Colorado Daily

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Colorado Daily – Texas Tech Week

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November 6th 

… CU in a few minutes … 

LB Coach Andre Hart on preparing for Texas Tech

From YouTube, courtesy of BuffStampede.com …

… CU playing a real tempo team in Texas Tech … They want you to make a mistake …  Tahj Brooks is a really good back … Need to gang tackle … They are a big RPO team. How many you have in the box will determine if they run or throw … We were talking over the bye, but things didn’t change for our preparation … Offensive lineman Tyler Brown practicing with the defensive line …

LB LaVonta Bentley … 

OL Phillip Houston … 

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November 5th

… CU in a few minutes … 

*Coach Prime Weekly Press Conference*

… A long history with Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire, who coached his son, Bucky, in high school … Don’t care about being second in the conference. Every game is a Super Bowl to our opponents; every game is an elimination tournament … Had a great practice Tuesday … No changes during bye week from first bye week … Known Coach Mathis for years (played in the NFL together). He holds his defensive backs accountable … DL Shane Cokes (up in the air) for Saturday … We don’t care about no rankings. It’s like a tease … Rankings can fool you. Get you in a place where you think you are that … We know who we are … I’d rather be unranked, and go in their anonymously … Should players leave? I give them the resources to make that decision. If they don’t like school, I tell them to go, so they don’t hurt our APR … I’m going to give them the truth – the choice is ultimately up to them … Can these men handle success? They haven’t been put in that situation before … I’m talking to you from a winner’s perspective. I don’t rest in complacency … Who gets the start at running back? Isaiah Augustave likely, but I don’t care about who starts, I care who finishes … We’re happy, but we’re not done. We can’t wait to get to Lubbock …

… Also … DB Shilo Sanders, WR LaJohntay Wester, LB BJ Green …

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November 4th

… CU in a few minutes … 

Breakfast with the Utes – Utah game time set

Press release from CUBuffs.com …  The Colorado Buffaloes football game vs. Utah on November 16, 2024, will kickoff at 10 a.m. MT and be televised nationally by FOX.

Of the 11 games now selected for the 2024 season (including the season finale vs. Oklahoma State on Friday, November 29 at 10 a.m. MT on ABC), the Buffs now have eight games on network television and all 11 on either the flagship ESPN or network television, both program records.

The complete slate of Big 12 games for that weekend:

Friday 11/15/24

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November 3rd

… CU in a few minutes … 

Neill Woelk: Coach Prime blueprint no longer being ridiculed

From CUBuffs.com … If the Buffs (6-2 overall, 4-1 Big 12) can run the table and win their last four, they will have a very good chance of finding themselves in the Dec. 7 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Granted, that is a big “if.” Anything can happen on any weekend in the wild and wooly Big 12, which has become the poster child for parity.

Still, the Buffs are in a good position — and given what we’ve seen from the rest of the conference, they have as good of a chance as anyone of stretching their win streak and earning a trip to Texas.

But no matter what happens down the stretch, Coach Prime has already accomplished far more than many thought possible when the season began.

The Buffs are relevant. They are a good, competitive team. And they have reached that point because his rebuilding process — questioned by many and ridiculed by more than a few — is proving to be a solid blueprint.

Find good players in the portal, recruit some quality high school players, put together a solid coaching staff, and develop from every angle.

Quite simply, Coach Prime brought an NFL approach to college football at the exact moment that college football has started to resemble the NFL more than ever. Free agency (the transfer portal), salaries (NIL) and an expanded playoff have transformed the college football environment — and his approach is taking advantage of that changing environment.

… Continue reading story here …

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Colorado moves up to No. 21 in Associated Press poll

Associated Press Week 11 poll …

1. Oregon (62)
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. Penn State
7. Tennessee
8. Indiana
9. BYU
10. Notre Dame
11. Alabama
12. Boise State
13. SMU
14. LSU
15. Texas A&M
16. Ole Miss
17. Iowa State
18. Army
19. Clemson
20. Washington State
21. Colorado
22. Kansas State
23. Pitt
24. Vanderbilt
25. Louisville

Others receiving votes: Missouri 81, South Carolina 58, Tulane 41, UNLV 9, Louisiana-Lafayette 9, Washington 4, Arizona State 3, Iowa 2, Texas Tech 2.

