford.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Buffs Need to Rage Against the Machine of Self Destruction
The Colorado Buffaloes led the Michigan Wolverines 21-7 at the end of the first quarter. Michigan scored on a blocked punt but had been manhandled by Colorado on offense and defense. The quick paced offense and the attacking defense were doing their jobs, keeping the #4 Michigan team off balance and on their heels.
Then, for some reason, the Buffs decided to slow things down. They continued to line up quickly but started pausing at the line to change plays from the sideline. Instead of forcing Michigan to have 5 seconds or so to get ready for the next play, the Buffs started taking almost the full play clock to get their plays off. Michigan got their wind back, and the Buffs started faltering on offense. Add the faltering offense to a disastrous punt team and the recipe for destruction was complete.
The Buffs watched their 21-7 lead disappear as they fell behind 24-21 at the end of the first half when Mac and Lindgren decided to run out the clock instead of going for more points. The gambit failed. Michigan got the ball back and scored with 10 seconds left before half to take the lead.
In the 2nd half, the Buffs again turned on the offense and scored on a 70 yard pass shortly after beginning the 3rd quarter. They retook the lead 28-24. The Wolverines' Jabril Peppers returned the kickoff 55 yards and Michigan scored 2 plays later to take the lead for good.
QB Sefo Liufau was hurt on the play before he heaved the 70 yard TD. One more series showed that he was done for the day. Buff fans now wait to see if he will be ready for Oregon this week or will be out longer.
Backup QB Steven Montez' first two passes were dropped (one of which would have been a touchdown), and the deflation of the Buff offense was visible to all at Michigan Stadium. Lindgren's play calling packed it in as well, and the Buffs did their best to run out the clock and keep the loss under the betting line.
By then, as well, the defense realized the futility of their task. The offense was no threat to score and the punting team threatened to give up a score every time they came on the field. They watched their 21-7 lead evaporate into a 45-28 loss. Twenty-eight of Michigan's points came off of miscues by the special teams.
The defense under Jim Leavitt is one of the best in the Pac-12. But that fact is being shrouded by conservative play calling on offense and remarkably bad play by the special teams.
What Gives?
The Colorado Buffaloes offense under Mike MacIntyre and Brian Lindgren do not handle unexpected prosperity well. And it is not just this year. It has been going on since they arrived.
2015
In the game against USC, the Buffs built and squandered a 17-3 lead. They did not score again until they were behind 27-17. They lost the game 27-24.
They much prefer to roar back after being down. Against UCLA last year, the Buffs trailed 21-6 and 28-13 before retaking a 31-28 lead before finally losing 35-31.
Against Arizona, the Buffs trailed 17-7 before coming back to take a 24-17 lead. Then they gave up three 4th quarter touchdowns to fall behind by 14. They lost the game 38-31.
2014
In the game against Cal, the Buffs took had leads of 21-7 and 28-14. Cal came back to tie the game at 28. They eventually lost 59-56 in triple overtime.
Against Washington, the Buffs led 10-0 and 20-10 before giving up three touchdowns in the last 21 minutes and losing 38-23
In the Oregon State game, the Buffs came back from a 17-7 deficit to lead 21-20. They lost the game 36-31.
Against UCLA, the Buffs trailed 17-0 and 31-17 before storming back to tie the game at 31 and force overtime. The Buffs lost in triple overtime again, by the score of 40-37.
2013
The Buffs trail Utah 21-0 before finally losing 24-17.
What do the nine games have in common?
The Buffs either squandered big leads or came back from big deficits. And most importantly, the Buffs lost all nine games.
Lest anyone think I am only picking on the games the Buffs lost, remember that the conference record of the Buffs under MacIntyre is 2-25, so there are not a lot of conference wins to point at.
Despite the trials and tribulations, the Buffs need to address that they have shown they can play in the Pac-12, but they need to take the next step and actually win some of the games that are close. If they do not, changes need to be made.
The Buffs fan base called for Lindgren's head last year, and MacIntyre relented to bringing in a co-offensive coordinator in Darrin Chiaverini. It seems to be working out against the lesser opposition, but Mac needs it to work against conference foes if he expects to keep his job.
Some people point out (like this writer has many, many times) that the Buffs are so much closer than they used to be... but the time to win is now. If you win less than 10% of your conference games year after year, does the final score really matter?
Then, for some reason, the Buffs decided to slow things down. They continued to line up quickly but started pausing at the line to change plays from the sideline. Instead of forcing Michigan to have 5 seconds or so to get ready for the next play, the Buffs started taking almost the full play clock to get their plays off. Michigan got their wind back, and the Buffs started faltering on offense. Add the faltering offense to a disastrous punt team and the recipe for destruction was complete.
The Buffs watched their 21-7 lead disappear as they fell behind 24-21 at the end of the first half when Mac and Lindgren decided to run out the clock instead of going for more points. The gambit failed. Michigan got the ball back and scored with 10 seconds left before half to take the lead.
