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Colorado Daily – Arizona Week

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October 1st – Game Day 

… CU in a few minutes … 

Five Arizona Players to Watch 

From the Daily Camera … Five Arizona Players to Watch 

• WR Jacob Cowing: After transferring in from UTEP, Cowing has caught 28 passes for 386 yards and six touchdowns – leading the Pac-12 in all three categories.

• QB Jayden de Laura: A transfer from Washington State, he has thrown for 1,149 yards, eight touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 60.1 percent of his passes.

• DE Hunter Echols: After five years at USC, Echols came to Arizona and he’s off to a great start. He has 22 tackles and leads the team with two sacks and 4.5 TFLs.

• LB Jerry Roberts: In his second year at Arizona, the former Bowling Green transfer is having his best season. He leads the Wildcats with 35 tackles and has a fumble recovery.

• RB Michael Wiley: The Wildcats’ top rusher has averaged 6.0 yards per carry (35 att., 210 yards) and he has reached the end zone three times. He has scored at least one touchdown in eight of his last 10 games.

How Arizona can win

So far this season, Arizona has been fairly efficient on offense. If the Wildcats can do that again and finish drives with touchdowns, they should be able to come out of Arizona Stadium with a win. Defensively, the Wildcats need to have their best performance of the year and can do that by gaining confidence with early stops. Arizona also has to avoid big mistakes that can keep Colorado in the game.

… Continue reading story here …

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September 30th

… CU in a few minutes … 

CU President Saliman: “I expect excellence and I expect us to turn this around … We have work to do”

From the Daily Camera … After 99 years, the front porch at the Boulder home of University of Colorado president Todd Saliman recently gave way, so it was under repair Thursday morning.

That is not the only front porch Saliman wants to fix, however.

Colorado’s football program is falling apart this season, too, getting blown out in each of the first four games. As the Buffs (0-4, 0-1 Pac-12) aim to shift momentum with Saturday’s trip to Arizona (2-2, 0-1), Saliman, like others involved with the program, has been disappointed.

“Clearly, we’re not performing at the level we’d like to be performing,” Saliman said in an interview with BuffZone. “I am grateful every day for our student-athletes and what they do to try to win, but we have not figured out the formula yet and we need to fix that. I am relying on the people who are closest to the action – the chancellor (Phil DiStefano) and the athletic director (Rick George) – to find a path forward for us. I expect success. I expect excellence and I expect us to turn this around, both in the short term and the long term. We have work to do.”

Athletics, and football in particular, are often referred to as the front door – or front porch – of a university. Football often provides the first impression of a university, and Saliman, unanimously selected by the board of regents to be the 24th president of the CU system in April, is well aware of that.

“It creates kind of an informal way to talk about the work of the university and it opens the door so we can talk about the other extraordinary things that are going on at all of our campuses,” Saliman said. “So athletics are truly the front door for many people to CU.”

… Continue reading story here …

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Neill Woelk’s Keys to Arizona game

From CUBuffs.com … Colorado coach Karl Dorrell is 2-0 against Arizona as the Buffaloes’ head coach, and his CU teams have put together that streak by succeeding in all facets of the game.

In 2020, the Buffs rushed for 407 yards in a 24-13 victory in Tucson. Last season, they won with a strong passing game, good special teams and solid defense — 248 yards in the air, a blocked punt return for a touchdown and an interception return for a score in a 34-0 whitewashing of the Wildcats in Boulder.

Now, the Buffs (0-4 overall, 1-1- Pac-12) head to Tucson on Saturday to try to make it three in a row against Jedd Fisch’s Wildcats (2-2, 0-1) in a 7:30 p.m. game at Arizona Stadium (Pac-12 Networks).

If the Buffs are indeed going to keep their streak alive, they will need to shore up all three areas in order to collect a win against an improved Arizona team.

Colorado’s offense has yet to find any kind of consistency, scoring two touchdowns only once in four games. Aside from the first half of the first game of the year, the Buffs’ defense has yet to put together a reasonable string of consecutive stops.

And, while the special teams have been solid, the Buffs could use one of those momentum-shifting moments from that group — say a blocked kick or a big return.

The question mark is consistency. While the Buffs did have some positive moments in last week’s 45-17 loss to UCLA — most notably a solid starting debut from freshman quarterback Owen McCown — the next step is turning those moments into long stretches.

What must the Buffs do in order to manufacture some of the missing consistency?

Our keys for this week’s game:

1. Run the ball with authority. When Dorrell’s teams have rushed for at least 175 yards, the Buffaloes are 5-2.

The Wildcats have struggled stopping the run this season. In UA’s 49-31 loss to Cal last week, the Bears nearly tripled their season average, rushing for 354 yards. That included 274 yards from Jaydn Ott, who scampered for scoring runs of 73, 72 and 18 yards.