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Coaches poll (CU unranked last week, at No. 26)

1. Oregon (53)
2.  Georgia (1)
3. Ohio State
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. Tennessee
7. Penn State
8. Notre Dame
9. BYU
10. Indiana
11. Alabama
12. Ole Miss
13. LSU
14. Boise State
15. SMU
16. Texas A&M
17. Clemson
18. Iowa State
19. Army
20. Washington State
21. Kansas State
22. Missouri
23. Pitt
24. Colorado
25. Vanderbilt

Dropped out: No. 24 Illinois, No. 25 Memphis

Also receiving votes: Tulane 38; Louisville 38; South Carolina 33; Louisiana 27; Syracuse 24; UNLV 17; Arizona State 17; Minnesota 14; Iowa 13; Memphis 5; Illinois 3; Texas Tech 1; James Madison 1

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Kickoff time for CU at Texas Tech set

Press release from CUBuffs.com …  The Colorado Buffaloes football game at Texas Tech on November 9, 2024, will kickoff at 3 p.m. CT (local)/2 p.m. MT and be televised nationally by FOX.

Of the 10 games now selected for the 2024 season (including the season finale vs. Oklahoma State on Friday, Nov. 29), the Buffs now have seven games on network television and all 10 on either the flagship ESPN or network television, both program records.

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November 2nd 

… CU in a few minutes … 

*Travis Hunter appears on ESPN College GameDay and Fox Big Noon Saturday Pregame*

Press release from CUBuffs.com … Colorado star Travis Hunter struck the Heisman Trophy pose for the nation Saturday morning.

The Buffaloes’ two-way star, currently the Heisman favorite, took advantage of CU’s bye week to make an appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay and Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff. Both shows were on the Penn State campus for Saturday’s Penn State-Ohio State game.

Asked by the Big Noon team to make his case for winning college football’s most prestigious award, Hunter’s response was to the point.

“Nobody has ever done what I’ve been doing,” he said. “So it’s pretty much that simple for me. I steal the game on defense. I steal the game on offense. Nobody has ever done that before, and it’s just pretty much easy for me. You see the game, it speaks for itself. For me, I just go out there and play and work hard every day.”

Indeed, no one in the modern era of college football has done what Hunter is doing on a weekly basis.

Despite playing in just one half of two of CU’s eight games, Hunter is still averaging more than 110 snaps per game, playing almost every snap on both sides of the ball while putting up outstanding numbers.

Offensively, he’s had five 100-yard receiving games already this season for Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders’ 6-2 Buffs, with 60 catches for 757 yards and eight touchdowns.

Defensively, he’s been in on 21 tackles with seven pass breakups, two interceptions and a forced fumble.

Overall, he arguably has a bigger impact on every game he plays than any other player in the nation and  is being projected as a top-five NFL draft pick by most analysts.

Hunter obviously had the admiration and support of the analysts from both shows.

Alabama coaching legend Nick Saban, now with ESPN, asked how he prepared in practice to play two positions. Fox’s Matt Leinart — the former USC star and 2004 Heisman winner — wanted to know how he kept his body in shape to meet the rigors of playing both ways.

“My alarm goes off at about 4:50 in the morning,” Hunter said. “I’m at school by at least 5:15 to go get treatment and training, and I do that all the way into our first meeting, which is at 7:15. Then I watch film from about 7:15 to 8:50. Then after that, we go on the field. Wednesday is a practice for me and Friday is a practice for me. But other than that, I’m doing treatment, watching film. I watch 10 hours by myself. But other than that, it’s treatment, recovery, watching film and practice.”

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Kicker Alejandro Mata: “I definitely got my confidence back”

From the Daily Camera … Alejandro Mata is still bothered by the field goal attempt he had blocked at Nebraska on Sept. 7. The 44-yarder he missed a week later at Colorado State annoys him, too.

“Really wish I could get those kicks back, especially in Nebraska, knowing …” he said, shaking his head without finishing the sentence. “But nothing we could do about it now but move on.”

Move on he has. The Colorado junior went 2-for-2 on his field goals during Saturday’s 34-23 win against Cincinnati, including a 47-yarder that sealed the victory with 1 minute, 39 seconds to play.

Mata apologized for his final kick, which barely cleared the crossbar, saying he will be better. But, he’s now made seven consecutive field goals and is 9-for-11 on the season for the 23rd-ranked Buffs (6-2, 4-1 Big 12), who are on a bye this week.

“I definitely got my confidence back,” he said after the win against Cincinnati. “First three games, that wasn’t really me. I was dealing with a lot of stuff off the field, and I was doing a bad job keeping it off the field, which affected me in certain games.”