In the 2nd half, the Buffs again turned on the offense and scored on a 70 yard pass shortly after beginning the 3rd quarter. They retook the lead 28-24. The Wolverines' Jabril Peppers returned the kickoff 55 yards and Michigan scored 2 plays later to take the lead for good.
QB Sefo Liufau was hurt on the play before he heaved the 70 yard TD. One more series showed that he was done for the day. Buff fans now wait to see if he will be ready for Oregon this week or will be out longer.
Backup QB Steven Montez' first two passes were dropped (one of which would have been a touchdown), and the deflation of the Buff offense was visible to all at Michigan Stadium. Lindgren's play calling packed it in as well, and the Buffs did their best to run out the clock and keep the loss under the betting line.
By then, as well, the defense realized the futility of their task. The offense was no threat to score and the punting team threatened to give up a score every time they came on the field. They watched their 21-7 lead evaporate into a 45-28 loss. Twenty-eight of Michigan's points came off of miscues by the special teams.
The defense under Jim Leavitt is one of the best in the Pac-12. But that fact is being shrouded by conservative play calling on offense and remarkably bad play by the special teams.
What Gives?
The Colorado Buffaloes offense under Mike MacIntyre and Brian Lindgren do not handle unexpected prosperity well. And it is not just this year. It has been going on since they arrived.
2015
In the game against USC, the Buffs built and squandered a 17-3 lead. They did not score again until they were behind 27-17. They lost the game 27-24.
They much prefer to roar back after being down. Against UCLA last year, the Buffs trailed 21-6 and 28-13 before retaking a 31-28 lead before finally losing 35-31.
Against Arizona, the Buffs trailed 17-7 before coming back to take a 24-17 lead. Then they gave up three 4th quarter touchdowns to fall behind by 14. They lost the game 38-31.
2014
In the game against Cal, the Buffs took had leads of 21-7 and 28-14. Cal came back to tie the game at 28. They eventually lost 59-56 in triple overtime.
Against Washington, the Buffs led 10-0 and 20-10 before giving up three touchdowns in the last 21 minutes and losing 38-23
In the Oregon State game, the Buffs came back from a 17-7 deficit to lead 21-20. They lost the game 36-31.
Against UCLA, the Buffs trailed 17-0 and 31-17 before storming back to tie the game at 31 and force overtime. The Buffs lost in triple overtime again, by the score of 40-37.
2013
The Buffs trail Utah 21-0 before finally losing 24-17.
What do the nine games have in common?
The Buffs either squandered big leads or came back from big deficits. And most importantly, the Buffs lost all nine games.
Lest anyone think I am only picking on the games the Buffs lost, remember that the conference record of the Buffs under MacIntyre is 2-25, so there are not a lot of conference wins to point at.
Despite the trials and tribulations, the Buffs need to address that they have shown they can play in the Pac-12, but they need to take the next step and actually win some of the games that are close. If they do not, changes need to be made.
The Buffs fan base called for Lindgren's head last year, and MacIntyre relented to bringing in a co-offensive coordinator in Darrin Chiaverini. It seems to be working out against the lesser opposition, but Mac needs it to work against conference foes if he expects to keep his job.
Some people point out (like this writer has many, many times) that the Buffs are so much closer than they used to be... but the time to win is now. If you win less than 10% of your conference games year after year, does the final score really matter?
Saturday, October 10, 2015
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:
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
- 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.
- #24 Cal beats UR Washington State; 34-28
- #18 Stanford beats UR Arizona; 55-17
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Healthy Reality Check for Many Colorado Buffs Football Fans
It’s Sun Devil week.
The Buffs are on the road for another night game in Tempe (Boulderdevil's old stomping grounds) to take on Arizona State. Attending this game was a top priority but last minute travel elsewhere called it off. It happens.
It is interesting reading all the comments on blogs and news stories that so many CU fans are downright angry that the Buffs lost to Oregon after playing them to a 17-17 score for the first half. Some even claimed we should never lose a game at home that is tied at the half.
Some Buff fans have either been kicked in the head or do not understand college football at all. The Ducks won 13 games last year and played for the National Championship, while Colorado won two games. The chances of the Buffs winning were slim, but they showed their heart and made it a game into the 4th quarter.
Have Buff fans forgotten the last three years the Buffs played Oregon? In 2012, they were down 56-0 at halftime, in 2013 it was 43-16, and in 2014 it was 30-3.
Being tied at halftime is a massive improvement. Why don't so many of the CU faithful realize that? It’s very sad and disheartening for the team.
Oregon had a horrible game against Utah. Everything that could have gone wrong did and every little thing went Utah's way. The result: The Ducks suffered a humiliating beat down. It happens.
One game does not make a season.
Remember 2001 when CU thrashed Nebraska 62-36? It’s the same year that Texas smoked Colorado 41-7 during the regular season. But Colorado persevered and beat the Longhorns in the Big 12 championship 39-37. And what about the Fuskers? They went on to play for the National Championship. One beatdown does not define a season.
