Buffs trample lambs!

Holy shit?!  It’s been so long since I could post about a WIN that I almost started to write about the special teams gaffes that only almost cost them the win.  The Colorado Buffalo football team kicked off the Mike MacIntyre era by giving by far their best performance in years and willing out a 41-27 victory over little brother from the north.   The offense racked up over 500 yards while the defense held csu to under 300.  Connor Wood and Paul Richardson were a lethal combination and true freshmen, led by LB Addison Gilliam and Chidobe Awuzie, highlighted the defensive effort. And on special teams…wwll, the actual kicker and punter were great, but coverage teams were absolutely awful and will have to be corrected.  But overall, it was thrilling victory for the Buffs and their faithful.  There is a lot of good to talk discuss, and of course a few things that leave many worried.  I can’t wait to watch the recording!

§  First and foremost was the connection between the best QB here since Joel Klatt and the best receiver here since…Westbrook? Branch? EVER?  Connor Wood was an impressive 33 -46 for 400 yards and 3 TDs and zero INTs or sacks, with P-Rich hauling in the lion’s share 10-208 with 2 long TDs.  They opened the game on their second play from scrimmage (after a defensive three and out) with a 82-yard wide open bomb and closed the scoring with a P-Rich 75-yard catch and outsprint the little green sheep. This is while it appeared that csu’s gameplan was to bracket P-Rich and force them elsewhere, but he was too good, too fast and they broke down several times.   I do not believe that Central Arkansas will have much of an answer for him either.

§  The other receivers also pitched in with Double-Deuce Nelson Spruce catching 8-99 and DD Goodson 5-44 and a TD plus a 31-yard end around that set it up.  Even TEs Kyle Slavin and Scooter Fernandez caught multiple balls.  They didn’t even have Jeff Thomas available nor did they mix in Devin Ross’ speed, but when they do, oh my.

§  The offensive line gave excellent protection, enabling Wood to work through his progressions and find an open receiver without ever taking a sack.  He was also able to scramble when needed.

§  However, the running game was mediocre, going only 35-132 (3.2 avg), had trouble converting the short yardage and if you take away Goodson’s big run and Wood’s 4-8, the RBs were only 30-74, less than 2.5 per carry.  Christian Powell was effective at times, Tony Jones less so but did grab four short catches, but neither were given much room to work with from a line that was top notch in pass protection.  If this team could add a running game, and maybe with teams gearing more for the pass they can, the potential is unlimited.

§  The defensive effort was stunning to say the least and only took this long to get to because the offense was so exciting. The defense wasn’t shutdown or flashy, they did not even blitz that much, just dropped into coverage and took care of responsibilities.  They all just made plays as a whole and the team got a lot of 3^rd down and two 4^th down stops. Of the 27 points csu mustered, 7 were directly off a punt return and another 7 were set up by an 87-yard kickoff return, so the D really only gave up 13 points. 

§  The defense was sparked by true frosh LB Addison Gilliam who was seemingly in on every play finishing with 14 tackles (actually that counts seems low) and bringing up so many comparisons to Jordon Dizon that they are becoming cliché.  Fellow frosh Chido Awuzie was also stellar as the nickel and made some great tackles and had a nice pass breakup and Jimmie Gilbert pitched in on the d-line as well.

§  Kenneth Crawley silenced any critics (myself included) and played well on the corner, never getting beaten badly and he is great at leg tackling and bringing down runner in open field.  Greg Henderson just did his job as expected, plus a little more.  Safety play was not a liability but certainly not a strength either.  Parker Orms had some great hits as usual but was beaten for the lambs’ biggest pass play and often looked a step slow, as did Jered Bell, who also kept a drive alive with a late hit.  There were quite a few almost interceptions that were tipped or dropped, but now it is 9 games without a pick.

§  The defensive line rotated a lot as advertised and was solid, not spectacular though.  They got a little pressure on grayson at times but one of the only 2 sacks was on a high pistol snap from “All-America” candidate (yeah right) well over the QB’s head and the other was for almost no loss.  Outside of Gilliam, no other LB, not even Webb, really stood out.  However, they did not stand out negatively either, just solid all-around play from the front seven and the breakout from Gilliam of course.

