The
Buffs laid in egg in LA and sent many fans reeling back to the misery of the
past few (no, can’t really say few anymore, now it is many more than that)
years. The team never showed up in any
phase of the game until the outcome was no longer in doubt, that is, late in
the first quarter at 28-0. Too many bad
mistakes, weak line play on both sides, sporadic tackling, blah blah blah-the
same old shit we have been seeing except that this time the Trojans really made
them pay.
UCLA
will provide almost as stiff of a challenge.
Even though they have not been playing up to their preseason hype, they
are still ranked, very talented and coming off a tight win against Cal,
following two tough losses. They will be looking to get well against the Buffs
and Brett Hundley is already eyeing the “Player of the Week” accolades that
come with QBing against Colorado. The
Buffaloes’ only chance lies in taking advantage of Hundley’s and the Bruins’
tendency for turnovers, without making any big mistakes themselves, a tall
order they have yet to fill.
§ Line: The line opened at 12.5 and as
usual heavy betting on CU’s opponent sent it rising immediately to 13.5.
§ Depth Chart moves: It is doubtful any
more true frosh will burn redshirts, but there has been some shuffling and
MacIntyre hinted there might be more after the USC loss.
§ K
Chris Graham got his first kickoff and hit it pretty well and we might see him
in the future.
§ Already
past the midpoint of the season and coach Clark and MacIntyre himself cannot
decide on their best five. Terrel Smith
played some nickel for the first time and Akhello Witherspoon again got some
playing time instead of John Walker, but the secondary still got decimated. While the same four have started almost every
game, they have moved around trying to find the best five-man combination in
the nickel package, which they actually use more than their “base”. The positive is that this group will be very
experienced next season (losing Henderson, but likely getting Jered Bell back
and adding redshirting big corner Jaisen Sanchez).
§ In
the 4th quarter at USC we were able to see a lot of the young guys
play (as well as some older ones like RB Malcolm Creer) but nothing stood out
as the scrubs ran the clock down. Backup
QB Jordan Gehrke looked okay, definitely can scramble, but it was in garbage
time against backups.
§ We
also got our first glimpse of heralded transfer Shane Callahan at guard, as
well as Gerrald Kough and Sam Kronshrage. Will they make any moves along the
line, especially with Kawai Crabb questionable with a concussion?
§ Injuries: At one point MacIntyre
indicated he expected everyone to be ready to go (My first draft of this was : “The
Buffs should be relatively healthy, although there always seems to be some
unreported injuries as well-i.e. MacIntyre mentioning that CB John Walker had a
previously unknown thigh contusion) but alas that is not the case...
§ There
are three players listed day-to-day with concussions: Crabb, CB Akhello
Witherspoon and RB Christian Powell, who has had multiple incidences in his
career and at one point was all but permanently shut down by Embree.
§ WR
Bryce Bobo is still sore after taking that vicious hit near the sidelines last
week.
§ UCLA
has a lot of guys that are questionable but “doing well” according to Coach
Mora, including RB Paul Perkins(right wrist), WR Thomas Duarte (hamstring), CB
Fabian Moreau (stinger) and offensive tackles Simon Goines and Alex Redmond (both
with ankles), but we probably won’t know until game time much like playing
Kansas St in the past.
When the Buffs have the ball:
§ The
Bruin defense has some of the best individual players, from CB Ishmael Adams
(two interceptions for TDs), LBs Eric Kendricks and Myles Jack (is there a
better duo anywhere?), and a formidable line, but they have not been able to
put together a whole game as a unit. They have given up a lot more than anyone
expected, but they too might be looking to get well in Boulder.
§ The
CU offense had its worst outing versus the Trojans, with Sefo calling it his
worst personal performance of his career.
It wasn’t pretty early in the game and all the stats came when the game
was really decided, that is the last three quarters. In order for the team to be in the game the
offense has to score a lot of points and limit mistakes.
§ Part
of the problem is that defenses are studying and preparing to take away Sefo’s
favorite target Nelson Spruce. He has to
get others involved, preferably without telegraphing it. As good as Sefo has been, his bad plays are
really bad. I think his decision making
is getting better but he doesn’t always work through his progressions and still
has the tendency to hold onto the ball too long and take a lot of hits. I would love to see a game where he doesn’t throw
that costly UGH interception.
§ RB
Tony Jones had a solid day but it is a little sad that he is the emerging as
the best back. They are gaining some yards but are not breaking big plays, not
getting the tough yards in short situatuions.