MacIntyre has been preaching all along that you have to play ‘em one at a time and forget the last game as soon as it is over. A good game this week does not mean a good game the following week. Likewise, a bad game does not necessarily only lead to another bad game. Amen.
Now everyone is talking about ASU like they are the greatest thing since sliced bread based on one game against UCLA. That's not true by any means. Has everyone forgotten that the Sun Devils were absolutely destroyed by USC the prior week and that Texas A&M thrashed them in the opening week. Even their other wins this season have been less than spectacular. ASU went from a preseason top 15 team to being out of the Top 25. Even their big win over the Bruins was not enough to get them back into the Top 25.
For those Buff fans who think that Arizona State is an offensive machine, the reality is that the numbers aren’t nearly as impressive for ASU as they might think. Oregon is 7th in the nation in total offense, and ASU is 36th. Colorado is 30th. As far as rushing goes, Oregon is 4th, Colorado is 17th and ASU is 57th. Yet many Buff fans are convinced that the Sun Devils will run it down Colorado's throat. It could happen, for sure. But things could just as easily go the other way.
There is a reason they play the games. Sometimes the ball bounces funny and the breaks just don’t go your way. Based on all the upsets that happen every year (notice how many top 10 teams lost last week), fans should hesitate before writing off any game.
Will ASU play like they did against UCLA, or stink it up like the games against USC and Texas A&M? Or maybe the Devils will just go through the motions like they did against Cal Poly and New Mexico. We will see. More importantly: Will Colorado come out inspired and tough like the first half against Oregon? Or will they shoot themselves in the foot like the game against Hawaii? We will see.
Turnovers are the key. When Colorado wins the turnover battle, the Buffs win. When they protect their quarterback, they win. When they don’t do those things, the Buffs lose.
But the Buff players need our support instead of being written off by fair weather fans.
Go BUFFS! Beat them Devils!
The Buffs are on the road for another night game in Tempe (Boulderdevil's old stomping grounds) to take on Arizona State. Attending this game was a top priority but last minute travel elsewhere called it off. It happens.
It is interesting reading all the comments on blogs and news stories that so many CU fans are downright angry that the Buffs lost to Oregon after playing them to a 17-17 score for the first half. Some even claimed we should never lose a game at home that is tied at the half.
Some Buff fans have either been kicked in the head or do not understand college football at all. The Ducks won 13 games last year and played for the National Championship, while Colorado won two games. The chances of the Buffs winning were slim, but they showed their heart and made it a game into the 4th quarter.
Have Buff fans forgotten the last three years the Buffs played Oregon? In 2012, they were down 56-0 at halftime, in 2013 it was 43-16, and in 2014 it was 30-3.
Being tied at halftime is a massive improvement. Why don't so many of the CU faithful realize that? It’s very sad and disheartening for the team.
Oregon had a horrible game against Utah. Everything that could have gone wrong did and every little thing went Utah's way. The result: The Ducks suffered a humiliating beat down. It happens.
One game does not make a season.
Remember 2001 when CU thrashed Nebraska 62-36? It’s the same year that Texas smoked Colorado 41-7 during the regular season. But Colorado persevered and beat the Longhorns in the Big 12 championship 39-37. And what about the Fuskers? They went on to play for the National Championship. One beatdown does not define a season.
MacIntyre has been preaching all along that you have to play ‘em one at a time and forget the last game as soon as it is over. A good game this week does not mean a good game the following week. Likewise, a bad game does not necessarily only lead to another bad game. Amen.
Now everyone is talking about ASU like they are the greatest thing since sliced bread based on one game against UCLA. That's not true by any means. Has everyone forgotten that the Sun Devils were absolutely destroyed by USC the prior week and that Texas A&M thrashed them in the opening week. Even their other wins this season have been less than spectacular. ASU went from a preseason top 15 team to being out of the Top 25. Even their big win over the Bruins was not enough to get them back into the Top 25.
For those Buff fans who think that Arizona State is an offensive machine, the reality is that the numbers aren’t nearly as impressive for ASU as they might think. Oregon is 7th in the nation in total offense, and ASU is 36th. Colorado is 30th. As far as rushing goes, Oregon is 4th, Colorado is 17th and ASU is 57th. Yet many Buff fans are convinced that the Sun Devils will run it down Colorado's throat. It could happen, for sure. But things could just as easily go the other way.
There is a reason they play the games. Sometimes the ball bounces funny and the breaks just don’t go your way. Based on all the upsets that happen every year (notice how many top 10 teams lost last week), fans should hesitate before writing off any game.
Will ASU play like they did against UCLA, or stink it up like the games against USC and Texas A&M? Or maybe the Devils will just go through the motions like they did against Cal Poly and New Mexico. We will see. More importantly: Will Colorado come out inspired and tough like the first half against Oregon? Or will they shoot themselves in the foot like the game against Hawaii? We will see.
Turnovers are the key. When Colorado wins the turnover battle, the Buffs win. When they protect their quarterback, they win. When they don’t do those things, the Buffs lose.
But the Buff players need our support instead of being written off by fair weather fans.