§  Special Teams could have been the story of the game if it was not for Chidera  Uzo-Diribe, who stripped Joe Hansley of the ball and Greg Henderson who snatched it up and ran 53-yards to spark the Buffs late.

§  The kick and punt coverage was just plain terrible and the kickers had to adjust to cover (pun as bad as the act) for them with squib kickoffs (which were still returned) and rugby style punts-which did O’Neill did with both his right and his left foot!  Darragh was stellar in punting but out-kicked his coverage several times (not his fault his teammates suck at filling lanes and tackling).  Wil Oliver was great with four FGs, including a clutch 52-yarder to take the lead for good 26-24 (Stuart at CUattheGame called this the play of the game and possibly the season because if he had missed…).  Both the kickers had to make multiple tackles themselves. 

§  Even though the actual kicking of the ball was excellent (outside of kickoffs maybe), we knew those two would be good and Toby Neinas needs to do a lot more to earn his keep.  Coach MacIntyre said they can and will fix the coverage problems.  They had better, because after Central Arkansas, every team on the schedule will feature better return games and faster returners than the lambs could ever dream of fielding.

§  LB Ryan Severson and S Tedric Thompson brought their speed to the special teams units, although still not enough I guess, and I never saw him but LB Kenneth Olugbode also got some action, for six total burned redshirts. 

§  Overall, the team was efficient, had very few penalties, substituted quickly, kept a high tempo and never wasted timeouts. That alone is a great change in terms of coaching and preparation that will go a long way for the team.  They also never wilted in the face of adversity as they did in the past. When the lambs took the lead with two huge returns late in the 3^rd quarter, the Buffs D stood strong and scored more than they gave up the rest of the way, the offense continued to churn out yards, the special teams didn’t screw up anymore, as they won the 4^th quarter 18-3 to seal the game.  And we don’t have to hear crap from fort collins for the rest of the year and hopefully for a long time! 

§  However, while many are ready to anoint Mike MacIntyre the savior and proclaim the program is back on track to national relevance, this is one game in a long season against the worst (second maybe) team we will play, and there is room for a lot of improvement still.  Although they have matched last year’s win total, they could still match last year’s loss total if they don’t continue to work hard and take care of business.

§  Roster Notes: It was announced before the game that S Terrel Smith will undergo surgery on a chronic shoulder and redshirt this year to come back and play a healthy fifth senior year.  Not surprisingly, DL Samson “Kool Aid” Kafovalu (probably for his wall crushing incident) and WR Jeff Thomas (had a few stupid issues I believe) were suspended for the game.

§  No major injuries reported although Christian Powell did appear to be banged up at one point.

§  The crowd was announced as almost 60,000 tickets sold and a good portion of those were there, but there were still a lot of empty seats.  I was close to the field so the atmosphere for me was great, although I couldn’t see the far end very well.  But I agree the game should go back to campus.  The csu fans are definitely there for a party, more concerned with getting on the video board than paying attention to the game.  Then all those idiots are driving all the way home to Fort Collins, which leads us to...

§  Weird csu public service announcement: Late in the game I looked up at the giant video screen thinking I was going to see the typical csu “rah rah look at us” feature with shots of the campus and smiling students studying that you always see on TV as well-we had already seen the CU one which is always great.  Anyway, the video shows people being kind of rude and then goes to “csu helps” and people then help each other out, finishing with a party with everyone pounding shots (I thought it was a CU joke!) and some dude completely passes out!  My seat neighbors and I were all looking at each other WTF?!  Then the public service voice reminds csu students to call 911 when their friends are passed drunk so they don’t die.  Truly amazing how each university sees the need to spend their money in the best interest of their institution and students!  I guess it’s fitting though, since one of the first things we saw when we got to the stadium was a green-clad co-ed passed out in her friend’s arms in the grass.