Return to Relevance – II

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Return to Relevance – II

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Last August, despite the reality that CU was coming off of ten straight losing seasons, there were still reasons for optimism. A few weeks before the 2016 season got underway, I posted, “Return to Relevance“. In the essay, I listed five reasons why I felt that the Buffs were poised to post their first winning season since 2005, and go to a bowl game for the first time since 2007:

1. Sefo Liufau is healthy and motivated

2. Darrin Chiaverini has brought new life to the Colorado offense

3.  The offense is not lacking for weapons … and finally has some depth

4. Defense wins championships

5.  The Buffs are playing “with a chip on their shoulders”

… concluding …

It’s easy to be optimistic in August.

Everyone is undefeated at the opening of Fall Camp.

This year, though, there is a real feeling that the 2016 will be the year that the Buffs finally get it done.

Perhaps it was the hiring of Darrin Chiaverini last January, and the subsequent infusion of talent into the Recruiting Class of 2016.

Perhaps it was the fast start to the Recruiting Class of 2017, currently ranked in the top 25 in the nation.

Perhaps it has been the respect, albeit grudgingly given, from many of the preseason magazines to the 2016 Buffs.

Perhaps … just perhaps … it’s just time.

Not for a “Return to Dominance”, mind you.

But, at the very least, a “Return to Relevance”.

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As we all know, the 2016 season worked out pretty well for the Buffs, going from worst-to-first, winning the Pac-12 South title with an 8-1 conference record. Colorado finished with a 10-4 overall record, ranked No. 17 in the final Associated Press poll (15th in the USA Today coaches’ poll)

This past off-season, the naysayers have been chipping away at CU’s magical season. The Buffs were mentioned in the “way-too-early” 2017 predictions right after the season. As winter gave way to spring, however, critics found ways to remove Colorado from their Top 25 rankings. “The Buffs lose to many players on defense”, they said. “The loss of Jim Leavitt as defensive coordinator will hurt CU” was the consensus.

Stassen.com has a compilation of 2017 preseason Top 25 rankings, with over a dozen publications listed. In exactly none of them is Colorado ranked. Oregon, which finished the 2016 season with a 4-8 record, was ranked in three preseason rankings. UCLA, which also finished 4-8, was ranked in two. Adding up the polls, Colorado is the consensus choice to finish fourth in the Pac-12 South, with only one publication picking the Buffs to finish as high as second in the division … with two publications picking Colorado to finish last.

When the USA Today preseason Coaches poll was released, Colorado came in at No. 27 … the only Power-Five conference school ranked in the final 2016 poll to fail to appear in the 2017 preseason poll. Utah, which has three returning starters on offense and four on defense, and lost its regular season finale to Colorado, came in at No. 25.

Still, No. 27 in the USA Today preseason poll is light years ahead of where the Buffs were projected this time last year. There are plenty of reasons for excitement about the 2017 season. So, in honor of the ten wins posted last season, here are ten reasons for optimism this fall:

1. Steven Montez is the real deal … The Buffs’ starting quarterback may only have three starts under his belt, but he also has three years in the Colorado system. Last fall, Sefo Liufau ran the Brian Lindgren/Darrin Chiaverini without the benefit of even a spring in the system, having sat out the spring with an injury. Steven Montez has had two springs and a full season within the system. Montez also has the confidence of the coaches and his teammates, with positive reports out of Fall Camp.

2. The CU wide receiver corps is not only one of the best in the Pac-12, it is one of the best in the country … Athlon has the Buff receivers ranked as the No. 5 unit in the country, with Lindy’s stating, “One of the very best wide-receiver corps in the nation resides in Boulder”. The top six receivers from last season all return … and, amazingly enough, the best receivers on the team might not be on that list. Juwann Winfree, the best receiver on the roster before his injury last August, returns, while freshmen K.D. Nixon and Laviska Shenault may prove to be too talented to redshirt.

3. The offensive line is a strength, not a weakness … The Buffs lose only one starter along the offensive line. The projected replacement for Alex Kelley at center, Jonathan Huckins, started three games last year, and has 13 career starts. “I think we have a lot of experience”, Huckins said. “That’s the one thing that this line is going to be packed full of is experience, but I think experience together is going to be the biggest thing.”