… Continue reading story here …

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November 1st

… CU in a few minutes … 

Surprise! CU most hated team on X(Twitter)

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October 31st

… CU in a few minutes …

CU defense: “Let’s show the world that we are who we say we are, and go finish this thing”

From the Daily Camera … For the Colorado football team to have much success in 2024, it was clear that the defense was going to need to pull its weight.

So far, that group has done just that, helping the Buffaloes (6-2, 4-1 Big 12), who are on a bye this week, to bowl eligibility before November.

“We talked about it all year, not being the little brother, the step child to our offense, which is obviously dynamic,” defensive coordinator Robert Livingston said.

Hired in February after more than a decade with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals, Livingston had never been a coordinator, but was brought in to CU to fix a defense that gave up 34.8 points per game in 2023, ranking 124th out of 133 teams in the FBS.

CU has sliced that to 22.0 points per game (tied for 47th) and no team has put up more than 31 against the Buffs.

“I’m happy with who we have, what we have – the staff, the players that we brought in,” head coach Deion Sanders said after CU’s 34-23 win against Cincinnati last Saturday. “I’m truly happy with all of the above. And you guys and you ladies are starting to see everything come together. But we’re not nearly where we desire to be, not nearly.”

… Continue reading story here …

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*CU Video: Highlights of CU/Cincinnati*

… Shot and edited by CU students … Well done! … 

Colorado vs Cincinnati pic.twitter.com/fKkKzm8pcS

— Colorado Buffaloes Football (@CUBuffsFootball) October 31, 2024

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October 30th 

… CU in a few minutes … 

*Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur: “Bye Weeks can be productive if you approach it the right way”*

From YouTube, courtesy of Brian Howell at the Daily Camera …

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*Defensive coordinator Robert Livingston: “Our guys are hungry; they want to play”*

From YouTube, courtesy of BuffStampede.com …

Coach Livingston … “When you have two bye weeks, and the first one doesn’t go great (loss to Kansas State), you want to change things up … I’m forever indebted to everybody here. They gave me a chance when they didn’t have to. I can’t thank them enough … We’ve got a young family. We’ve embraced it. The city is great. The schools are great. It’s a blessing to be here … Rosters are always evolving. You want to get your best players in position to be successful … Once you have success, you realize how much fun it is, and you want to keep having it … We had a helluva scrimmage today, and that doesn’t happen everywhere … Our guys are hungry; they want to play … Each week, we start with trying to stop the run … and then it’s consistency … It goes back to ‘Who are your shooters?’, and putting them in position for success … Competition is making the team better. If your best player is not your hardest worker it’s hard to have a culture. Travis is our culture, he’s the standard” …

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October 29th

… CU in a few minutes … 

Time to consider Shedeur Sanders for the Heisman trophy?

From the Daily Camera … As the college football season enters November, the Heisman Trophy discussion will get louder and more intense.

There’s no question that Colorado’s remarkable two-way star, Travis Hunter, is in the conversation, if not at the top of the list.

But, what about his teammate, quarterback Shedeur Sanders?

Hunter and Sanders are arguably the two biggest stars in college football. Both are projected as potential top five picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Yet, only one of them is generating much Heisman buzz.

Latest Heisman odds at BetMGM list Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (+240 odds) as a slight favorite over Hunter (+250). Miami quarterback Cam Ward (+300) and Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty (+450) are close behind.

There’s a big gap after Jeanty, but Sanders jumped up to seventh (+5000) on Tuesday. He wasn’t in the top 10 on Monday.

Leading the No. 23 Buffs (6-2, 4-1 Big 12), who are on a bye this week, Sanders ranks third nationally in touchdown passes (21), fourth in completion percentage (73.3), seventh in passing yards per game (323.9) and 11th in passer rating (164.98).

He’s also thrown at least one touchdown pass in 44 consecutive games, with a shot to break the all-division college football record of 46, currently held by three different players.

… Continue reading story here …

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Direct correlation between improved offensive line play and CU’s results on the field

From the Daily Camera … The rushing numbers are looking better. The reduced number of sacks has been vital.

Yet, Colorado guard Justin Mayers felt some validation for his play when he got yelled at during a 34-23 win against Cincinnati on Saturday night.

“I think it’s a good sign, too, when the refs come up to you after every play and just yell at you,” he said with a laugh. “I was blocking this linebacker and then I was just driving him and then after the play the ref is like, ‘66, that’s your last warning!’ I’m like, ‘Wait, that’s my first warning. What?’

“So I think we’re making some progress for sure.”

