What's new
AllBuffs | Unofficial fan site for the University of Colorado at Boulder Athletics programs

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Prime Time. Prime Time. Its a new era for Colorado football. Consider signing up for a club membership! For $20/year, you can get access to all the special features at Allbuffs, including club member only forums, dark mode, avatars and best of all no ads ! But seriously, please sign up so that we can pay the bills. No one earns money here, and we can use your $20 to keep this hellhole running. You can sign up for a club membership by navigating to your account in the upper right and clicking on "Account Upgrades". Make it happen!

Phil Steele speaks. Hope his impressions were good.

hawg1

Club Member
Club Member
I have watched a ton of spring games so far. The most informative game for me (most notes on players) BY FAR had been the Colorado game.

Phil Steele Tweet
 
I think this board seems to have gained more information than in past spring games as well, so I'm glad Phil was watching intently. On the positive side, it should be noticeable the improvements at the skill positions over the last two years. As a negative, everything I've read says that the linemen on both sides of the ball did not demonstrate anything to suggest they'll be seen as the strength of the team in conference play this year. The brand new additions in Witherspoon and Walker contributing immediately should be a sign of how deplorable the depth has been since the end of the Hawkins years but also could signal the gradual improvement in the talent of the roster that Mac and Co. are undertaking. 2 months until the Phil Steele previews make publication.
 
Lots of coaches don't play 'real' games so as not to give too much info out. Hope this "information" doesn't lead to lame spring games in the future.
 
Lots of coaches don't play 'real' games so as not to give too much info out. Hope this "information" doesn't lead to lame spring games in the future.

Very well could be that M2 was really testing to see where his team is. Im fine with that. Were predictable enough that it will not matter when fall comes.

I take his decision to take a lot of notes, since he's all about betting and the spread, that maybe he sees an upset in our future. Or a chance to actually predict when and how we will win and lose for a change. I can't imagine that all the coaching changes made it us easy to handicap in terms of the spread.
 
If I was watching games at a national level and was taking in the CU game....

I would have reviewed what notes I had from last year. Would have seen O-line strength as the greatest issue with this team, and the key reason why CU did not have success in-conference.

I would have been watching specifically to see if there was an improvement in that area.

My questions would have been answered.

I would love to think that Mr Steele was scrutinizing at the same level we do, but c'mon. Have to believe he had one or two questions and they were answered. My guess is, second question would have been can CU come close to replacing the production lost from P Rich's departure - if you looked at that from a "Moneyball" perspective the answer could be yes. But the fact remains CU was not productive in conference with P Rich, so some passing success inter-squad wouldn't do much to move the needle for predicting wins next year vs the P12.

I think he can now predict a similar season this year as last with the team continuing to improve within that record, and with a note to watch for more over time.

However!!!

Coach MM's mo was beating big time programs with lesser talent, if Steele held him to the SJSU model maybe he was looking for and saw some potential among 'his' recruits and the fact that young guys are contributing and being voted in as captains. Fun to speculate at what someone in that position pulls as 'informative' out of spring games.
 
Here is my optimistic blurb regarding the buffs and their spring game . . .

"The Buffs look like a team that's finally ready to turn the corner in almost every phase of the game. The defense looks good with some great talent and perhaps even depth in the secondary. On offense, they have a natural leader behind center, some interesting young players that may turn heads are receiver, and a solid committee of running backs. But the Buffs Achilles' heel is their offensive line. How far can a team go in the PAC 12 with a sub par line that also has virtually no depth at all? I guess we'll find out . . . "

I didn't mention TE either.
 
I think all Phil meant was that the Buffs actually played football for the spring game.

Throw in that 2 QBs played nearly all the snaps and there was simply a lot more flow to it than others games. You could evaluate who did and did not stand out.

One thing I noticed after re-watching was that Gillam blew up several plays that were otherwise blocked and executed perfectly. That dude is a special talent.
 
I think all Phil meant was that the Buffs actually played football for the spring game.

Throw in that 2 QBs played nearly all the snaps and there was simply a lot more flow to it than others games. You could evaluate who did and did not stand out.

One thing I noticed after re-watching was that Gillam blew up several plays that were otherwise blocked and executed perfectly. That dude is a special talent.

I am looking forward to him as an upperclassmen. Kid simply has some instincts that you have to be born with.
 
I take his comments as a good thing. Sounds like we left an impression on him. I am assuming a good impression. And, as nik says, we probably put more out there to see than most teams do.
 
Spring game football is far from a finished product most of the time from what I've seen. It's often about giving reps to a lot of different people so coaches can continue to evaluate who will earn what position on the roster, drilling down and working on specific areas the coaches have identified for improvement, etc.

It's a lot of fun for fans because we get a sneak peek at what we might see on the field next season, but I question how predictive it is. Might vary by school. Some schools seem to want to put on more of a show vs. others don't want to give stuff away and are running a bunch of basic stuff from the playbook.
 
Back
Top