Go BUFFS! Beat them Devils!
Monday, October 5, 2015
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?
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.
---------------------------
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?
Sunday, September 27, 2015
CU Buffs Game Against Oregon and the Rest of October Now Looks a Little Less Daunting
Go ahead and admit it... If someone had offered to bet you straight up that Colorado would have a better record than Oregon after four weeks of the 2015 season, you would have bet the house. The whole country would have.
If someone told you that one of the two teams (either the Buffs or the Ducks) would be giving up nearly 41 points per game and the other only 16.5, you would have been willing to wager that it was the Ducks with the better numbers.
Surprise! One week before the Oregon Ducks limp into Boulder for a night game on ESPN, the Buffs now find themselves knowing that the Ducks can be beaten. Indeed, only four weeks into the season and the Ducks have already lost twice. And even in their two wins (Eastern Washington and Georgia State), the Ducks gave up 42 and 28 points, respectively. They are not a strong defensive team.
In their game at home against Utah, Oregon gave up 62 points and were outplayed in every facet of the game.
Marcus Mariota and his Heisman Trophy are no longer running the show for the Ducks and it certainly shows this year. Things are about to get ugly. Last week, the Oregonian ran the story: "AP Top 25: Oregon Ducks fall to lowest ranking in 4 years"
This week, the Ducks are very likely to be out of the Top 25 for the first time in a long time. Or they may squeak in at around 24 or 25, but they certainly shouldn't. A 2-2 team who gives up 62 points at home to a team they were favored to beat by 10 points does not deserve to be in the top 25.
Oregon is not the only team the Buffs play in October that is struggling.
The Buffs schedule for the month now looks like this:
The Colorado Buffaloes will have five chances in October to show they deserve to play in a bowl game this year.
At the beginning of the season, the October schedule looked like a "Murderers Row" to fans, but four games into the season the schedule looks a lot less scary. The Buffs know that none of their Pac-12 games will be as easy as their 48-0 blowout over Nicholls. They have been saying since camp began back in August that they have the talent to play with anyone. And they have said they are ready to win the close ones.
With the games in October, the Buffs have a chance to prove it. And it begins when Oregon comes to town next weekend.
If someone told you that one of the two teams (either the Buffs or the Ducks) would be giving up nearly 41 points per game and the other only 16.5, you would have been willing to wager that it was the Ducks with the better numbers.
Surprise! One week before the Oregon Ducks limp into Boulder for a night game on ESPN, the Buffs now find themselves knowing that the Ducks can be beaten. Indeed, only four weeks into the season and the Ducks have already lost twice. And even in their two wins (Eastern Washington and Georgia State), the Ducks gave up 42 and 28 points, respectively. They are not a strong defensive team.
In their game at home against Utah, Oregon gave up 62 points and were outplayed in every facet of the game.
Marcus Mariota and his Heisman Trophy are no longer running the show for the Ducks and it certainly shows this year. Things are about to get ugly. Last week, the Oregonian ran the story: "AP Top 25: Oregon Ducks fall to lowest ranking in 4 years"
This week, the Ducks are very likely to be out of the Top 25 for the first time in a long time. Or they may squeak in at around 24 or 25, but they certainly shouldn't. A 2-2 team who gives up 62 points at home to a team they were favored to beat by 10 points does not deserve to be in the top 25.
Oregon is not the only team the Buffs play in October that is struggling.
The Buffs schedule for the month now looks like this:
- October 3 -- Oregon Ducks (2-2) Lost at home 62-20 to Utah
- October 10 -- Arizona State (2-2) Lost at home 42-14 to USC, and face UCLA next week. Will likely host CU with a record of 2-3.
- October 17 -- Arizona (3-1) Lost at home 56-30 to UCLA, and plays at Stanford next week. Will likely come to Boulder with at least two losses.
- October 24 -- Oregon State (2-2) Lost at home to Stanford 42-24, and plays at Arizona on Oct. 10th. Will likely host Colorado with at least 3 losses.
- October 31 -- UCLA (4-0) Beat Arizona 56-30 in Tucson. Face three tough games (ASU, Stanford, and California) before coming to Boulder.
The Colorado Buffaloes will have five chances in October to show they deserve to play in a bowl game this year.
At the beginning of the season, the October schedule looked like a "Murderers Row" to fans, but four games into the season the schedule looks a lot less scary. The Buffs know that none of their Pac-12 games will be as easy as their 48-0 blowout over Nicholls. They have been saying since camp began back in August that they have the talent to play with anyone. And they have said they are ready to win the close ones.
With the games in October, the Buffs have a chance to prove it. And it begins when Oregon comes to town next weekend.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Cherish the Wins Over Teams Coming Off 10 Win Seasons, It's What it Takes to Win in the Pac-12
Colorado Buffaloes football fans, especially those who have been around the program for a couple of decades or more, like to think of the Colorado State Rams as "little brother" and that the Buffs should never lose to their in-state rival. Guess what? Little brothers have an annoying habit of growing up and becoming as big and strong as big brother. Colorado State has grown up and is a very strong and physical football team. Make no mistake, CSU is a good football team and will be playing in a bowl at the end of the year.