Colorado’s run game has not founds its legs this year. The Buffs haven’t rushed for more than 136 yards in four games — but they have had their moments. Deion Smith has run for 175 yards on 30 carries, a healthy 5.83 yards per attempt. Charlie Offerdahl has also shown the ability to pick up some tough yards, and freshman Anthony Hankerson showed promise in his debut last weekend.

This week, the Buffs have to get a push up front early, take control of the line of scrimmage and get some legs under their run game. If they can do that, it will build confidence, quiet the home crowd and give the Buffs some much-needed momentum.

… Continue reading story here …

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September 29th

… CU in a few minutes …

An important read (with video examples): Why CU can’t stop the run

… Note … An excellent film study of why CU is ranked last in the nation in rushing defense … Not suitable for the squeamish … 

From DNVR Sports … After the 2021 season, Colorado had questions at nearly every position but the front seven. Nate Landman was moving on to the NFL but Quinn Perry, Terrance Lang, Robert Barnes, Guy Thomas, Jalen Sami and Na’Im Rodman were returning. Then in late April, Josh Chandler-Semedo announced that he would be joining the Buffs via the transfer portal. It seemed like Colorado’s front seven would be the unquestioned best unit for CU again this year.

Then the games started.

Through four games, Colorado has the worst rushing defense in the country and it’s not even close.

To put in perspective how bad the Buffs run defense has been, UCLA rushed for 249 yards on Colorado’s defense last week, yet CU’s season average for rushing yards against went down.

Currently, the Buffs average 323.3 rushing yards allowed per game. The next worst program is Hawaii which averages 260.8 rushing yards per game and they’ve played five games.

What the —- is going on and who is to blame?

This week in the Buffs Film Room, we break down plays from Colorado’s last two games against UCLA and Minnesota to figure out why the Buffs can’t stop the run.

Lacking Tackling

To get things started, we’ll address the biggest and most salvageable issue the Buffs are currently facing and that’s tackling.

Learning how to tackle is a core fundamental for every football player of all ages. While the players are the ones on the field, playing the game and attempting to make tackles; the coaches are the ones that usually decide how well of a tackling team you are.

Take Pete Carroll and the Seahawks for example. In the Legion of Boom era, Seattle had one of the most fearsome defenses in all of football and while they had good players across the field, more importantly, they were a good tackling football team. Carroll’s “rugby tackling” has not only produced tremendous on-field results and accolades but it’s made the game safer.

While the Buffs may not have the best players in the country on defense, their lack of fundamentals when it comes to tackling has greatly contributed to their lack of defensive production.

That being said, everyone on the defense needs to start tackling and playing better in order to see results in the run game.

… Continue reading story here (with excellent video demonstrating CU’s woeful tackling and technique) …

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Anthony Hankerson ready to make his mark: “I came to play ball”

From the Daily Camera … On the second carry of his collegiate career, Colorado running back Anthony Hankerson was hit at the line of scrimmage and somehow kept his balance.

He was hit three yards later and still remained on his feet. Then, he stiff-armed a UCLA defender to extend the play and eventually dove forward and stretched the ball across the line for a first down.

That 10-yard run on third-and-10 kept a drive going for the Buffs and helped set up a field goal. It wasn’t a game-changing play in what would become a 45-17 loss for the Buffs last Saturday at Folsom Field, but it offered a glimpse into the talent Hankerson brings to the backfield.

“I feel like I showed effort (on that play),” he said. “It was third down, but shout out to my O-linemen. They were making some moves up front and I was able to kind of just put my extra effort in, as well, and was able to dive for the first down. So, that’s a good win.”

… This week, Jayle Stacks could return, but Fontenot will miss third consecutive game. Dorrell said Hankerson will once again be in the mix with junior Deion Smith and walk-on Charlie Offerdahl, as well as Stacks. The Buffs will use a committee approach to the run game.

“All four of those guys are doing really good jobs but it’ll go more to whoever’s playing the best,” Dorrell said.

Hankerson is now in that rotation and said he and his fellow backs are eager to help the Buffs’ sputtering offense get on track.

“As a running back group, we kind of put it all on ourselves, like we’re gonna put this team on our back,” he said. “That’s how it is with a lot of other positions on the offense – as well as the O-line. They feel like they gotta put it all on our back, because we know there’s no offense without the line.”

… Read full story here …

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Buffs in the NFL: Laviska Shenault’s 67-yard touchdown the highlight of Week Three

From CUBuffs.com … Week three of the NFL season saw explosive plays from Colorado Alumni on both sides of the ball. David Bakhtiari (Packers) and Laviska Shenault (Panthers) made their season debuts on Sunday, and Shenault made an immediate impact with a 67 yard touchdown reception on his first catch of this early NFL season.

