QB UPDATE: Jon Embree announced that Jordan Webb will start at quarterback for the Buffs, but that Nick Hirschman will also play. I do not like this move. Webb will booed at any negative and the pressure will be too great; look for him to crumble, or prove me and many others wrong if he can step up his game like at WSU. Hirschman will definitely get more slack from the crowd. Sounds like Webb is a good practice guy, but when real live Pac-12 players come after him, he is not able to make those decisions in a live game. Moreover, Hirschman has always stated that he is better in live action and not necessarily the best "practice guy".
Stanford is ranked as high as number 14 but is not nearly as dangerous as the Buffs last few opponents. That being said, the Cardinal were installed as four touchdown favorites on the road. The Buffs now finish the season with three of the last four at home. Can they steal a win somewhere? Could it be Stanford, who has struggled on the road, and barely put away Washington St. last week? Doubtful.
Stanford is ranked as high as number 14 but is not nearly as dangerous as the Buffs last few opponents. That being said, the Cardinal were installed as four touchdown favorites on the road. The Buffs now finish the season with three of the last four at home. Can they steal a win somewhere? Could it be Stanford, who has struggled on the road, and barely put away Washington St. last week? Doubtful.
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Burn the
Redshirt: The frosh are playing more and more out of necessity because of
injury and plain lack of talent and depth.
Christian Powell has become a force on offense, and Donta Abron actually
got the start, and although he didn't play that much, he is becoming more
involved; the defensive line has more freshmen playing, especially at the tackle
spots, than upperclassmen; the frosh DBs are faster than the older players and
are getting a lot of time, so the secondary should be better next year on that
fact alone. This trend should continue, as the young players mature and
understand their assignments. There will
probably be more second halves where the seniors sit and young players get as
many snaps as they can. [Stanford has played 11 true freshmen, including three
starters.]
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Injuries:
OUT: C Gus Handler had a knee sprain during the Oregon game; S Parker Orms
suffered his second concussion in the last two games (could be out awhile and
also could be put on “one more” watch like Wil Harlos was-now since retired);
RB Josh Ford will also miss the game with an ankle sprain sustained on his only
carry.
QUESTIONABLE:
LT David Bahktiari tweaked a knee and ankle this week in practice and did not
play at Oregon, but does expect to play vs. Stanford; LB Brady Daigh has still
not played since his scary neck injury at the end of ASU.
DAY-TO-DAY:
DT Josh Tupou did not make the Oregon trip and is day-to-day with a sprained
ankle. Kyle Washington (concussion) also
stayed home and is day-to-day, as is WR Nelson Spruce, who suffered a
concussion against Oregon.
S Ray
Polk, who has had the most amazing list of injuries over the years, suffered “facial
lacerations” and is probable.
I believe
that both DE Chidera Uzo-Diribe and LB Jon Major are nursing injuries and
nowhere near 100% healthy (at least I hope that is the case and reason they are
both playing so poorly of late).
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Depth
Chart moves: Yuri Wright appears to have taken over the starting CB slot,
and Kenneth Crawley hardly played.
Samson Kafovalu played a lot again at DT without Tupou and with Chidera
ailing. Safties T-Fr. Marques Mosley and
So. Jered Bell will get more time with Orms out (possibly for the season). Depending
on injury status of Bahktiari and Handler, the offensive line could show many
different looks. I think the line and
the offense have done better without Handler and with Munyer-Harris-Nembot on
the right side, instead of the usual starters Handler-Munyer-Harris.
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Penalties:
The stat of the week is that the Buffs are way better this year about not
committing penalties, at about six per game (down from 8.4 this time last
season). That is great and all, although
their penalties still seem to be at inopportune times, with many blocking
penalties calling back big plays, but how ecstatic are we supposed to be that
they don’t commit as many penalties but still have so much trouble moving the
ball and stopping the other team?
When the Cardinal have the ball:
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QB Josh Nunes has been very inconsistent taking
over the reins from Mr. Luck, with his best performances coming at home. Brett Nottingham has the strongest arm and was
initially expected to win the job, but is not as mobile, and has not played. Freshman Kevin Hogan is very mobile and has
come in for wildcat snaps and other spot duty.