Lots of fans commenting on articles and blogs have discounted the Buffs' overtime win by saying that a win over CSU doesn't count for much. That's BS to the highest degree. Colorado State won 10 games last year, and has won 18 in the last two years. It took the Buffs the last FOUR YEARS to win a total of 10 games, and the last SIX YEARS to win a total of 18.
Since 2000, the Rams have had FOUR 10-win seasons. The Buffs have had only one. Discounting the victory over a team with 10 wins last year is ludicrous because it has not happened very much to Buffaloes over the last 10 years,
In fact, this win is only one of four. In 2011, the Buffs beat a Utah team which had gone 10-3 in 2010. In 2008, the Buffs took out a West Virginia team which had won 11 games in 2007. And in 2007, the Buffs beat an Oklahoma team which had won 11 games in both 2006 AND 2007. Those are the only four times the Buffs have accomplished the deed in the last 10 years.
One thing all those four games have in common is the very close scores. Two of the victories came by 3 points in overtime, and two came by three points in regulation time.
Why is the 10 win threshold so important? The Buffs still have a lot of those games to play this year. Four of the teams the Buffs play in the Pac-12 this year won at least 10 games last year. Two more won 9 games. They are:
The Buffs only have two teams on their Pac-12 schedule which had losing seasons last year (Washington State at 3-9 and Oregon State at 5-7). Needless to say, those teams are also looking at Colorado as a team on THEIR schedules which had a losing team last year. Those two teams (and CU) are 2-1 so far in 2015.
The Pac-12 enters this weekend with six teams in the Top 21 in the country. Four of them are in the Pac-12 South with the Buffs, and the other two are on the Buffs schedule this year. For the Buffs to meet their goal of a bowl game at the end of the year, they will need to beat one or more of those six ranked teams. To make it even harder, a seventh team on the Buffs schedule (Arizona State) is just outside of the Top 25.
This weekend the Buffs will certainly win their third straight game, and that is a big deal. The last time the Buffs won 3 games in a row was in the 2008 season when they opened with wins over Colorado State, Eastern Washington and West Virginia.
For the Buffs to once again be a team that goes bowling every year, they will need to start having three game win streaks every year and perhaps more than once a year.
The Buffs are finally starting to grow up and believe in themselves. They are developing an attitude that could very well turn into a nasty streak. And a good nasty streak is what is needed these days to be a winning football team in the Pac-12.
Lots of fans commenting on articles and blogs have discounted the Buffs' overtime win by saying that a win over CSU doesn't count for much. That's BS to the highest degree. Colorado State won 10 games last year, and has won 18 in the last two years. It took the Buffs the last FOUR YEARS to win a total of 10 games, and the last SIX YEARS to win a total of 18.
Since 2000, the Rams have had FOUR 10-win seasons. The Buffs have had only one. Discounting the victory over a team with 10 wins last year is ludicrous because it has not happened very much to Buffaloes over the last 10 years,
In fact, this win is only one of four. In 2011, the Buffs beat a Utah team which had gone 10-3 in 2010. In 2008, the Buffs took out a West Virginia team which had won 11 games in 2007. And in 2007, the Buffs beat an Oklahoma team which had won 11 games in both 2006 AND 2007. Those are the only four times the Buffs have accomplished the deed in the last 10 years.
One thing all those four games have in common is the very close scores. Two of the victories came by 3 points in overtime, and two came by three points in regulation time.
Why is the 10 win threshold so important? The Buffs still have a lot of those games to play this year. Four of the teams the Buffs play in the Pac-12 this year won at least 10 games last year. Two more won 9 games. They are:
- Oregon (13-2)
- UCLA (10-3)
- Arizona State (10-3)
- Arizona (10-4)
- Utah (9-4)
- USC (9-4)
The Buffs only have two teams on their Pac-12 schedule which had losing seasons last year (Washington State at 3-9 and Oregon State at 5-7). Needless to say, those teams are also looking at Colorado as a team on THEIR schedules which had a losing team last year. Those two teams (and CU) are 2-1 so far in 2015.
The Pac-12 enters this weekend with six teams in the Top 21 in the country. Four of them are in the Pac-12 South with the Buffs, and the other two are on the Buffs schedule this year. For the Buffs to meet their goal of a bowl game at the end of the year, they will need to beat one or more of those six ranked teams. To make it even harder, a seventh team on the Buffs schedule (Arizona State) is just outside of the Top 25.
This weekend the Buffs will certainly win their third straight game, and that is a big deal. The last time the Buffs won 3 games in a row was in the 2008 season when they opened with wins over Colorado State, Eastern Washington and West Virginia.
For the Buffs to once again be a team that goes bowling every year, they will need to start having three game win streaks every year and perhaps more than once a year.