Watch the touchdown catch here 

Here is what happened with all other former Buffs across the NFL:

  • Chidobe Awuzie: Awuzie had five solo tackles with three pass deflections, including one that prevented a touchdown as the Bengals got their first win of the season against the New York Jets.
  • David Bakhtiari: Bakhtiari started for the Packers in his first game since the regular season finale of last season. He played in over 50% of offensive snaps without allowing a sack and being a key component of Green Bay’s running attack.
  • Mason Crosby: Mason Crosby made both of his extra point attempts for the Packers as he still has not missed a field goal or extra point this season. The Packers got a close win on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
  • Nate Landman: Landman saw his first defensive snaps of his career in week three, where he was credited with his first career tackle against the Seattle Seahawks. Landman played in 19 total snaps between defense and special teams as the Falcons secured their first win of the season 27-23.
  • Laviska Shenault: Making his first start with the panthers since getting signed in late August, Shenault took no time to make an impact, with a 67-yard touchdown reception on his first catch as a Panther. He finished with two receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown, as well as two kickoff returns for 54 yards in Carolina’s victory over the Saints.
  • Josh Topou: Topou started at nose tackle in week three, and finished with one tackle on 33 defensive snaps as the Bengals would go on to win.
  • Ahkello Witherspoon: Finished with five total tackles and a pass deflection on 50 defensive snaps, the Steelers would go on to lose to the Browns 29-17.

Isaiah Oliver (Falcons) remained on the sidelines due to injury.

Arlington Hambright (Colts), Phillip Lindsey (Colts), Will Sherman (Broncos), Davion Taylor (Eagles), and Juwann Winfree (Packers) are all on their team’s practice squads.

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September 28th

… CU in a few minutes … 

*Video: Karl Dorrell’s last meeting with press before Arizona game*

From YouTube, courtesy of CUSportsReport … “Some positive things to build off of, both offensively and defensively … Off to a good start this week. Really good work … Arizona will challenge Owen McCown. Make him prove that he can run the offense. He knows that … Quarterbacks J.T. Shrout and Brendon Lewis still working. Better understanding of the situation … Teams won’t need to flip tackles even though McCown is left-handed … Arizona’s Jacob Cowing not only one of the best receivers CU will have faced, but also a dangerous returner … Punter Ashton Logan is not back, so walk-on Trent Carrizosa will punt against Arizona … No one has approached him about leaving the team (if you play only four games in a season, you can red-shirt and not lose a year of eligibility) … Our team is locked onto each other, trying to get this thing right … The team is in pretty good emotional shape … Running back Jayle Stacks (sore shoulder) – still getting over it, but we think he can be ready to go … Wide receiver Chase Sowell (lower leg) has practiced the last couple of days … “.

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Fixing defense a top priority: “We’re trying to uncover every stone that’s out there”

From CUBuffs.com … Colorado’s defense continues to have problems establishing consistency, especially against the run. After four games, CU is ranked last in the nation in rushing defense (323.2 yards per game), 126th in scoring defense (43.25 points per game) and 122nd in total defense (467.8 yards per game).

“When we do things right and we get the calls right and they execute the defense, we actually play it pretty well,” Dorrell said. “There were a number of cases where we forced some stops and were making those plays … We had a defensive call that we called five times in the game and three of those calls, it was perfect, great run stoppage plays. Two of the calls, a couple guys were just out of place and they were big plays against us. Those are the things that we need to continue to clean up. We’re going to continue to just keep hammering the details of fundamentals and the scheme.”

The Bruins no doubt hit Colorado’s weak spots with regularity. UCLA’s first three possessions went 64, 75 and 95 yards for touchdowns, and the Bruins finished with four scoring drives of at least 64 yards.

“We’re evaluating what we think our players can do effectively,” Dorrell said. “We’re trying to uncover every stone that’s out there with what we’re doing from a scheme and personnel standpoint.”

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September 27th

… CU in a few minutes … 

*Video: Owen McCown’s first interview as CU’s quarterback*

From YouTube, courtesy of BuffStampede.com …

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Missed tackles haunting CU run defense: “The biggest thing is the want-to – guys have to make tackles”

From the Daily Camera … Four weeks into the season, no team in the country is worse at stopping the run than the Buffs (0-4, 0-1 Pac-12), who are allowing 323.25 yards per game on the ground and 6.95 yards per carry.

The Buffs’ front seven – defensive line and linebackers – were expected to be the strength of the team, but they haven’t been to this point.

“We’re really working hard on trying to get those things shored up,” CU head coach Karl Dorrell said. “Some of it has just been some of our players are in the wrong gap, they’re not in their proper gap on that particular call. That’s the challenging part, particularly if they’re busting through there untouched, somebody’s in the wrong gap.

“That’s a big issue right now that we need to shore up more than anything, in my opinion.”

