Some mid-week Battle of Basement notes

Here are a few mid-week tidbits:

§  Review of the tape: I had to watch the whole thing on recording again, which was probably good, since I could fast forward through much of it, especially the abysmal second half where Washington did not bother to throw a pass, still ran up the score and became the third team to close the game by kneeling down in the redzone.  Although they kept it close for the first quarter, the Buffs imploded at the end of the second quarter and the game was over, 31-7.  Ryan K of Buff Stampede pondered this on Twitter: “I wonder what the score is of Colorado vs. their opponents in the last 5 minutes of the first half.”

§  Sefo had a tough night getting harassed again and hitting the ground a lot, but he still stuck it out and stayed fairly poised until the wheels came off for everyone in the second half.

§  The defense is just so overmatched, but especially the d-line, who is rarely getting any real pressure on the QB, rarely keeping the corner on either side, and getting gutted by the run game, even with support.  This is the group that gives me the biggest worries as there is not a whole lot behind (Tim Coleman, Markeis Reed but that’s about it)-they really need some guys to develop in the offseason and/or sign a JC guy here.

§  The secondary play is not much better, and again, especially with the safeties, as Orms and Bell both got beat early and often (Bell was actually beaten badly when he tipped the ball and “almost got the pick”).  True frosh Tedric Thompson also got into the act, not faring much better.  Crawley was back on the corner but big whoop.  Even my guy Chido had a pretty rough day of it.  There were quite a few overthrown receivers who had steps on the DB that could have made it even worse earlier.

§  How bad is the d-line/secondary play?  One puzzling alignment had Chidera covering Sefarian-Jenkins and Price got wide-eyed, even though the defensive end stayed right with the TE, it was an easy catch.

§  There is talk of “progress”, but really it is only minor and only on offense.  Kent Baer and this defense have a long way to go, crushing all the record-setting conference stats it gave up last year.

§  Really surprised that down 24-7 they didn’t go for it on 4^th and 1.  They sent out wrong grouping, then changed minds in the timeout.  I don’t understand this coaching staff’s approach to 4^th downs-do they just throw a die and consult a 1-6 chart (maybe evens kick, odds go for it)?

§  MacIntyre said he accepts a big chunk of the blame for the poor tackling that directly contributed to the blowout loss, for only practicing in full pads once instead of twice this week, which he believes led to the awful tackling.  He said they counted 37 missed tackles and that 10 would be considered a bad game. However, players like Chido Awuzie said players have to take care of their responsibilities.

§  LB Clay Norgard supposedly got his first playing time on special teams, even though I thought Plati had him listed as having played.

§  Injuries: P-Rich wasn’t even supposed to play on his gimpy ankle, but gutted it out and was still their best player.  Michael Adkins did play as well, but was not 100%.  They’ll need both next week and both should play again.

§  Woodson Greer had a stinger during the week and as I reported did not play, with Paul Vigo getting some snaps, but they needed a lot more than Greer, who is still questionable for this week, as is Parker Orms, also with a stinger.

§  Cal has had a lot of injuries on defense and therefore are even younger and thinner than expected.

§  Line: I was very curious to see what the line would be here, two awful teams coming off blowout losses, each winless in conference and looking at possibly their only chance for a victory left.  Vegas looks like it’s giving the home field three point edge to the Buffs!

§  Honors, mentions and recognitions: Not much to hype here but P-Rich is still 5^th in the nation inreceiving yards per game and Addison Gillam broke school frosh record for tackles, but so many team stats, especially defensive, are back down in the 100’s rankings.

§  2014 Recruiting: A few of the 14 committed Buffs are being wooed by other teams, from CA LB Zac Brown considering San Jose St., RB Jomon Dotson looking at Washington and TX DT Elijah Rodriguez getting attention from LSU.  So far, all remain committed, but a Pac12 win would certainly help things.

§  The Camera’s roundup of CU’s verbal commits’ high school results: http://www.buffzone.com/cu-news/ci_24497037/afternoon-drive-seasons-end-playoffs-rage-cu-football

§  Other Buffs Notes: The Buffs are giving away 10000 pieces of bacon before the CU men’s basketball game Saturday morning for those of you taking in the doubleheader.  

§  The USC game on 11/23 still has yet to get a kickoff slot and that will have to wait until next Sunday, as Fox exercised one of its options to wait until after everyone has played to make it’s picks for the following week.

§  Pacific Takes Fantasy League: Don’t even ask, it was a bad week, with P-Rich’s TD the majority of my points.  Good news is I am alive for playoffs, in if I win, and own total points tiebreaker if needed, and I have most of my lineup available, except maybe Jordon James.