The Buffs are finally starting to grow up and believe in themselves. They are developing an attitude that could very well turn into a nasty streak. And a good nasty streak is what is needed these days to be a winning football team in the Pac-12.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Colorado Buffaloes Football 2015: What to Expect
Head Coach Mike MacIntyre is starting his third season at the helm in Boulder. His first two seasons produced four wins, and two wins, respectively. Entering his third season, the head coach knows the expectations for his Buffs is much higher than in the first two.
Mac took over a program that was arguably one of the very worst in the country at the Division 1 level, and absolutely the worst team from one of the Power Five Conferences. He knew he had his work cut out for him at Colorado, but he was fresh off an amazing job turning San Jose State from a perennial cellar dweller to a 10 win bowl team in three years.
Nobody expects the Buffs to reel off 10 wins this year, but seven wins and a bowl game are what most Buff fans have in mind. They need to remember that the Buffs won only two games last year. On the other hand, the Buffs were a few lucky bounces from being a six game winner last year. The goal this year is to win those close games, particularly against Pac-12 foes. The Buffs lost in DOUBLE overtime not once, but twice last year (UCLA and CAL).
Facing the Buffs is the reality that they play in the Pac-12 South, the toughest (bar none) conference division in college football. How do the other teams of that division rank in the opening AP poll?
- USC is ranked #8
- UCLA is ranked #13
- Arizona State is ranked #15
- Arizona is ranked #22
- And Utah is ranked #30
Even for an experienced rebuilder like MacIntyre, it will still be a tough row to hoe. But if anyone can achieve it, it is Mac and his staff. Mac is known for his organizational prowess. When he got into Boulder following the disastrous 2012 season, he started putting the foundational blocks down to build the Colorado football program back to respectability.
He brought in Brian Lindgren as his offensive coordinator. Lindgren's first year as OC at San Jose State saw the Spartans win 10 games. Lindgren took the raw and young Colorado offense which was one of the worst in the country and made the passing attack #34 in the country last year. The Buffs also rushed for more than 4 yards a carry and more than 150 yards a game for the first time in a decade.
Mac also brought Dave Forman, one of the best young Sports Performance Directors in the country. Forman came in and transformed the old "strength and conditioning" routine into a modern machine capable of increasing strength, speed, and stamina for athletes across many collegiate sports. The Buffs were routinely out-muscled back when Mac and Company arrived, but the Buffs are now able to compete in the Conference of Champions knowing they are just as strong or stronger than their opponents.
The results on the field on the defensive side of the ball have been slower to arrive to the casual fan. At the end of the day (or season), many look only at the wins and losses. But it is important to remember how the wins and losses occurred. In 2012, the Buffs were losing by an average for more than FOUR touchdowns a game (28.17 pts.). In 2013, that dropped to less than 13 points a game, and in 2014 it dropped to 10.5 points per game.
The response of the defense, which still ranked in the bottom fifth in the country last year, was not fast enough for Mac. He responded by bringing in two "Home Run" type hires for his defensive staff. The legendary Jim Leavitt was coaxed away from the San Francisco 49ers and joined the staff as defensive coordinator, and brought in Joe Tumpkin from Central Michigan University, where he had served as defensive coordinator. At Colorado, Tumpkin will coach the Safeties, which now have the added responsibility of calling the on-field defensive plays.
Leavitt is known as one of the finest defensive minds in all of football. His style of defense is known for its aggressive and attacking style. Tumpkin is known for creating hard hitting defenses which cause a lot of turnovers. That experience and prowess can only help the Buffs, which was one of the worst teams in the country last year in creating turnovers. In fact, the Buffs only had three interceptions the entire year, despite the fact that they play in one of the most pass-happy conferences in the country.
Expect much to change this year. The Buffs offense should be even better this year, perhaps a top 30 in the country if the rushing game can jump to the next level. The defense should be a great surprise to fans and opponents alike. Expect to see waves of defensive players going into and out of games to keep the players fresh. Expect more turnovers created by the defense and fewer committed by the offense.
Expect Nelson Spruce to again be one of the best receivers in the country and expect to hear his name called in the next NFL draft. Expect Sefo Liufau to cut his number of interceptions by more than half, while continuing to be a very efficient passer.
Expect Colorado to win at least seven games this year and go bowling. Expect one or more of those rated teams coming into Folsom Field this year to leave with a loss. Expect Colorado to have turned the corner after a decade of futility.
Expect the Colorado Buffaloes to be a winning football team.
Friday, August 14, 2015
2015: Colorado Buffs and their Fans Looking for a Team to HATE, or Vice Versa... or Maybe Just to Care Again!
Heading into the 2015 NCAA football season, Colorado Buff fans in Boulder and around the country are searching and hoping for a reason to care about college football again. At least when it comes to their Buffaloes.
Football is a PASSIONATE sport! It's one of the reasons that it has often been compared to war. One of the things that is necessary for that passion is deeply held feelings. And those feelings only come with time and hard fought wins and losses.
Unfortunately, the Buffs have not been in the Pac-12 long enough to have strong feelings about their conference foes. So far, it has just been "we're happy to be here" in the Conference of Champions. And since the Buffs have been nothing but the designated "Gimme" in the Pac-12 since joining the league, the other schools have been happy to have Colorado around as well.