“The biggest thing is the want-to,” safety Trevor Woods said. “Guys gotta stick in their gaps. Guys have got to make tackles. I mean, that’s our biggest problem right now.”

According to Pro Football Focus, CU has had more missed tackles on run plays (41) than anyone in the Pac-12. Arizona State has had 40, but seven teams have 20 or less.

“For us defensively, definitely tackling and consistency (are the main issues),” linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo said. “Like, we’ll fit stuff up great at times and then we’ll be nowhere near where we need to be. We’ll tackle great at times and then we’ll be looking like a backyard banjo or something like that.”

Dorrell often points to youth when explaining CU’s struggles, but that’s not the case in the front seven. Eleven players in the front seven have at least 70 snaps played and eight are seniors, while two others are fourth or fifth-year juniors.

“We have veteran guys, we have older guys,” said Chandler-Semedo, a transfer from West Virginia who led the Mountaineers in tackles a year ago. “We do have a lot of young guys, but the expectation is still high. It don’t matter if you’re a freshman or a senior out there; you’re expected to play on the field. So that’s the No. 1 thing for me is probably just tackling.”

… Continue reading story here …

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September 26th

… CU in a few minutes … 

Owen McCown earns second start: “His overall body of work was pretty solid”

From the Daily Camera … Owen McCown wasn’t close to perfect on Saturday.

Colorado’s true freshman quarterback mixed two touchdowns with two costly turnovers and was up and down in the Buffaloes’ 45-17 loss to UCLA.

McCown did well enough, however, for head coach Karl Dorrell to finally commit to a starter.

It is the first time this season that Dorrell has publicly revealed his starting quarterback prior to game day.

“I felt like he had an OK performance,” Dorrell said during his weekly press conference. “Did he make some mistakes? Yeah. A couple of big turnovers that I think led to some scoring opportunities for UCLA. … But I would say his overall body of work was pretty solid. I thought he saw the field pretty well. You saw kind of some youthful things at times, but I don’t think the game was too big for him.”

McCown, who replaced struggling veterans Brendon Lewis and JT Shrout, completed 26-of-42 passes for 258 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while also rushing for a touchdown.

The 258 yards were the most by a CU quarterback since Sam Noyer had the same amount in the 2020 regular season finale against Utah.

“The completion percentage was OK; you want it to be more efficient,” Dorrell said. “But he did have some yards in there and he had a touchdown pass, and he had a touchdown with his legs. So, I was encouraged by that.”

… Continue reading story here …

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*Video: Karl Dorrell’s Weekly Press Conference*

From YouTube, courtesy of CUSportsNation …

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Neill Woelk’s Takeaways from UCLA Game

From CUBuffs.com … Karl Dorrell‘s Colorado Buffaloes emerged from Saturday’s 45-17 loss to UCLA with at least a glimmer of positive progress.

When you are 0-4 and every loss has been a lopsided affair, those silver linings are important. They give the Buffs something to build on as they try to break into the win column.

Their next chance comes Saturday in Tucson, where CU will face 2-2 Arizona in a 7:30 p.m. contest (Pac-12 Network).

Overall, Saturday’s loss to the Bruins proved to be more of the same problems that have plagued CU all season. An inefficient offense struggled to put together back-to-back solid drives, with its first six possessions of the second half ending by punt, downs, fumble, punt, interception, punt.

But while much of the focus on the Buffs’ woes this year has been on the offense, CU’s defense has been gashed repeatedly, especially against the run. Colorado gave up nine plays of 20-plus yards against the Bruins.

“We have to worry about ourselves,” said CU safety Trevor Woods. “Last time I checked, we gave up 45 points. It’s not like we’re shutting people down at 20. We shouldn’t be worried about what the offense is doing. This is on everybody.”

Indeed, aside from walkon punter Trent Carrizosa — who had an outstanding debut in relief of Ashton Logan (illness) — just about every other area of the team contributed to the loss.

But there were some positive developments, even though they did little to change the final outcome.

Our weekly takeaways:

1. Young players are growing up and contributing. CU’s starting lineup Saturday included three true freshmen on offense, with several other freshmen contributing throughout the game.

Quarterback Owen McCown had a decent debut, especially when compared to Colorado’s production from the position in the previous three games. Offensive lineman Van Wells got his second start, played 82 snaps and had the second-highest Pro Football Focus overall grade of any of CU’s starting linemen.

Other freshmen who had solid contributions were wide receiver Jordyn Tyson (two catches for 39 yards and his second touchdown of the year); running back Anthony Hankerson (seven carries for 25 yards, including a bruising 10-yard gain when he broke at least four tackles); and redshirt freshman running back Charlie Offerdahl (10 carries for 47 yards).

Obviously, none were game-changers. But they provided at least a flash of promise on which Colorado can hopefully build.

