Mid-week notes at 2-0

Here are some items of interest, including my observations after reviewing the game:

§  Review of the tape: After having watched the recording of the game a few things stand out:

§  The secondary was really strong the first few drives, sticking all over receivers, not letting anyone behind them, and capped by Henderson’s pick six. Did they snack on some cheese on the sidelines after that? 

§  The game was going amazingly well almost halfway through the second, working a 14-0 lead with a 1^st and 10 on the 22, about to put the game away.  Then, the wheels came off the offense first, with a few sugar bear blitzes, a fumble and an INT, and simultaneously the defense was getting beat every which way-screens, deep, slants-and twice let the bears twice march down the field and tie the game before halftime.

§  The second half started off poorly-I got sick to my stomach just anticipating the kickoff return. The Buffs are thankful true frosh S Tedric Thompson did such a great job chasing Wilson down, through a blocker, to save the touchdown.  I definitely remember the “here we go again” feeling and I am glad the players were able to ward that off.  The defense then did their job and held the bears to a FG (although QB overthrew receiver who had Hendo beat) and that stop was probably more important to the eventual win than anyone realized.

§  The funk continued through the third (Wood’s interception was just plain awful thrown off balance into double coverage) and into the fourth quarter, with UCA driving for a possible two touchdown lead (I really remember feeling tense here) before Bell grabbed the tipped ball and out-raced the speedy QB for the TD, changing the team, the crowd and the game.

§  The biggest play though was probably Chidobe Awuzie made on the next series, standing up the bear receiver and ripping the ball away from him.

§  The secondary did finish strong though, with 3 more INTs down the stretch-on the last one the coaches told the DBs to watch for the fade, especially if receiver lined up near the hash, which he did causing MacIntyre to run down the sidelines to get Crawley to adjust, which he did to be in position for the pick.

§  The defensive line usually did not have that much help in order to contain QB Smothers, and therefore they did not do a whole lot; Chidera had a few typical great plays and a few he seemed to take off.  Kent Baer’s group will throw a lot more blitzes at Derek Carr this week to try and rattle him a little.

§  Likewise, expect to see a lot more blitzes from Fresno St. than we have seen yet. Connor Wood is anticipating a lot more pressure coming from all directions. 

§  WRs Devin Ross and Keenan Canty each had one play and a catch and nothing more, so I would like to see more of them, especially the freshman Ross, whom MacIntyre said has recovered from an ankle and should be part of the rotation going forward.  Jeff Thomas anyone?

§  Troy Walters has taught the receiver group his little spin move as at least Goodson and Spruce have both utilized it effectively.

§  I thought RB Donta Abron looked pretty good in his action, some early and some late (I was incorrect about Adkins playing late- it was Abron with his jersey stuck in his pads) and would like to see some more of him.

§  I loved how P-Rich sand-bagged a little before breaking away on his 2^nd TD and was actually held before he broke loose and caught the ball (and to top it off my sister-in-law, her husband and her brother were in the crowd celebration shots).

§  So far, the line play on both sides has been suspect, but just good enough to get the job done against inferior talent.  Now the real test comes and once again, the battle will be won or lost by the Buffs in the trenches (unless of course they blow it on special teams).

§  Darragh is excellent, versatile and does whatever is asked of him, becoming quite adept at the coffin corner now.  It is a shame they ask him to angle it away from the returner so often because their coverage is so weak.  They should be taking advantage of his booming foot more, rather than being worried about him outkicking the coverage.

§  Wil Oliver’s leg is not that strong, his max range looks like the 52 he has hit twice, but he tried too hard on his 53. His kickoffs get weaker and weaker as the game goes, with the first two hitting the endzone, but everything else in play after that.  If he could get it out of the end zone we wouldn’t have the nearly the coverage problems we do (more below).  Also, because of this leg strength issue I would be hesitant to have him go more than 50-51 late in the game if he has already kicked a bunch.

§  Why hasn’t the kickoff problem been solved yet?  At this point I don’t have the blind faith some do that MacIntyre and Neinas will just fix this-it should have already happened. They played more and more starters with little to no improvement.  They obviously practiced that pathetic bloop kickoff to about the 25, but they are not very good at that either as UCA’s average starting field position was about the 35-40 after the last few kickoffs, which helped keep them in the game.  This just won’t cut it going forward against much more talented, better coached and flat out faster players, or they will lose a game solely on a special teams blunder or two.