Frankly, they just need more out of this position, and maybe using all
four guys is not really letting anyone get into any kind of a rhythm. A completely
healthy Michael Adkins could still be the solution but Philip Lindsay is so
dynamic that if the line could just give him a few more creases to squeeze
through…
§ I
must say that the offensive line is improving and the statistics are starting
to show it as the Buffs are setting school records passing and have only given
up 12 sacks, while actually averaging 169 yards rushing per game. However,
I have not seen the hurry/pressure/hit/knockdown numbers but I assume they are
much higher as Sefo has taken a lot of really big hits (though we did mention
he often holds onto the ball). Also,
while they have picked up decent yardage on the ground, the team is unable to
convert way too many “and 1” situations, between questionable play calling and
very little push from the line, nor have they been able to take over a game for
any length of time against anyone.
§ The
best news though is that this group is still relatively young, getting better
all the time, and (I can’t believe that I am already succumbing to talking
about the future) returns most of the pieces, with obvious choices waiting in
the wings to replace the few they lose.
When the Bruins have the ball:
§ Former
preseason Heisman hopeful QB Brett Hundley has not looked his all-worldly self
this year, but is still very dangerous, and had a phenomenal game against the
Buffs last year. His weakness is that he
just doesn’t read defenses that well and tries to rely on his athleticism too
much, holding onto the ball and trying to get out of too many tight spaces with
his legs.
§ I
guess I can say it again, but the defensive line is so important for this Buff defense
to have any success. Even though the
secondary is much improved, they can only cover for so long, and therefore have
given up a ton of catches, yards and scores. The d-line needs to contain
Hundley and bring him down, as the teams who have been successful against them
have done. Derek McCartney and Jimmie
Gilbert are starting to break out on the ends but they need a lot more help,
especially on the inside run game.
§ UCLA’s
receiving core is deep and fast. Jordan
Payton is the leader, but no less than six guys have had big plays and days and
any of them could be the one to find the wide seams in the Buff defense late in
the play. The secondary has its hand
full and no matter who plays, they will be running a lot try to keep up with
this bunch.
§ RB
Paul Perkins grabbed the job from Jordon James and has been extremely effective,
although he has been limited lately. It
would be a nice day for the real Addison Gillam to show up and introduce
himself early and often so the secondary doesn’t have to make so many tackles.
§ It
will be interesting to see who lines up in the secondary as the Buffs have
tried a new starting four or five the last few games. Henderson, Crawley, Thompson and Awuzie will
almost certainly be out there, but who the fifth guy is and what their
alignment is (both Awuaie and Henderson have slid inside to the slot while someone
else comes in at the outside corner) in the nickel is the unknown; will it be
John Walker, Akhello Witherspoon, Evan White, Terrel Smith, Marques Mosley or
will Yuri Wright finally get his shot?
Special Teams:
§ The
Bruins have a very dangerous return man in Ishmael Adams (who also sneaks in on
offense) and if we don’t keep the ball out of his hands, I wouldn’t be
surprised at all if he got into the endzone, especially on a kickoff if they don’t
get them out of the endzone since
Adams likes to line up on the endline and is not afraid to take it out.
Could Chris Graham get a chance or two to boom a kickoff at altitude?
§ But
Adams likely won’t have as much opportunity on punts as Darragh O’Neill
continues to shine, booming the ball for 45+ yards a kick and still pinning the
opponent inside the 20 over half the time. I love the “Silver and Gold” podcast
and Twitter campaign promoting him for Heisman.
§ Wil
Oliver is a good kicker, great on PATs and usually reliable inside 40, but that
is it.
§ Overall, even though they have only really played one complete game
this year, UCLA has too much talent (again) and should be able to ride that to
a win. I am done picking upsets-UCLA 38
CU 27, so Buffs cover, but hopefully the voodoo of me picking against them reverses
some trend in the universe and leads to a domino effect.
§ If
you need some more:
Stuart’s
TIPS: http://www.cuatthegame.com/2014/cu-vs-no-25-ucla-a-preview/
Rumblin’
Preview: http://rumblinbuff.blogspot.com/2014/10/2014-ucla-football-preview.html
Ralphie
Report: http://www.ralphiereport.com/buffaloes-bruins/2014/10/24/7052805/buffs-vs-bruins-the-preview
Plati’s
CU Game Notes: http://www.cubuffs.com/fls/600/gameday/ucla14/cunotes.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=600
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