… Continue reading story here …

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September 25th

… CU in a few minutes …

Rooney: Does McCown’s Play Buy Dorrell More Time?

From the Daily Camera … Owen McCown provided a spark.

It was brief, and fleeting. And, inevitably, the script unfolded the same as it has every week for the Colorado Buffaloes.

Colorado’s defense couldn’t stop anything. Colorado’s offense struggled, albeit with a touch more proficiency. And head coach Karl Dorrell was forced to swallow yet another lopsided loss, this time 45-17 at home against UCLA, as fans once again quickly exited Folsom Field to find something more constructive to do on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon.

The big question coming out of the latest rout — CU now has been outscored 173-47 during its 0-4 start — is how much time McCown may have bought Dorrell.

If there was a bright spot amid the latest disaster, it was the play of McCown — a true freshman quarterback who probably isn’t quite ready for the big stage, but who nonetheless was essentially forced into action by the uninspired play of Brendon Lewis and JT Shrout in the first three games.

With McCown behind center the Buffs still didn’t light up the scoreboard. But such is the state of things that simply moving the ball becomes reason for encouragement. CU didn’t score on its first two possessions, but the combined 21 plays they ran on those two fruitless marches was only one fewer than the Buffs ran the entire first half last week at Minnesota.

For those hoping McCown gives long-suffering Buffs fans a reason to tune in the rest of the season, please consider tapping the breaks. No doubt, the young man deserves another shot at the job. Going 26-for-42 for 258 yards, with one touchdown pass another rushing score, is almost Manning-esque compared to the quarterback production the Buffs received previously.

… Continue reading story here …

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Karl Dorrell’s Postgame comments

