My Rumbling Buffs come into this new campaign with a goal – 10 wins! Delusions of grandeur or has something unseen turned the light switch on in Mr. Hawkins’ head that has been empty for the past three seasons? To be determined. Last season started off promising: 3-0 with a thrilling win vs the Mountaineers. But just to balance things out, they lost the next three games to Noles, Longhorns, and Jayhawks. Figures. They then wound up losing all basics of football and finish 5-7 including a nightmarish, horrible, disgraceful, not-enough-words-to-describe the embarrassment 58-0 loss to Mizzou.
The main question mark is at the QB position. The coach’s son, Cody, has been given the keys to drive the car the last two seasons, but his Dow Jones type play has made it seem like he was playing back with Westbrook and Carruth(get out that trunk). Statistically speaking, he doesn’t seem too bad, but his bad decisions or lack of decision has been unbearable at times. Soph Tyler Hansen showed potential when miraculously Cody was pulled last season, but his happy feet and freshman jitters led to some mistakes. So if he can control his boogie shoes, he might be able to overcome Cody and be named the starter. But then that leads to another problem. Besides the reliable but not threatening Scotty Mcknight, our receivers have zero experience. The big play threat (and mainly just a threat, not actual fact) Josh Smith left to pursue music at UCLA. So hopefully our highly praised JC recruit Andre Simmons can provide some excitement. Now on to the backs- Darrell Scott, Rodney Stewart, Brian Lockridge, and Demetrius Sumler- the real source of any hope for success lies with them. Stewart was off to a great season but suffered a broken leg against the Aggies. Lockridge missed all last year, but avg. 5.7 ypc freshman year. Mr. Scott, our prized recruit of 2008, came in a bit overwhelmed and got banged up--never getting to show his potential. He comes into this season “in the best shape of his life”(we’ve heard this before). D. Sumler is just a hard running, steady back who led the team in rushing TDs. If the youthful, but promising, line can come thru, there should be an improvement on those 5 wins last year.
Defensively, the Buffs were pretty subpar last year but I blame a lot of it on our paltry offense, which only produced a little over 20 PPG. DE Nick Kasa, the big-name recruit this year, already has been injured, so the line is going to be filled with Cabbage Patch Kids after losing some solid seniors. The backers are pretty solid lead by Jeff Smart and Shaun Mohler who contributed heavily last year. Getting back Jon Major(ACL last year) and Michael Sipilli(suspended last year) should increase the depth there. Big Jimmy Smith is the top corner in the secondary. He definitely will have to be a stud this year if the line can’t get any pressure. The Brown boys- Cha’pelle and Jalil are pretty reliable also at the corner. And Ray Polk aka Ray-Ray, the 2008 redshirt recruit from Scream Phoenix, has made the switch from the backfield to safety for this season and has been quite impressive so they say. Normally I would skip the kicking game, but when your kicker who’s name is ironically Goodman goes 5-14 last year, this is a cause of concern also.
Well let me wrap this up. With a pretty solid non-conference schedule including key games at West Virginia, the Buffs need to come out all hoofs kicking. Big games with Texas and Oklahoma State on the road might be impossible. Having Missouri and Kansas(I detest that wheat waving crap) at Boulder give faint possibilities for wins. And the Huskers game is always a crapshoot as of late. The team is loaded with UPSIDE, but Hawkins track record of 13-24 is disheartening. Especially with only TWO wins on the road IN 3 YEARS(I just recently realized this- WOW!!) I’m realistically calling 7-5. Finish 8-4, I’ll drop streamers from the roof and let off some firecrackers. Finish 9-3, I’m hopping on Ralphie. 10 wins?- it’s PYB Hawkins (Sorry)
The main question mark is at the QB position. The coach’s son, Cody, has been given the keys to drive the car the last two seasons, but his Dow Jones type play has made it seem like he was playing back with Westbrook and Carruth(get out that trunk). Statistically speaking, he doesn’t seem too bad, but his bad decisions or lack of decision has been unbearable at times. Soph Tyler Hansen showed potential when miraculously Cody was pulled last season, but his happy feet and freshman jitters led to some mistakes. So if he can control his boogie shoes, he might be able to overcome Cody and be named the starter. But then that leads to another problem. Besides the reliable but not threatening Scotty Mcknight, our receivers have zero experience. The big play threat (and mainly just a threat, not actual fact) Josh Smith left to pursue music at UCLA. So hopefully our highly praised JC recruit Andre Simmons can provide some excitement. Now on to the backs- Darrell Scott, Rodney Stewart, Brian Lockridge, and Demetrius Sumler- the real source of any hope for success lies with them. Stewart was off to a great season but suffered a broken leg against the Aggies. Lockridge missed all last year, but avg. 5.7 ypc freshman year. Mr. Scott, our prized recruit of 2008, came in a bit overwhelmed and got banged up--never getting to show his potential. He comes into this season “in the best shape of his life”(we’ve heard this before). D. Sumler is just a hard running, steady back who led the team in rushing TDs. If the youthful, but promising, line can come thru, there should be an improvement on those 5 wins last year.
Defensively, the Buffs were pretty subpar last year but I blame a lot of it on our paltry offense, which only produced a little over 20 PPG. DE Nick Kasa, the big-name recruit this year, already has been injured, so the line is going to be filled with Cabbage Patch Kids after losing some solid seniors. The backers are pretty solid lead by Jeff Smart and Shaun Mohler who contributed heavily last year. Getting back Jon Major(ACL last year) and Michael Sipilli(suspended last year) should increase the depth there. Big Jimmy Smith is the top corner in the secondary. He definitely will have to be a stud this year if the line can’t get any pressure. The Brown boys- Cha’pelle and Jalil are pretty reliable also at the corner. And Ray Polk aka Ray-Ray, the 2008 redshirt recruit from Scream Phoenix, has made the switch from the backfield to safety for this season and has been quite impressive so they say. Normally I would skip the kicking game, but when your kicker who’s name is ironically Goodman goes 5-14 last year, this is a cause of concern also.
Well let me wrap this up. With a pretty solid non-conference schedule including key games at West Virginia, the Buffs need to come out all hoofs kicking. Big games with Texas and Oklahoma State on the road might be impossible. Having Missouri and Kansas(I detest that wheat waving crap) at Boulder give faint possibilities for wins. And the Huskers game is always a crapshoot as of late. The team is loaded with UPSIDE, but Hawkins track record of 13-24 is disheartening. Especially with only TWO wins on the road IN 3 YEARS(I just recently realized this- WOW!!) I’m realistically calling 7-5. Finish 8-4, I’ll drop streamers from the roof and let off some firecrackers. Finish 9-3, I’m hopping on Ralphie. 10 wins?- it’s PYB Hawkins (Sorry)
What's next...an even longer diatribe about Idaho...Three sentences would have sufficed.
ReplyDeleteFile this under "Who gives a shit!" Best thing about CU is Hawkins' sweet helmet of hair!
We will devote 10 pages to the Great Frank Solich next week, you should be happy.
ReplyDeleteHey keep your seat belt on buddy. File this under "If CU really raises your blood pressure up 10 poins, maybe you should look elsewhere" Thanks for reading!
ReplyDeleteAgain...it's CU.
ReplyDeleteUnless you want to discuss how Hawkins manages to achieve that uber-coif, where you can score the best blow in the Pearl Street Mall (shouldn't be that hard), if Hawkins has another spawn ready to take the reigns at QB (what is this Pop Warner?), or how 46-19 ever becam a "rivalry", I'm all ears. Until then, it's like the barber said..."NEXT!"