Many in Stanford nation are calling for him to take the reins. Head Coach David Shaw has said that they will
indeed get Hogan more snaps, and not just in the wildcat, maybe as many as
twenty in this game.
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RB Stefan Taylor is awesome and can do it all. Shutting or even slowing him down would go a
long way in slowing down this not so potent offense, and forcing the inexperienced
QBs to pass, even against our beleaguered secondary.
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Stanford only has the two huge, athletic,
NFL-bound tight ends this year instead of three.
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The CU defensive line is a wreck and does not
get nearly enough pressure on opposing QBs, even with Wil Pericak running full
motor all game long – he was given credit by Embree for almost blocking Oregon’s
last PAT. The young guys have taken over
in the middle and need to get some push and make some noise.
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Embree said that T-Fr. CB Yuri Wright earned the
start over Kenneth Crawley, and that Crawley was not being punished for giving
up too many big plays the last two weeks.
However, both are expected to be part of a future “dynamic secondary”
(along with fellow true frosh S Marques Mosley and super-soph CB Greg Henderson),
and will split time down the stretch, getting reps and experience for next
year.
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We will see what the safety rotation is, but
Marques Mosley is the probable starter at the nickel and we’ll see quite a bit
of Jered Bell in passing situations as well.
When the Buffs have the ball:
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The Buffs have a full-blown quarterback controversy/competition
with So. Nick Hirschman vs. Jordan Webb, who has been woefully inconsistent and
has not been very accurate, especially throwing way behind crossing
routes. If Hirschman can make most of
the throws in practice this week, it is likely that we will see a QB
change. Embree said he will go with his
gut and that they will select their starter Thursday or Friday, but it won’t be
announced until game time Saturday.
Hirschman played decently and led the team on their only two touchdown
drives against Oregon second stringers (most of who would be starting
here). Connor Wood still has some major
deficiencies and I doubt we ever see him on the field much unless it is mop-up
or we have had some serious injuries. A
redshirt or true freshman will lead this team next season.
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No matter who is the Buffs QB, the Stanford
defense is its strength, led by a great linebacking corps, and they will bring
pressure and make it a difficult day for everyone in black and gold. They got a
pick six last week to win the game. They
also sacked WSU QB Jeff Tuel TEN times, while the Buffs average giving up
almost five per game.
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Whoever is taking the snaps for the Buffs, his
main job will be handing off to RB Christian Powell until he gets shut down or
the game starts to get out of hand.
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If Nelson Spruce is out (Embree is very cautious
with concussions and rightly so) they are in trouble as no other wideouts can
create any separation and there is no one else to turn to. Gerald Thomas needs
to get himself involved. The TEs become even more important, but Vincent Hobbs
has got to learn to hold on to the ball.
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We will have to wait until game time to see who
is going to take the field on the offensive line.
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Bottom line, it will be very hard for this
offense to score points against this defense.
Special Teams:
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Even with MVP Darragh O’Neill punting the crap
out of the ball, I don’t believe we can even say that this area is a “relative
strength” of the team anymore. They have
given up a lot of return yardage and TDs in the last three games, and the punt
return by Thomas was just plain awful.
Wil Oliver is fine at placekicking, but kickoffs are an embarrassment,
as no one can get the ball anywhere near the endzone and teams are getting
great return opportunities every time we kickoff (which is not that often). Likewise, no matter who we put out there for
the many kickoff returns we have, they can rarely get it past the 25, and teams
are kicking it short, forcing the Buffs to return it every time, even though
they also have a tendency to take it out
of the endzone as well.
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Overall, this team is looking to
cover the 28 point spread.
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If you really feel you need some more:
Stuart’s
TIPS: http://www.cuatthegame.com/2012/coloradostanford-preview/
Plati’s
CU Game Notes: http://www.cubuffs.com/fls/600/gameday/su12/cunotes.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=600
Stanford
Game Notes: http://www.cubuffs.com/fls/600/gameday/su12/sunotes.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=600
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