From CUBuffs.com …

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Opening Statement
“Frustrating day but I felt like looking at the game there were some positive things that even though we weren’t a factor was getting a chance to win this one. It just got away with us but I was encouraged by the young freshmen that we decided to use. I felt he (Owen McCown) did some positive things overall. He did some rookie things as well, but I was encouraged by really his poise. He had a lot of good poise. I’m sure he’ll look at the tape and say that there’s a lot of stuff that he can definitely improve on. We didn’t help him at times, particularly early. We had some drop passes that probably could have gave us some consistency early of at least the opportunity to put some points on the board so we didn’t get great series early. We did start the first series as a game without a turnover, so that was encouraging. I felt like watching him play he could have, I’m sure he’s going to say that I’ve had a few more plays I could have made out there. On the on the flip side of it, though the game kind of just got out of hand a little bit towards the middle of it. There were some consecutive series, particularly when offense wasn’t getting any points and we’re punting the ball back to them. They scored consecutive touchdowns that can get the game out of balance pretty quickly. That was kind of the case a little bit for us, even though we made a run and it was 21 to 10 at halftime. We just didn’t do those things that we needed to do in the second half. Right now, we have a lot of a lot of things to really shore up. There’s a lot of areas that need a lot of work that we’ve been working on and we’re going to continue to work on. Overall, it’s a young team that needs to continue to grow and mature as we go and hopefully as we go we want to have success but that’s been short of it right now. We have plenty to work on. Few things that we can utilize in this game as some positive things to move forward with, but we just have a tremendous amount of work to do with this team.”
On Owen McCown
“I’ll talk with the offensive staff. It’s hard to really say that right now after the game, but I was encouraged. I’ll definitely tell you that. I was really encouraged with how he worked out there. I don’t think it got too big to him but there were a few plays there you can see as jitters but I thought it overall, he played he played okay. He played okay. I don’t know if it was good enough to win obviously we didn’t win but there’s some positive moments there I saw in his play.”
On the Defense
“We’re really working hard on trying to get those things shored up and some of it is just been some of our players are just in the wrong gap. They’re not in their proper gap in that particular call and that’s the challenging part. Particularly if they’re busting through there on touch somebody’s in the wrong gap so we have to continue. We were using a lot of our linebackers. We need to find the best consistency that we can there to give us to play a little bit better. Sometimes it was a linebacker issue or it was a D line issue, or defensive lineman being cut out of the gap. There’s definitely that’s a big issue right now that we need to shore up more than anything in my opinion. I know they’ve hit some passes against us, but the running game the rushing game, the last three the last four games has been our nemesis on defense and we have to find a way to get that shored up.”
On Jayle Stacks and the Running Backs
“He (Jayle Stacks) had a little bit of a ding shoulder from the Minnesota game. I didn’t feel comfortable playing him so that’s why he didn’t play. The other thing is we got Anthony Hankerson back we got Charlie (Offerdahl) we got Deion (Smith), those are the primary three and we’re going to rotate those guys. We don’t necessarily treat any of them as a starter. We’re going to go with the hot hand. We thought Charlie gave us the most efficiency today.”
On the Flow of the Offense and Other Quarterbacks
“Yeah, we did some positive things in the first half. I was encouraged that the no turnover in the first series was a big point and I’m not joking. That was something that was seriously talked about and making sure we don’t turn the ball over the first series. He (McCown) did some really positive things and he did some rookie things, too. He’s going to get tested every week. Particularly if he ends up being our starter moving forward, they’re going to challenge him every week just because he’s so young, and he just got here this summer. The reason why he wasn’t in the equation was he just got here this summer and we felt very comfortable with B Lew (Brendon Lewis) and JT (Shrout) has been really the top two guys to really work to get the bulk of the work to run the offense. It’s hard for offensive linemen and defensive linemen to play in their first years. It’s pretty hard for a quarterback to do that as well. With his progression, he made sense. When he came in in June through their training camp, we caught up to everybody that gave us a little bit of a thought process of maybe he should be our three going into the season. That’s kind of how it led to him being at that point. And now where we are right now.”
On the True Freshman Starts
“Well, we talked enough about Owen. I thought Anthony Hankerson did a couple of nice runs in there today. I was really encouraged by that. He’s a guy that had a good training camp until he had a little soft tissue injury and it set him back for four weeks and this was a week to come back so I was encouraged there. I was encouraged by Jordan Tyson. He just has a knack of making plays in opportune times. He finds a way to get open, he makes a good scramble play where Owen hits him in the red zone and then he scores a touchdown on a different drive later in the game. Chase Sowell as well is one of those players I really think is a really good player, a young player that’s playing. Van wells, who is our starting left guard right now and true freshman. We’ve talked about that with him being a true freshman, playing in the offensive line. That’s usually very, very unique for that to happen. We have a few guys like that and obviously the young secondary so we just have got to get better, you know, we got to get better. The encouraging thing in the locker room is that, believe me, they’re challenged about getting better. They’re challenged among each other about getting this thing right. It’s in their minds, they know it’s back to the grind about getting this fixed. It’s not a we’re quitting or it’s not a feeling sorry for ourselves. A lot of things can happen when you’re at this position in a season. These guys have shown some resilience about moving forward and getting this thing going because they think they have that type of capability to do so. We’re going to keep pushing the envelope as coaches, we have got to put them in better position. We have got to coach better. I’ve have got to start that along with the coaches and our guys want to work. They are working, they are getting better. We just have to get better a lot faster than what the pace is right now.”
On Defense
“I think the first thing is first is we got to show up our run game gap integrity of our rush, you know, that’s plaguing us, you know, through for games. And then we have to find the right people. You know, that’s in our program and we’re rotating a number of players we’re just trying to find the right combinations to help us you know, on that side. And they’re there believe me they’re frustrated too. You know, they want to get this thing fixed. They do.”
On Defensive Run Game
 “Since the TCU game and we had a bunch of other big rounds get out where we didn’t even get in front of them. So it’s still plaguing us right now. We felt we had those things. Wee did a couple of different defensive schemes this this for this game. And they worked well for the most part, but still, we had some of those rushes that you know, seemed like they were untouched. And that’s, you know, that’s not good. It’s not good. And, you know, we have to, we have to get those things fixed.”
On Young Team 
“Well, it’s a young team that’s going to continue to get better, they will get better. We’ll get better. You gotta go at the pace of where are you, what’s your, your experiences? I want our fan base to, to understand we’re putting a lot of work and effort into trying to get these things, you know, adjusted to to be more productive to be more of an improvement for everybody. I have one example, you know, and you’re just kind of similar, but, I did leave Colorado in 1994, to go to coach and that’s when Rick Neuheisel came here with Bill McCartney. And that team that I was coaching out at Arizona State was a sophomore freshman team, you know, we had a young quarterback with Jake Plummer,  so we took our lumps that year and, and, obviously I came back here because that’s when Rick got the head job, but I think a year or two later, they’re in the Rose Bowl and they wanted the championship. So, some of it is just a youth.  I hate to use that as an excuse. But, you know, you have to they have to learn. It’s like what Owens going through, right? He’s playing, he’s going to see some things and he’ll grow and learn from as he continues to play in his experience. You know, that’s really at every position they’re learning. Oh, if I get beat on a double move, it’s on the corner. Or if I’m trying to work at a combination block between the tackle and guard and you know, the three technique loops inside the guard. And so the guards doesn’t necessarily have the combination now we’re going to have to tackle so there’s a certain things that be the adjustments of, of football, in play in games, that you can’t replicate in practice. Those are the things that you have to anticipate and be able to function well in and perform well in games. And that’s why young players are challenged more than guys that are with experienced because they’ve seen a lot of those things in their past before. So we just want to encourage everybody to hang in there. You know, just hang in there and we’re going to keep battling. We’re going to keep fighting. We’re going to play for 60 minute. We’re gonna play till the very last play. And this point this team has enough character about that. So within all that we want to play good football for our our fans to enjoy what we’re doing so we understand the frustration believe me and that’s why we’ve been working pretty hard.”
On Negative Comments
“Well, that’s part of life. I during a part of life is there’s going to be people that are for you and people are gonna be against you. You know, that’s, that’s an everything there’s, people usually against me for winning too. So it’s, it happens a lot. You know, that’s kind of what life is you’re going to have to deal with some very difficult circumstances. And going through adversity is part of growing up through that process and our players understand that are beginning to understand that you know, they don’t like it, we all don’t like it but they understand that sometimes that’s what’s that’s what the issue is and you have to find a way to get yourself out of it. And we got fighters on our staff. We got guys on in our program, coaches, players that are going to fight their way out of this, including myself. And, you know, those are the only things that we can control right now. You know, we can’t worry about all the other things that could or would happen, you know, we just have to worry about the things that we can control from our own efforts.”