§  But holy shit 2-0 is pretty freaking sweet, even if the most pessimistic naysayers even predicted the Buffs would win the first two games.

§  Sledgehammer: They were some pretty nice hits on defense once again: Chidera with a big hit on the RB for a loss in the backfield, Addison Gillam with an almost safety standing up the RB at the goal line, and I thought Parker Orms might retain it with his hit on an RB (ouch, that position got crushed) for a loss along the sidelines.  However, it was in fact an offensive player who won the honor; guard Daniel Munyer earned it for his multiple pancake blocks, including one that got mentioned on the broadcast down the stretch on one of Tony Jones nice runs to burn some clock.

§  Injuries: They are claiming nothing major on the injury front, although FB Clay Jones injured his neck on special teams (swiveling his neck maybe?) and is in a neck brace but it is not considered serious.  We’ll see if Powell can go, then if he can go the whole game (I am not sure this guy is cut out for the full-time RB job).  LB Paul Vigo (stinger) still only played a limited amount on special teams (and may have a tough time cracking the lineup at this point, even though he was introduced as a starter on defense last week), Nate Bonsu sprained an ankle but returned and Chidera also left briefly. 

§  Honors, mentions and notables: P-Rich is getting a lot of national hype as he leads all other receivers by a good game margin of 122 yards; he is averaging 10 catches, 208.5 yards and 2 TDs per game and no one else is even close. He was named Pac12 player of the week by ESPN Pac12 blog: http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/61382/pac-12-five-star-player?ex_cid=espnapi_public

§  The Buffs also moved out of the basement in the Pac12 blogs power rankings to 11^th ahead of USC.

§  2014 Recruiting: ESPN Pac12 Blog did a piece on the most important position of need for each conference school during this recruiting cycle and cited “Running back/wide receiver” as Colorado’s gap, mainly because they have nobody committed at either of these important offensive skill positions yet. “Paul Richardson has been phenomenal when healthy for the Buffs. But there is no guarantee that he’ll be back for his senior season and there doesn’t appear to be a true big-play threat behind him quite yet. Colorado needs to find playmakers on offense, and if the 2014 haul can match what head coach Mike MacIntyre brought in with the 2013 class, the Buffs will be on the right track.” They listed Falcon’s Kallen Ballage, who has shown little interest in the Buffs as he has many of the big guys heavily pursuing him, as well as three California prospects: Tre Hartley (Milpitas), Jomon Dotson (American Canyon) and David Williams (Los Angeles/Dorsey).  Not sure where they stand with any of the Cali guys at this point, and I am sure there are others that MacIntyre and staff are on, maybe the hidden gem like Addison Gillam from a small, out of the way school.

§  Although is committed to New Mexico St., Shun Johnson, a former teammate of Philip Lindsay, would love to get an offer from CU.

§  Other Buff notes: CB Yuri Wright, who started 6 games last year is planning on redshirting this year, as long as there are not too many injuries in the secondary.  MacIntyre would prefer that he put on some weight and that he will be a great player for them for three years.

§  LB Dayshawn Rippy is enrolled and officially practicing with the team while he sits out his redshirt transfer year.  He will be the star of the scout team and compete for playing time next year with Gillam, Daigh, Greer and some younger guys.

§  Looking ahead, there are a few Pac12 teams that look vulnerable, including Cal (barely beat Portland St.) and USC (lost 10-7 to WSU-first time Mike Leach has ever won only scoring 10), not to mention Oregon St. (lost to Eastern Washington), so there could be another W or two hiding out there.

§  I guess Shane Dillon didn’t make it to USD after all (lots of transfers with big claims-what ever happened to Ivy league bound Nick Hirschman or fusker traitor alex lewis?) but instead is hooping it up at Cuymaca Junior College. He could still transfer next year.

§  Pacific Takes fantasy league: I will be giving weekly updates of my Pac12 fantasy team Bringin’ the Buff and we kicked ass again this week winning 139-78 over the Brewins, behind the efforts of our first two draft picks, D’Anthony Thomas and Paul Richardson, who each scored 32 points.  Having big players certainly helps. I definitely have holes on my team though with only Connor Halliday at QB, who is shaky at times and could give way to Colorado product Austin Apodaca.  I also have way too many byes week four with CU and Oregon players and Arizona D and I will have to make some interesting choices.