4. Phillip Lindsay, a/k/a The Tasmanian Devil … There have been many popular players at Colorado over the years, but Phillip Lindsay may leave Boulder as one of the most popular ever. A colorful and feisty spokesman for the Buffs during the hard times, Lindsay may get to enjoy the fruits of his labor this fall. With defenses trying to plot ways to slow down the CU passing attack, holes may be opened for Lindsay, who has a good chance of becoming the first CU running back to post back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.

5. The defensive line will surprise … The Colorado 2016 defensive line starters are all in NFL camps this summer, trying to continue their careers. The Colorado 2017 defensive line starters will have to prove themselves, but Leo Jackson (who has played in 26 games in his CU career, with 11 starts) will lead a unit which has more experience than it is given credit for. The Buff line will also feature two junior college transfers – Javier Edwards and Chris Mulumba – who will make themselves known to the Buff Nation this fall.

6. Isaiah Oliver – All-Pac-12 in 2017; All-American in 2018? … Colorado had three defensive backs drafted into the NFL in April, but the Buffs’ shut down corner this fall may be better than those three. The accolades are piling up for Isaiah Oliver, who in his spare time has earned All-Pac-12 honors twice as a decathlete. The question for Buff fans is not whether Oliver will be an All-Pac-12 cornerback in 2017 … but whether he will return to Boulder for his season season in 2018.

7. The new defensive coaches are working out just fine … Colorado has three new defensive assistants – D.J. Eliot, ShaDon Brown and Ross Els – and none of them are named “Jim Leavitt”. It remains to be seen if the 2016 Buff defense was an anomaly – and a product of mastermind Leavitt – or the natural progression of better recruiting and overall player development. Mike MacIntyre brought in new assistants who are familiar with the defense CU is running, which is making the transition as smooth as possible. The CU defense finished in the top 20 nationally in scoring defense and total defense in 2016, and no one is expecting similar rankings this fall. The top half of the Pac-12, however, is a reasonable expectation … and may prove good enough if the offense is as good as projected.

8. Depth is not a four-letter word … In an article in the Arizona Republic this week, Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez was quoted as saying that “as many as 20 freshmen” could play for the Wildcats this fall. When you are coming off of a 3-9 season (as Arizona is), and your job is on the line (as it is for Rodriguez), it’s time to pull out all the stops. Such will not be the case in Boulder. Only a handful of especially gifted freshmen will see the playing field this fall, while most of the talented members from the CU Recruiting Class of 2017 will watch this fall, hitting the books and the weight room, waiting for their turn to become stars at Folsom.

9. Buffs still have a “chip on their shoulder” … Perhaps the Buffs have all been well-coached in how to deal with the press, but if there has been one consistent theme coming from their interviews this spring/summer, it’s that they are far from satisfied with going from 1-8 to 8-1 in Pac-12 play. The final two games of the 2016 season – embarrassing losses to Washington and Oklahoma State – are providing fuel to the Buffs’ fire. Disrespect – actual and perceived – have left the Buffs knowing that there remains some unfinished business in 2017.

10. The schedule works in CU’s favor … If the Buffs can get past Colorado State in the opener (and yes, that remains an “if”, as we will get into more in the “T.I.P.S.” debut next week), Colorado will coast to a 3-0 non-conference record. Texas State is one of the worst FBS teams in the country, and Northern Colorado is, well, Northern Colorado. That will give the Buffs two extra weeks to prepare for their rematch against Washington, which will be a sellout between two undefeated and ranked teams (the only Pac-12 team with an easier non-conference schedule than the Buffs is the Huskies … Rutgers, Montana, Fresno State … so a matchup between two undefeated teams is all but assured).

The remaining eight Pac-12 games after the Washington tilt include only three home games, but only one which will be difficult. Arizona and Cal are considered to be the two of the worst teams in the conference. and USC must come to Boulder on November 11th (a night game … in the cold … who knows?). The road games are all against teams which Colorado beat in 2016 … UCLA, Oregon State, Washington State, Arizona State, and Utah.

Will the Buffs go undefeated in 2017? Nope.

Will the Buffs revert to their losing ways, and finish at the bottom of the Pac-12 South in 2017? Nope.

There is a wide gap between those two possibilities, and that’s what makes the 2017 season so enticing.

 I’m still not ready to call the Buffs’ resurgence a “Return to Dominance”.

But “Return to Relevance, Part Two” has a nice ring to it.

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This post, about the Fall Camp game, from the 2017 Season, is filed under Article.
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