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*Video: OL Frank Fillip and LB Josh Chandler-Semedo post-game comments*

From YouTube, courtesy of CUSportsNation …

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Oct. 1st – at Arizona – “What Did They Expect Would Happen?”

33 Replies to “Colorado Daily – Arizona Week”

  5. It is alive…good to hear from you CU prez, more is needed, yes
    Finally a former buff makes news in the NFL, Josh Tupou knocks Tua out, oh well good to see Josh playing…
    Come’on Buffs, show up today

    Reply

  6. So, Pres. you now want to fix what took the admin. 20 years to tear down?

    Why couldn’t CU get a coach like DeBoer?

    MT bailed at the wrong time of year and there were few pickings but even fewer that wanted to come to a school that had dropped from a top 15 in total wins to out of the top 25 by then. Now with how poorly CU is doing with NIL, keeping talent and academics blocking many transfers, and all of this is now known by any potential candidates, who’s going to be able to fix all of this?

    It’ll take policy change, money, the right hires in admin and more money. The right hire of a Head Coach and staff and more money and then more money for NIL, hiring the right people to manage recruiting & NIL opportunities, and then even more money from donors.

    Convincing a winning coach and staff to come to CU after the last 20 years damage by the admin which was made public when MT left complaining about the lack of resources and has been exasperated by NIL & free agency… I mean the transfer portal, and it’s is going to take some concrete policy change that the school can show a new coach and the money to right all of the above.

    Reply

    1. Marcus, coaches and recruits have known about the challenges at CU for 20+ years. They are, in large part, the same that neuheisel highlighted when he left for uw.

      The coaches who took the job, and players who committed to them, took them despite those issues. They were then faced with the depth of them.

      Todd and Phil need to work on a pr offensive, alongside some of the other underlying issues, to change that narrative.

      As to Mel? We can debate how much beat writers really know about the program they cover, but it seems the msu guys are watching the shine of 2021 wear off:

      https://sports.yahoo.com/michigan-state-football-game-predictions-160028051.html

      I’m wondering if they will have another 5-7 season ahead of them. Which of course we’d be happy to have now. But msu arguably has a much better roster than cu.

      Go Buffs

      Reply

    2. I agree Marcus. Fundamental changes are required, particularly regarding NIL and coach salaries…. A Financial commitment to winning, period.

      Eric, there were issues 20 years ago and thank god for the facilities upgrades…. Just imagine how bad this situation would be now without them!

      But there was no NIL and player retention was not the primary issue, or one at all. And coach salaries were all waaaay lower, so the magnitude of the imbalance was much lower.

      Reply

  7. Encouraging that the CU President came down from his ivory tower to address the football problems. He said some encouraging things but talk is cheap. Here’s hoping he can do what is needed to right the ship.

    Reply

  9. Very telling defensive analysis.

    Sheesh.

    High end transfer LB.??

    whoa..not up to speed yet??

    Need some coaching. LB coach is the DC.
    Hmmm

    May be a weakness here

    eh?

    Go buffs.

    Dang it get me a win. Even with a crappy defense and a crappy offense. It can be done

    Reply

    1. Reminds me of watching receivers be obviously poorly coached by Chev when he was WR/OC. They ran routes under the sticks, never came back to the ball, etc. Seemed like Chev did a poor job at being WR coach and OC at the same time.

      Here we have LBs over pursing gaps, not playing disciplined, not fighting through contact.

      Seems familiar right

      Reply

      1. I preferred Tyson’s d. He had some nice blitz packages. But Chris Wilson isn’t the only issue here. The d got progressively worse the minute landsman went down. Oh, losing perry, Gonzalez and Blackmon didn’t help, either. Add Carson to that list too.

        I think the decision to go 4-3 created a new learning curve for all, especially the experienced front who’d spent 5-ish years in a 3-4. Oops.

