Colorado Reaches Crossroads Against Washington State

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Breaking those numbers down, this is what we see:

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

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

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

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

Big Dogs Beware: Colorado Poised to Turn Corner Against Pac-12 Foes

In every conference, they have what are commonly referred to as the "Big Dogs" which dominate conference play. When you play in the Pac-12, those big dogs are a pack of six schools which do fairly well on an almost annual basis during the football season.

The Big Dogs of Pac-12 football these days are (alphabetically):

• Arizona State
• Oregon
• Stanford
• UCLA
• USC
• Washington

Those six teams combined to win 61 games last year. Before this season, the Colorado Buffaloes had played these titans a total of 17 times in conference play. Their record? 0-17. The average score for those 17 games was 49.5 - 12.5. That's right, Colorado had averaged losing to these teams by 37 points per game.

In fact, in only one of those 17 games did one of those Big Dogs fail to score at least 42 points. Washington won in 2012 by 38-3. The three points scored by the Buffs in that game were not the worst they had done. The Oregon Ducks beat CU 45-2 in 2011, and Stanford shut out the Buffs 48-0 in 2012.

What's the point? In all 17 of those games, Colorado was completely manhandled in every phase of the game. In most cases, the Buffs were going up against 2nd and 3rd stringers after halftime. The stat sheets after those games showed Colorado giving up massive amounts of yards as well as points.

That all changed this past Saturday night against the Arizona State Sun Devils. Colorado was not only "in" the game until the very end, but had completely dominated the stat sheets following the first quarter. The Buffs put an astounding 523 yards on the Sun Devils in the final three quarters, while holding ASU to 204 yards in that time. The ASU starters (not counting injuries) were on the field the entire game.

Unfortunately, the Buffs committed three turnovers which led directly to 14 points for the Sun Devils. Take those away, and you have a tie game. More importantly, one of the interceptions should have gone for a touchdown for Colorado. Nelson Spruce was WIDE open deep down the field, but the moonball toss to him was so high that the ASU safety was able to come from all the way across the defensive backfield to intercept the ball. What should have been a Colorado touchdown instead led to an Arizona State touchdown.

Later, right after Colorado had cut a 17-0 deficit into a 17-14 nail-biter, the Buffs fumbled the ball deep in their own end and gave the Sun Devils a 7-point gift to put them down by 10 again at the half. The Sun Devils took the opening kickoff and scored another touchdown and were once again up by 17. Although Colorado dominated both sides of the ball for the rest of the game, the 17 points were too many to overcome. Colorado lost 38-24.

While some fair-weather fans bemoaned yet another loss, the more astute Colorado fans noted that the Buffs had played one of the conference "Big Dogs" tough for the very first time since joining the Pac-12. They noted that Colorado was equal or superior  in most of the statistical categories against the Sun Devils. The two parts that ASU won, however, determined the outcome. The Sun Devils won the turnover battle and the final score.

The Buffs almost doubled their average score against the "Big Dogs" and also held the Sun Devils to a tie for the least amount of points scored against them by the big six. The 14 point loss was far and away the closest game against any of those teams. Remember, the Buffs average loss to the Big Dogs was by 37 points.

Head Coach Mike MacIntyre  and his players have said time and again that they are not looking for moral victories. That is good. They are pursuing real wins against conference opponents. In three years in the Pac-12, the Buffs have defeated 4 conference teams one time apiece. They have beaten Arizona, California, Utah and Washington State.

The way the Buffs played indicates that they are ready to be competitive on a regular basis against conference foes.  After a 4-24 record in three years against Pac-12 teams since they joined the conference, being competitive is a MAJOR step up.

The Buffs may not win six games this year to become bowl eligible. Buff fans have to remember that two of last year's four wins came against lower division FCS teams. There are none of those teams on this year's schedule.

Remember that UMass played Boston College tough for 30 minutes and only trailed 7-6 at the half. That is the same Boston College team that whipped USC last weekend. Colorado had to come back to beat UMass, but they did come back and win.

Hawaii only has a record of 1-2 coming into the game this weekend, but their two losses were very close games against Pac-12 opponents. Norm Chow is a great coach and the Rainbow Warriors are a much better team than people think. The Buffs will have to play hardnose and smart football to beat them.

This writer has been watching the Buffs for 30 years now, many of them as a season ticket holder. I have travelled to see them play. I have been to bowl games. I was there for some of the best times and teams in Colorado history. I have also seen some of the worst times.

For the first time in a long time, I am hopeful and proud of the way the Buffs have started to improve. I see good things ahead for these young men. College football is not as simple as it used to be. Learning from one coaching staff is difficult enough. Some of these young men are on their 3rd, but their hard work and the teaching ability of the coaching staff is finally start to pay dividends.