Aggression and winning battles in the trenches is, without question, progress for the 23rd-ranked Buffaloes (6-2, 4-1 Big 12), who are off this week before returning to action Nov. 9 at Texas Tech.

“The adversity we went through, like we bonded together as a team, came together and did what we had to do on the field and off the field as well,” guard Kahlil Benson said.

The results haven’t always been pretty for the Buffs up front this season, but they are starting to improve.

Head coach Deion Sanders and his staff almost completely retooled the line in the offseason, with none of the 2023 starters still on the team. CU signed 11 transfer linemen, as well as the No. 1 high school offensive line recruit in the country, Jordan Seaton.

Still, there have been mixed results.

Seaton has been a rock at left tackle and returning sophomore Hank Zilinskas has started every game at center. Senior Tyler Brown (who redshirted in 2023) has held down a starting spot in seven of eight games, although he shifted from right tackle to guard.

Meanwhile, none of the 11 transfers has been a full-time starter this season.

… Continue reading story here …

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October 28th 

… CU in a few minutes …

Travis Hunter Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week /Isaiah Augustave Big 12 Newcomer of the Week

From the Daily Camera … After yet another stellar performance, Travis Hunter has made a bit of history.

On Monday, Colorado’s dynamic two-way star was named the Big 12 Conference offensive player of the week for his performance in the Buffaloes’ 34-23 win against Cincinnati on Saturday.

Hunter was named the Big 12’s defensive player of the week after a Week 3 win at Colorado State. Thus, he is now the first player in Big 12 history to earn weekly honors on offense and defense.

The star cornerback/receiver caught nine passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday, lifting the Buffs (6-2, 4-1 Big 12) to their second straight win and securing bowl eligibility. He also had four pass breakups on defense. Hunter played 129 of 132 snaps from scrimmage against the Bearcats.

“Well, we never doubt Travis whatsoever, so him being himself is just what we expect,” head coach Deion Sanders said after the game. “That’s the only thing we expect. We don’t expect to see anything else.”

This was the fourth conference player of the week honor of Hunter’s career. He was named SWAC newcomer of the week once in 2022 and was the Pac-12 defensive player of the week once in 2023.

Hunter wasn’t the only Buff honored, as running back Isaiah Augustave was named the Big 12’s newcomer of the week. He ran the ball 22 times for 91 yards and a touchdown. He had the most rushing attempts by a Buff since Deion Smith had 24 against Arizona State on Oct. 29, 2022.

“Love what we did running the football,” Sanders said. “We made a conscious effort in the beginning of the week that we were going to run the football. Isaiah did a wonderful job.”

… Read full story here …

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CU/Texas Tech kickoff time on six-day hold

… We won’t know the kickoff time for the CU game until Sunday morning … If on Fox, it will mean that all of CU’s nine games to date will be a national network telecast … 

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Neill Woelk’s Takeaways from Cincinnati game

From CUBuffs.com … Saturday’s win over Cincinnati might have been CU’s best effort of the year. The Bearcats are a good team and it will be a big surprise if they aren’t bowling as well this season.

But the Buffs were clearly the better team in all three phases. Had it not been for some late CU lapses, the score would have been far more indicative of how Colorado dominated the game when it was still up for grabs.

Thus, our takeaways:

1. The Buffs greatly limited their mistakes. CU has almost eliminated the self-inflicted wounds that have plagued them at times while also cleaning up the areas that have caused them issues in the past.

The Buffs did not commit a turnover, gave up just one sack and committed just five penalties (although a couple of those flags could have proven to be costly down the stretch).

But the bottom line is Colorado is playing like a mature team should at this point of the season. That’s a credit to the coaching staff.

2. Yep, Travis Hunter should be back in the Heisman conversation. After a couple of games when he was hampered by a shoulder injury, CU’s two-way star had a performance for the ages Saturday.

Hunter set career highs for receiving yards (153) on nine catches, with two touchdowns. He also had a career-best four pass breakups while playing all 61 snaps on defense, 68 of 71 on offense and three on special teams.

He now leads the Big 12 pass breakups (seven) and touchdown receptions (eight), and has two interceptions and 60 receptions for 757 yards.

Is he the best player in college football? Here’s what Coach Prime had to say:

“Travis is the best college football player in the country. We all know that. Why are we even deliberating over that? What are the criteria? Somebody needs to say, what are the criteria for that prestigious award? Because we’re looking for the best college football player ever. There has never been a Travis Hunter, and I’m up here saying that.”

… Continue reading story here …

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This post, about the Texas Tech game, from the 2024 Season, is filed under Article.
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