        Go Buffs

        Reply

    2. You know I said we should have hired Bielema a few years ago and I think you had a fit about the guys wife and Dorrell was going to be the savior. Illinois doesn’t look half bad. Us? Well…. I’m

      Reply

  10. What an awesome film study article from DNVR.
    Linebackers have been basically completely out of the picture the entire year. They’re never in their gap it feels.

    Also oof some of those tackling montages. Is it a montage if it’s all the same play?

    Reply

  11. Well, one thing Arizona definitely does have is a football administration that recognized they aren’t world beaters and scheduled some cupcakes so they could get some early season entertainment. It’s as if CU is stuck in the 90s and scheduling difficult non-conf slates.

    Reply

    1. Loco, you gotta realize, this schedule was made about a decade ago. CU did have the sac states, and Montanas, and Fresno states, a while back, and that didn’t work out that well either.

      Now, having csu every year? Looking better and better.

      Go Buffs

      Reply

      1. Yes, back then there were people complaining we weren’t scheduling the top dogs. Optimism that CU’s time would come again soon was still common.

        CSU? You sure?? I don’t think CU would win. They typically played down to their competition (and often up too, see: Georgia game and 2016)

        Reply

      2. I know they were scheduled years ago. And CU sucked years ago. Why did other schools figure it out and CU didn’t?

        Reply

  13. Like I said when Dorrell first got hired, its a good gig, he’ll be here 4 years (paid for 4 anyway) collect about 10 million for his retirement fund and enjoy it. RG has this one clearly on his head.😒

    Reply

      1. Really!
        Tropes are interesting.
        Mine are great.

        Earache the co leader with rooney of the woke mob of CU athletics.
        PolySci guy.

        Just the facts.

        Go Buffs win one for the VKB

        8 to get six eh?
        2500 pennies weigh what.?/ just in case

        Reply

  15. “The biggest thing is the want-to….”
    Its always the biggest thing (not that other things arent important)
    you dont suppose the HC’s mild manner ways are filtering down …do you?

    Reply

      1. Probably a fair point. The Hammer was an amazing player for us.

        Or maybe it’s just bad coaching. They’re not getting off blocks, and the scheme doesn’t seem to fit them now.

        Reply

      2. Yup. Landman could almost see the gaps to attack before they were there. The gap execution by the current ILBs were terrible vs. UCLA.

        Reply

  17. Can I make a recommendation. It’s not that im opposed to the new OC. He’s off to less than a remarkable start. That said; can someone pitch Mark Brunnell to be our OC. I don’t think people understand how much a lefty QB can disrupt a defense. I think OM is real, why not bring in MB and let him tailor the offense around the most important person on the field. I think MB would have fun with it, only a lefty knows what it feels like. OM can be great, but an OC that tailors the offense to a lefty mentality could really disrupt defenses that may be superior . It’s like playing the wishbone, you don’t see it, you need to prepare for it and even though you prepared it’s not enough and you get burned. Be bold. Get someone, to take OM and the offense to a new level

    Reply

    1. If you’re an OC with any total field vision, you can adjust to a lefty QB. Your point is spot on, just shouldn’t have to get someone else to do it…if you hired a capable OC to begin with. I am not sure that is the case

      Reply

  18. Why do we have coaches with so little ability to see what we do and do not have. Why so stubborn? Having watched the game from corner of the south end zone on both our offensive and defensive series, it’s amazing how much more big and athletic UCLA was against both of our lines. UCLA’s offensive line was at least 20-40% bigger, and clearly stronger, than just about anyone on our d-line. Thus, we had little to no ability to pressure DTR on a standard rush. He could stand back there all day if he wanted to do so. And sometimes he did. Then same goes for the reverse. Our o-line looked like 4 out of the 5 lineman were equal or smaller than the d-line of UCLA. The true freshman was MUCH smaller than anyone else. As Klatt has stated many time, you build your team from the inside, out. Yes, technique matters and so does assignments. For sure. Can’t really explain the AFA loss on size/strength. But the loss to UCLA was clearly an example of big vs. small. Pressure vs. no pressure. Huge holes v. no holes. It was over before it started. Not sure any coach or new coach can change the line issues overnight. So either get bigger and better on the line, or totally change the scheme to do was WSU or Tech does. Widen the splits, make the gaps bigger by scheme and get rid of the ball in 2 seconds or less. Let some athletes take over on the outside and focus on out-scoring teams rather than fighting them like we have the ability to go nose-to-nose. Build a defense that slows down offenses just enough to get your offense a few more chances. And forget the read-option stuff that hasn’t worked for 10-20 years in Boulder. WSU lost to Oregon, sure. But barely. They have some talent but it’s not Oregon talent. Yet, they are winning games and should have beaten Oregon. Take a look around coaches and see what you can do with what you have so we have a reason to go to more games.

    Reply

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