CSU Post-mortem

Wow.  I can’t believe that so little has changed with this team-untimely penalties, dropped balls, errant passes confused routes, fumbles, special teams miscues.  This loss was almost as bad as Montana St. It was a huge step backwards for a program that was already pretty far behind its conference opponents.  I was duped by closed practices and coaching rhetoric as badly as anyone.  What little positives we might try to take away, are once again overshadowed by so many negatives and questions.  The CSU Rams won this game straight up and earned their name and capitals back with me at least.  The group from Fort Collins was way better prepared, came out ready to play from the start, and played with more energy, heart and passion throughout the whole game.  McElwain and his staff completely out-coached Embree and his.  Any talk of a bowl game is a joke at this point.  They say the most improvement comes between the first and second game and we can only hope so because Sacramento St. is the only game that looks winnable at this point but by no means can be considered a gimme.

§  The Buffs played a lot new players, including the QB (who definitely showed it) as well as nine true freshmen.  At one point on the last CSU FG drive the Buffs had five true freshmen on the field-DTs Josh Topou and Tyler Henington, as well as both CBs Kenneth Crawley and Yuri Wright, plus safety Marques Moseley.  WR Gerald Thomas actually got the start on offense on place of Nelson Spruce.  FB Christian Powell and TE Vincent Hobbs played a lot, and Donta Abron was on a couple of special teams units.  This is in addition to four first time redshirt freshmen and a few more sophomores and juniors who made their debut, or at least got their first position (non special teams) action.

§  However, while the young frosh did make some mistakes (i.e. Crawley muffing a punt), those were not necessarily the most glaring and youth is probably not the biggest problem on this team-it’s more an issue of talent and coaching at this point.  This team was once again not prepared at all and just not ready to play a real game, and that is on the coaches, not the freshmen.  The staff let their players come out flat once again and then didn’t give them very good opportunities to succeed.

§  The closed practices appear now to be more likely to secretly implement the often speculated “ho huddle”.  The offense used a version at times, but to tell you the truth, it seems that with the problems on the line and with the receivers (more to come on both), the no huddle may have confused the offense more than the defense.  Hopefully, this should (eventually) become a weapon against lower altitude teams when they get a little more comfortable using it.  Besides that, the coaches also made some very questionable calls that made it difficult for the players to be their best and opened the door for mistakes.

§  While I like a good fourth down call, Embree and the boys got a little carried away.  The first one was okay, a little ballsy, would have been a 45-yard FG with swirling winds, but no problem with it.  The second was questionable, but they got lucky, got a penalty and converted for what should have been a dominating lead.  The next fourth down was the most crucial: 4^th and 2 feet to the goal line and EB, who has called a pretty basic game so far, decides to get a little tricky and calls a rollout, really the only play you might try, IF YOU DON’T JUST POWER IT IN FROM TWO FEET, and CSU didn’t fall for it at all. (A FG would have been okay for the lead here, but it would have been the passive, conservative route and I would have been pissed, especially since it was-have I mentioned this yet?- ONLY TWO FEET!  The last 4^th down play to basically end the game was obviously necessary, but just plain weak.

§  The worst play call of all though (actually another 4^th down) was to even let DD Goodson field the ball (he was supposedly in because Crawley was winded) on the punt at the end of the half that gift-wrapped the momentum for the Rams, especially when you are going for the block, especially when it is that deep, especially when you have already had one muff, especially since you can and should just run out the clock to take a 14-3 lead into the locker room, and especially since last year you should have learned from all the stupid mistakes the special teams return units made (i.e. Speedy twice fair-catching inside the 10).  The ensuing Ram TD changed the game completely and the Buffs never recovered, even getting the ball with a still 14-9 lead to open the second half or when they took a 17-16 lead in the second half, never seemed in control of the game again.

§  Bay area Bear fans literally laughed out loud and cheered with joy when it was announced that Embree had hired Steve Marshall away from Cal to coach the Buffs offensive line.  No we know why as that unit’s play was ATROCIOUS AND EMBARRASSING for any team, but especially for one who professes a power run game and starts five guys who all have starting experience, and against a defensive line that was supposed undersized, not very strong and very inexperienced.  Instead, David Bahktiari and crew got manhandled, giving Jordan Webb very little time to throw and Tony Jones very little room to run.  This was supposed to be the key matchup the Buffs could win and they got dominated.  Bienemy had so much confidence in them that he chose to throw the ball on 4^th and goal from inside the one.  This is the main area where the game was lost-if this allegedly veteran, talented, award worthy unit had done its job, the blunders the rest of the team made wouldn’t have factored.  This must change (is it time for Nembot, Mustoe or Irwin to get their shot) or we will get the opportunity to see not just Connor Wood or Nick Hirschman, but likely both, as no QB is going to survive long when we get to the Pac-12 and the protection is anything like what we saw yesterday.  Unfortunately, I don’t think it is a simple fix, with penalties and missed calls by everyone, admittedly bad communication between them, and no attitude in their blocking at all. 

§  I am not sure what to say about the running backs, who had a very pedestrian day with no room to run, often meeting up with an unblocked defender at the line of scrimmage.  Neither shifty DD Goodson or the bigger Malcolm Creer had any more success than Jones (who banged up a shoulder).  Even with very little success up the gut, they never really tried to go outside with sweeps or pitches, which has always been Jones’ strength (again, coaches here). Donta Abron’s redshirt is burned for special teams already, so let’s give him some carries to see what he can do.