Look for that investment to begin paying off very soon. These Buffs CAN play in the Pac-12, and if last week was any indication, they can also put up a fight against the Big Dogs!

It's Time to Remember Just How Young this Colorado Buffaloes Defense Really Is

It's two games into the 2014 CU Buff football season, and fans are starting to panic already. The feeling has even occurred to this writer. We have to remember to breathe.

It's only the 2nd season at the helm for Mike MacIntyre, and fans are already outraged that the team he inherited (the worst team in CU history) is not ready to go bowling. Is that really a surprise?

Buff fans need to remember that so much of the disappointment they feel is in their heads and their heart, and less so with the reality of the playing field. College football is a very interesting dynamic. It is the place where fans watch the growth of high school boys into college men, some of whom do well enough at their sport to move on the NFL.

With very few exceptions, young men fresh out of high school and even in their first few years of college are not ready to be dominant players at the collegiate level. We also have to remember that these young men are STUDENT athletes, who must attend to their scholastic responsibilities as well as their jobs as football players.

In most of the top tier football programs in the Power Five Conferences, a formula that has been in place for decades dictates the development of those high school boys into collegiate level football players. The best case scenario for those programs is as follows for the young men.

• Freshman Year -- Redshirt, grow their bodies, and acclimate to college life away from home.
• Redshirt Freshman Year -- Work with the scout team, grow their bodies, become better acquainted with "system" their coaches operate.
• Sophomore Year -- Grow their bodies and begin to learn from the upper classmen the nuances of collegiate football, and how to read opposing teams.
• Junior Year -- Learn, grow bodies and compete for playing time.
• Senior Year -- Be counted upon as a major contributor to the team on the field and in the locker room.

Of course, life does not unfold like that all the time. Sometimes an exceptional talent comes along and gets onto the field of play as a starter much sooner. Sometimes injuries force young men to miss time or force them into playing before they are ready when the guys on the depth chart in front of them go down. In some cases, attrition does the same thing.

In most cases, the key behind a championship caliber team is how they play on the defensive side of the ball. Teams can have all the offensive firepower in the conference or the country and still go down to defeat if their defense cannot keep the opposition out of the end zone.

College offenses are more complex and difficult to read by defensive players than ever before. It's one of the reasons why so many games have scores in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Many offenses these days are designed with the idea that they can score on ANY PLAY. The teams that are content on working the ball down the field are rarer every year.

That being the case, it is more important than ever to have the defense manned by young men who have been learning the collegiate game for at least three years before becoming starters. It's no longer enough to be big and fast. They also need to know how to read the opposing team. Having 4.4 speed doesn't help if you're running in the wrong direction.

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How young is the Colorado Defense compared to their Pac-12 peers? Very young indeed.

A quick look at the defensive depth charts across the Pac-12 shows how many lower classmen are listed as starters.

• Arizona (4)
• Arizona State (4)
• California (4)
• Colorado (6)
• Oregon (1)
• Oregon State (0)
• Stanford (0)
• UCLA (3)
• USC (2)
• Utah (5)
• Washington (3)
• Washington State (3)

Not only does Colorado have more lower classmen as starters on defense, their depth chart behind the starters is even more loaded with them. Of the nineteen young men listed behind the starters on defense, 14 of them are also underclassmen (that's 74%).

It's no wonder that the Buffs have a hard time, when a majority of their defensive players have never been given the opportunity to learn the collegiate game with sufficient time.

Think of it like law school. How would it be if a month into your first semester you were being counted on to pass the bar and lead a big case?

Most people would be forgiven if the quality of their case was not the same as someone who spent three years in law school and couple of years interning as law clerks.

The same mindset should be used when dealing with the young Buffs playing defense. It is a testament to the quality of young men that MacIntyre has brought in that they are able to play at the high level they already do.

Fans should remember that they are only going to get better. In fact, in two more years, when the depth chart is rightly dominated by juniors and seniors, the quality of play from Colorado defense will seem like a night and day difference.

It won't be because they are smarter or more dedicated or faster. It will be because their brains have been given the opportunity to learn the craft of playing major college football. And, on top of that, many of them will have lots of game experience to go on as well.

The biggest weakness of the Colorado Buffaloes defense is youth, inexperience, and immaturity. Opposing Pac-12 coaches will do their very best to exploit that weakness while they can, because the time is coming when Colorado will be on a level playing field when it comes to the age and experience of their starters.

That one step in the wrong direction this season that leads to a first down or touchdown for the opponent, will soon be a step toward a sack, an interception or a big tackle for no gain. Now is the time to watch them learn and get better as they go. If we want to watch professionals play, the Denver Broncos are just down the road.

USC Again Shows Poor Form, Hires Sarkisian Away From Washington

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Update:

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

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

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