Boulder is a new favorite among fans around the Pac-12 to travel to for away games as well. One reason is they can usually count on a victory. Boulder is also one of the most beautiful towns in the country. And, judging by the lines outside the legal marijuana dispensaries on game days, Boulder's social activities are popular among college students around the Pac-12.
Back on the gridiron, however, things are different. Due to a decade of futility, nobody in the Pac-12 spends time being worried about the Buffs when it comes to football. (That's not true in basketball and other sports where the Buffs are already teams to be feared.) Nobody in the conference fears Colorado... because the Buffs haven't earned it yet.
Last year was close. Two double-overtime losses (Cal and UCLA) would have done a great deal toward earning the Buffs some respect had the games gone the other way. But they didn't. So they enter 2015 as a team flying under everyone's radar. Again.
Only when the Buffs have broken the dreams of some conference foes will they get the respect they desire. That's how rivalries are built.
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Heading into the 1986 season, the Colorado Buffaloes were coming off a 7-5 record under Bill McCartney. That was considered an amazing feat since the Buffs had only won ONE game the year prior. Those seven wins earned McCartney his first of three conference coach of the year awards.
After the seven wins in 1985, Buff fans were excited about the possibility of even better things to come in '86. The Buffs started the year with FOUR straight losses before finally getting their first win in a nail-biter against Missouri. The next game the Buffs demolished Iowa State. The Buffs stood at 2-4 and would be hosting the hated #3 ranked Nebraska Cornholers at Folsom Field.
Almost nobody around the country, and very few around Boulder, gave the Buffs much of a chance. Nebraska had beaten the Buffs every single year since 1967, and the Buffs had not beaten the Fuskers in Boulder since 1961. Nebraska marched into Boulder undefeated and ranked #3 and ready to dominate.
Part of the turnaround made by coach McCartney was to designate the Nebraska game as Colorado's "red letter" game because he felt the Huskers were a model of consistency over decades and that if the Buffs wanted to be a national caliber team, they would have to be good enough to beat Nebraska on a consistent basis.
Husker fans laughed aloud at Mac declaring Nebraska a rival. Many of them had grown up without ever seeing Colorado win against their beloved Huskers. Back here in Boulder, Colorado fans were sick and tired of the condescending Nebraska faithful, who loved to swarm into Boulder and fill the bars and restaurants with tobacco smoke and boast about their team. Up until that point, Nebraska fans LOVED Boulder because they could count on a win and gloat their way around town.
Somebody forgot to tell Mac and his team, however. The Buffs came out and played hardnosed defense and beat the hated Huskers by a score of 20-10. Twenty-five years of frustration came to a boil in a party of exuberance that had been long missing at Folsom Field. The goal posts came down and the words "WE WIN!" blazed from the scoreboard through the night and across the front pages of the Colorado papers.
After that game, Colorado was indeed a rival for Nebraska. Husker fans refused to acknowledge the Buffs as a rival but their hatred shined through loud and clear. Whereas Boulder was once their favorite road trip of the season, they started complaining long and loud that Buff fans were "rude" to them (completely ignoring how Lincoln treats their out-of-town fans).
If you asked just about any Buff fan which team they loved to hate, Nebraska would be at the top of the list. The Fuskers and their fans were a classless bunch, by far the worst that Buff fans had encountered.
Some examples of Nebraska classlessness follow: In 1989, as the Buffs were rolling through a miraculous undefeated regular season marred by the death of their quarterback Sal Aunese. His death made national news and brought condolences from around the country.
But the slimeballs in Nebraska reacted to his death by writing "SAL IS DEAD, GO BIG RED!" across the highway where it crossed from Colorado into Nebraska. Talk about a rivalry gone wrong! Those poor jackasses were willing to glory in the death by cancer of a young man just because he played for a team they didn't like.
The next year, the Buffs won the National Championship. It should have been a unanimous National Championship, but the Buffs had to share it with Georgia Tech because Husker's head coach Tom Osborne ballot amazingly left #1 ranked Colorado off the list of top twenty teams. Osborne later claimed someone else filled out the ballot for him, but it was in HIS name and HE was responsible. Classless from the bottom and classless from the top. That's Nebraska.
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What's the point of the story? Mike MacIntyre's Colorado Buffaloes have to give up being happy to be in the Pac-12. They need to kick some doors down and piss some people off. They need to ruin some team's hopes for a Conference or National Championship. They need to deny someone a bowl game. They need to make Folsom Field a place where every other team fears to play.
Boulder will still be beautiful. And the fans from around the Pac-12 can still appreciate the social activities that Colorado has to offer. But they need to make Folsom Field THEIR HOUSE once again. Only then can bowl games and championships come back to Boulder.
Football is a PASSIONATE sport! It's one of the reasons that it has often been compared to war. One of the things that is necessary for that passion is deeply held feelings. And those feelings only come with time and hard fought wins and losses.
