The Colorado Buffaloes football program dealt with one of
their roughest seasons in recent memory.
Followers of Colorado football could tell you that after seeing many
pressers in which we seen head coach Jon Embree call out his squad. Whether the Buffs lost games that had should
have won or games in which they were completely blown out, they were humiliating
loses to say the least. As bad as this
program may have been last season, this season could be just as bad, but it is
just the step the program will have to take before they start to move up the
ranks in the PAC-12.
This team is in complete transition as the squad slowly
moves out players from the Dan Hawkins era to the Jon Embree regime. The program is bringing in many players into
Boulder, and having a coach/recruiter such as Eric Bieniemy, the school has
been able to steal recruits from other schools, including those in the PAC-12,
which can be viewed as like a “2-for-1 special”.
In the 2012 recruiting season, the Buffs ranked 36th
in the nation, slowly making their way up back into the top 25. They brought in 27 recruits, including 20
3-star and 2 4-star players.
The buffs will need all the bodies they can get. This was a program that saw many injuries in
the 2011 season, so durability is a question. To the team’s defense, they did play 13 games
last season without a bye in the schedule.
The Buffs also go into the 2012 season with having lost
quality players at positions in which they struggled throughout the
season. They lost 29 players, 12 of which
were starters including Rodney Stewart, Tyler Hansen, Toney Clemons, Ryan
Miller, Curtis Cunningham, Josh Hartigan, Travis Sandersfield and Anthony
Perkins. During spring ball, the Buffs
we also dealt a serious blow to the offense with the loss of stud wide receiver
Paul Richardson to a torn ACL.
Last season CU averaged 108 yards on the ground, passing for
237 yards, putting up just under 20 points a game while giving up almost 37
points per a contest. That is good for
106th, 57th, 109th and 109th in the
nation. Understand that CU’s numbers in
the air was inflated due to the fact that they were behind in almost every
game, resulting in slinging the ball on just about every play. Having said all this, looking into 2012, the Buffs have
plenty they can improve on.
At Quarterback, the Buffs were high on Nick Hirschman and
were hoping he could be healthy competition to Texas transfer Connor Wood. Hirschman did suffer a fracture in his foot
in early March, putting him on the shelf until August, giving Wood the opportunity,
and in all likelihood to start the season against Colorado State.
One bright spot is running back. 5-7 185 lbs. Soph. Tony Jones will bring the
speed out of the backfield while 5-9 205 lbs. Jr. Josh Ford will bring the “pop”
in the running game. Both these kids saw
more action as the season goes on and I expect these two to have solid seasons
for CU.
Wide Receiver and Tight End is decimated, with the loss of
Richardson and Clemons, this group will have serious problems and will need
someone to step up to help the lack of experience at the QB position. Behind Richardson and Clemons is Keenan
Canty, Tyler McCulloch and DeVaughn Thornton.
Together, they accounted for 30 catches for 326 yards. This is a very inexperienced group which can
only go up. The loss of TE Ryan Deehan
does not help either, he was becoming more a of downfield threat in the seam as
the season progressed, but he has moved on and it is up to former DL Nick Kasa
and Kyle Slavin to pick up the slack.
The offensive line played roulette all of last season as the
line constantly had a new lineup for most of the season last year. The line that struggled to protect QB Tyler
Hansen and help open up holes for TB Rodney Stewart lost their best lineman in
Ryan Miller to the Cleveland Browns via the NFL Draft. The returning players got experience, but
were inconstant all of last season, fair judgment of the line can’t be made
until the season starts, but based on the last years play and lack of depth;
this will be the weakest point of the squad.
The defensive line will struggle some as well. The starters in Nate Bonsu and Eric Richter,
both weighting over 300 lbs. should hold the fort down, but it’s the depth
behind them that must be questioned.
Undersized linemen means the second unit will be pushed around, not
imposing their will on the rush and pass D.
The edge has a up and coming DE in 6-3, 255 Jr. Chidera Uzo-Diribe,
forcing 5.5 sacks and 3 forced fumble, but the productivity slips behind
him. CU should be ecstatic with the
signings of Kisima
Jagne and Samson
Kafovalu. Both these kids have size
and speed, look for them to get playing time early and make some noise come
late in the season, particularly Jagne, who posted a 4.5 40.
The linebackers are the heart of the defense. Lead by Jon Major, who led the defense last
season with 85 tackles on the season, and when healthy, a Douglas Rippy, the
two posted 6 sacks between the two. With
Kyle Washington who showed flashes to make big plays as a freshman, this group
should be flying to the ball and don’t be surprised if one of these guys make a
big play on a week-in week-out basis.
Last is the secondary.
After the departure of NFL caliber corners in Jimmy Smith and Jalil
Brown, the cabinet was left almost bone dry.
Also due to injuries Embree moved TB Brian Lockridge to play corner
against Wazzu in which he had 5 solo tackles and a sack in the loss. The returning players in the secondary include
Ray Polk, Greg Henderson and Terrel Smith who only were able to muster up 3
interceptions on the season, this is a very pedestrian secondary. Help is on the way though, and with the
terrible play, the new recruits will see playing time early and often. The play can only go up, so if the recruits
are bad, given their youth and potential, I expect the guys to play through the
season. CU’s bread and butter of the
recruiting season came in the secondary with the signings of Kenneth Crawley
and surprising Yuri Wright. Wright
was the 40th ranked player in ESPNU’s 150, but due to his actions
and words used on twitter, the BCS conference schools stop pursing him…except
Colorado, on which Embree, being the disciplinary and understanding person he
is, he brought the kid in and Colorado may have found them a gem.
CU does have a more manageable season coming up, including a
non-conference schedule in which they play Colorado St., Sacramento St. and
Fresno St. before PAC-12 play, CU may have a shot to go 3-0, but with the
inexperience on the field, no game is going to be a cakewalk. They can easily can start the season 1-2
before PAC-12 play. Seeing what Colorado
has ahead of them, 5 wins may be in the cards for the Buffs. No bowl game, but seeing what they went
through the last several seasons, this would be a huge improvement and look for
the light to shine brighter for the program throughout the season.
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