§  If Jordan Webb easily won the QB job, I am really worried about what happens when he gets injured, and he was already limping in the first half, getting sacked four times, and knocked down twice that many times.  He was not very accurate, wildly missing receivers a few times, even when the wind was calm, with lots of underthrows in the dirt, finishing 22 of 41 (barely 50%) and made some very questionable decisions (not holding on to ball for instance when trying to avoid pressure) and never looked comfortable behind his line. 

§  Besides Jordan Webb under throwing almost everything (I guess to avoid picks), besides receivers dropping many of the catchable balls, there was still a lot of miscommunication on routes and adjustments.  Although each of the three main receivers had some nice catches, they all had at least one drop and/or another major miscue.

§  Tyler McCulloch had a great, one-handed TD snag in the back of the end zone, finally taking advantage of his size; however, he broke off routes at least three times when Webb lofted it up deep, including twice on the last, desperate drive.  How does that happen THREE times?! 

§  Nelson Spruce had eight receptions, including a nice TD in traffic, showing he is indeed the possession guy as touted, but also had a key drop.

§  T-Fr. Gerald Thomas showed off his speed with a great bubble screen “lateral” and by almost chasing down, from across the field, the CSU defender who returned the (overturned) fumble for a (not) touchdown.  Thomas also had a couple of receptions, including a great bobbling catch in traffic (if he had caught it cleanly though-it was slightly behind him-he could have gotten some yards), but also dropped a couple looking ahead downfield as well. 

§  Ebner and Canty were non-existent and they were never able to get the ball to TEs Nick Kasa (missed some key blocks as well) or Vincent Hobbs (who lined up more like a wide receiver than tight end).  Besides protection, Webb needs some more help down the field and not sure where it could come from.  T-Fr. TE Austin Ray? Can one of the RBs flank out?  Calling Jarrod Darden and DaVaughn Thorton: This is your freaking chance!

§  The only time the offense resembled something like we hoped was the drive to open the second quarter where they methodically marched down the field, converted a 4^th and 7, and scored the first TD.  Webb looked composed, the receivers caught the ball, the line opened some holes for Jones.  How can they recapture that fleeting moment in the game?

§  Besides that drive it was like they were facing an SEC defense and could rarely get anything going.  And they couldn’t even convert with a turnover at the 20, then first and goal, and then couldn’t even get two feet on fourth down.  This offense is way worse than last year’s and I am not sure there is much hope for drastic improvement, since they are already playing a ton of freshmen on offense, and especially since most of the games are going to be more of the shootout form against the other offenses they will face.

§  The defense was actually okay statistically, allowing only 22 points and under 300 yards, deciphering a variety of looks and shifts, getting the big 4^th down stop at midfield (McElwain’s only questionable call as he stayed a step ahead of Embree’s staff all day), but they gave up big plays when it counted.  They were also hurt by the loss of safety Ray Polk, the heart of the defense, late in the first half, and then later by the loss of Greg Henderson (both listed as “day-to-day with sprained ankles” but Polk’s seemed a little more serious). 

§  The secondary could be a scary place again this year, especially if those two miss any significant time, against so many passing oriented and spread teams.  While they didn’t give up any long plays as they did all last year, they did give up big plays at crucial times, like when both DBs bit hard on Grayson’s pump fake, leaving two guys wide open on CSU’s TD right before the half, or the 3^rd down conversion from inside the 10 (this was right after the CU offense failed on the 4^th and 2 feet).

§  The three true frosh DBs-Crawley, Moseley and Wright all got their first taste of action and generally held their own (Crawley had seven tackles but was one of those beaten on the pump fake), and they could certainly be a bright spot, for the future.  They actually seemed more solid with Wright on the corner instead of Henderson (who might have been playing hurt from early in the game).  These three frosh team will team with Smith and Orms in the nickel if Polk is out for awhile (which I think is probable) and Henderson is out, or loses his spot to Wright.

§  My only kudos really go out to S Parker Orms who played a hell of a game, flying around the field, seemingly in on every play, and staying out there all game when Polk and Henderson did not.  He hits so damn hard, it is a shame that when a receiver puts his head down Orms get penalized for making a sweet hit (again!  see Utah last last year), leading with shoulder pads and making 35,000 or so go “OOOOH!”  Parker should have been a few years younger and played when he was allowed to hit.  I believe he is on NFL scouts radar now.

§  The linebackers were seemingly solid, but they rotated way more than I expected-So. Brady Daigh played more than Sr. Doug Rippy I believe, with Jon Major and Derrick Webb staying on the field the most, and both Kyle Washington and Paul Vigo getting a lot of playing time.

§  The defensive tackles were mostly okay (Topou is huge!) but the ends were mostly disappointing.  Chidera Uzo-Diribe again made some nice plays but still seems to disappear for long stretches of the game.  Kirk Poston actually started over Juda Parker (not even sure how much he got in the game) and I never heard either one’s name called.

§  Kicking was generally solid, with 2 PATs and a FG, no mistakes at least, but punting and punt return (some okay returns form Crawley but also a muff) and even punt coverage were sketchy.  Wil Pericak did get another blocked PAT but special teams is still a suspect weak area for the Buffs that teams will gameplan for with some tricks and I would guess some block attempts against O’Neill, who was mediocre at best; in fact, I actually wouldn’t be surprised to see Zach Grossnickle get a shot against Sac St.

§  Overall, I am extremely bummed out.  I don’t want to hear any more talk of a bowl game.  My confidence level in Embree, who I admire and want to succeed, is at an all-time low. It is one thing to lose a game against superior talent like USC or Oregon, but another to lose to a team comprised mainly of Colorado and California kids that even that previous coach didn’t bother recruiting, by being out-coached, out-hustled and just flat-out out-played. 245 yards of total offense against that team? They had better not take the Hornets lightly (like Oregon St. did last year).