Unfortunately, the Buffs have not been in the Pac-12 long enough to have strong feelings about their conference foes. So far, it has just been "we're happy to be here" in the Conference of Champions. And since the Buffs have been nothing but the designated "Gimme" in the Pac-12 since joining the league, the other schools have been happy to have Colorado around as well.
Boulder is a new favorite among fans around the Pac-12 to travel to for away games as well. One reason is they can usually count on a victory. Boulder is also one of the most beautiful towns in the country. And, judging by the lines outside the legal marijuana dispensaries on game days, Boulder's social activities are popular among college students around the Pac-12.
Back on the gridiron, however, things are different. Due to a decade of futility, nobody in the Pac-12 spends time being worried about the Buffs when it comes to football. (That's not true in basketball and other sports where the Buffs are already teams to be feared.) Nobody in the conference fears Colorado... because the Buffs haven't earned it yet.
Last year was close. Two double-overtime losses (Cal and UCLA) would have done a great deal toward earning the Buffs some respect had the games gone the other way. But they didn't. So they enter 2015 as a team flying under everyone's radar. Again.
Only when the Buffs have broken the dreams of some conference foes will they get the respect they desire. That's how rivalries are built.
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Heading into the 1986 season, the Colorado Buffaloes were coming off a 7-5 record under Bill McCartney. That was considered an amazing feat since the Buffs had only won ONE game the year prior. Those seven wins earned McCartney his first of three conference coach of the year awards.
After the seven wins in 1985, Buff fans were excited about the possibility of even better things to come in '86. The Buffs started the year with FOUR straight losses before finally getting their first win in a nail-biter against Missouri. The next game the Buffs demolished Iowa State. The Buffs stood at 2-4 and would be hosting the hated #3 ranked Nebraska Cornholers at Folsom Field.
Almost nobody around the country, and very few around Boulder, gave the Buffs much of a chance. Nebraska had beaten the Buffs every single year since 1967, and the Buffs had not beaten the Fuskers in Boulder since 1961. Nebraska marched into Boulder undefeated and ranked #3 and ready to dominate.
Part of the turnaround made by coach McCartney was to designate the Nebraska game as Colorado's "red letter" game because he felt the Huskers were a model of consistency over decades and that if the Buffs wanted to be a national caliber team, they would have to be good enough to beat Nebraska on a consistent basis.
Husker fans laughed aloud at Mac declaring Nebraska a rival. Many of them had grown up without ever seeing Colorado win against their beloved Huskers. Back here in Boulder, Colorado fans were sick and tired of the condescending Nebraska faithful, who loved to swarm into Boulder and fill the bars and restaurants with tobacco smoke and boast about their team. Up until that point, Nebraska fans LOVED Boulder because they could count on a win and gloat their way around town.
Somebody forgot to tell Mac and his team, however. The Buffs came out and played hardnosed defense and beat the hated Huskers by a score of 20-10. Twenty-five years of frustration came to a boil in a party of exuberance that had been long missing at Folsom Field. The goal posts came down and the words "WE WIN!" blazed from the scoreboard through the night and across the front pages of the Colorado papers.
After that game, Colorado was indeed a rival for Nebraska. Husker fans refused to acknowledge the Buffs as a rival but their hatred shined through loud and clear. Whereas Boulder was once their favorite road trip of the season, they started complaining long and loud that Buff fans were "rude" to them (completely ignoring how Lincoln treats their out-of-town fans).
If you asked just about any Buff fan which team they loved to hate, Nebraska would be at the top of the list. The Fuskers and their fans were a classless bunch, by far the worst that Buff fans had encountered.
Some examples of Nebraska classlessness follow: In 1989, as the Buffs were rolling through a miraculous undefeated regular season marred by the death of their quarterback Sal Aunese. His death made national news and brought condolences from around the country.
But the slimeballs in Nebraska reacted to his death by writing "SAL IS DEAD, GO BIG RED!" across the highway where it crossed from Colorado into Nebraska. Talk about a rivalry gone wrong! Those poor jackasses were willing to glory in the death by cancer of a young man just because he played for a team they didn't like.
The next year, the Buffs won the National Championship. It should have been a unanimous National Championship, but the Buffs had to share it with Georgia Tech because Husker's head coach Tom Osborne ballot amazingly left #1 ranked Colorado off the list of top twenty teams. Osborne later claimed someone else filled out the ballot for him, but it was in HIS name and HE was responsible. Classless from the bottom and classless from the top. That's Nebraska.
-------------------------------
What's the point of the story? Mike MacIntyre's Colorado Buffaloes have to give up being happy to be in the Pac-12. They need to kick some doors down and piss some people off. They need to ruin some team's hopes for a Conference or National Championship. They need to deny someone a bowl game. They need to make Folsom Field a place where every other team fears to play.
Boulder will still be beautiful. And the fans from around the Pac-12 can still appreciate the social activities that Colorado has to offer. But they need to make Folsom Field THEIR HOUSE once again. Only then can bowl games and championships come back to Boulder.
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