Official CU-UCLA Pregame/Game Thread

[4BienemyTDs]

I've posted this before.

Succeeding in the portal is like succeeding in high school recruiting. They have to have an infrastructure to evaluate talent and they have to be willing to work harder than the schools they are competing against.

We haven't seen them willing to commit the time, energy, and resources to high school recruiting and there is no indication they are willing to do that with the portal.

We need quality analyst, we need quality social media support, and most of all we need assistant coaches living out of hotels selling the program. We don't have any of that and the last one is by far the most important.

Silly question, but is it ever possible or is it already done by having superfans assist the AD with any part of recruiting in order to add muscle to the system? There are a ton of amazingly inciteful recruiting folks on AllBuffs and elsewhere that seem like could add hours of work to the organization.

 

[Da Lama]

Well, not all a$$ is bad. Some of it is delish.

Yeah, I guess I'd say we have 3-4 ballers. The rest is meh.

 

[Da Lama]

The class is good enough for the team to get better in a few places, and we have the QB, Running Backs, Wide Receivers, Cornerbacks coming back. We need to recruit our own players to come back and then Portal in as many OL DL LB as possible.

I'm betting we see a few decommits, though. Gotta keep the few ballers we have.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

Yeah, I guess I'd say we have 3-4 ballers. The rest is meh.

There’s an argument to be made that this class is on par w Tuckers 2020 class. I get it doesn’t have the 4* guys like Clayton, Harris and Gonzo, but it’s actually not as bad of a class right now as people are making it out to be… relative to CU standards of course

 

[Duff Man]

There’s an argument to be made that this class is on par w Tuckers 2020 class. I get it doesn’t have the 4* guys like Clayton, Harris and Gonzo, but it’s actually not as bad of a class right now as people are making it out to be… relative to CU standards of course

There are several players in the class getting very favorable ratings.

 

[Uncle Ken]

There are several players in the class getting very favorable ratings.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

There are several players in the class getting very favorable ratings.

Kind of like Clayton, Harris, and Jake Wray from 2020? It evens out from class to class

 

[Duff Man]

Kind of like Clayton, Harris, and Jake Wray from 2020? It evens out from class to class

It feels different in this class in terms of the bottom and middle of the class.

I don't see this class moving the needle at all.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

It feels different in this class in terms of the bottom and middle of the class.

I don't see this class moving the needle at all.

I agree it feels different because of everything going on with Dorrell and this staff, but the bottom of Tuckers class was utter dog****. The lowest rated recruits in this class are Travis Gray and Jordan Tyson. Gray at least has other P5 offers and Tyson is severely underrated and tearing it up for Allen HS.

 

[leftybuff]

It feels different in this class in terms of the bottom and middle of the class.

I don't see this class moving the needle at all.

Well, I guess it depends on which way you expect the needle to move.

 

[ZandiBuff]

The class is good enough for the team to get better in a few places, and we have the QB, Running Backs, Wide Receivers, Cornerbacks coming back. We need to recruit our own players to come back and then Portal in as many OL DL LB as possible.

You are mistakenly assuming we keep all of those. I see little to no chance we don't lose 2 WR and at least 1 RB.

No one wants to play WR when they get targeted once a game.

 

[Bliff Cranch]

You are mistakenly assuming we keep all of those. I see little to no chance we don't lose 2 WR and at least 1 RB.

No one wants to play WR when they get targeted once a game.

This. There is a huge risk of losing key contributors via the portal.

WR room could be affected disproportionately if Chev is let go as he recruited nearly all of that talent. And say what you might about Chev, it’s my bet that many of the players he recruited have a great deal of loyalty to him. Could get really ugly come spring.

 

[Duff Man]

I agree it feels different because of everything going on with Dorrell and this staff, but the bottom of Tuckers class was utter dog****. The lowest rated recruits in this class are Travis Gray and Jordan Tyson. Gray at least has other P5 offers and Tyson is severely underrated and tearing it up for Allen HS.

My point is there are several guys in that 84-85 range who don't seem much better than the bottom guys in 2020 (or even 2021) and yet they are 3-4 points higher in several cases.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

My point is there are several guys in that 84-85 range who don't seem much better than the bottom guys in 2020 (or even 2021) and yet they are 3-4 points higher in several cases.

I get your point on the 2020 bottom recruit ratings being lower (81-83ish) but Tyson, Gray, Mills, Ludwig, Boley and Conley feel significantly better than Stacks, Passarello, Lictenhaun, Anglen, Stryker, and Justin Jackson.

My point is, this class isn’t nearly as bad as people are making it out to be, assuming those same people believe Tuckers 2020 class was good.

 

[Duff Man]

I get your point on the 2020 bottom recruit ratings being lower (81-83ish) but Tyson, Gray, Mills, Ludwig, Boley and Conley feel significantly better than Stacks, Passarello, Lictenhaun, Anglen, Stryker, and Justin Jackson.

My point is, this class isn’t nearly as bad as people are making it out to be, assuming those same people believe Tuckers 2020 class was good.

The lowest rated recruits in this class are at least a point (in some cases several points) higher than any of the last 6-7 classes. Some very favorable bumps there.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

The lowest rated recruits in this class are at least a point (in some cases several points) higher than any of the last 6-7 classes. Some very favorable bumps there.

The old CU bump in recruit rating at play in this class but not the prior ones I guess?

 

[Duff Man]

The old CU bump in recruit rating at play in this class but not the prior ones I guess?

I just don't buy the floor of this class is miles ahead of previous classes. The ratings would tell you so though.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

I just don't buy the floor of this class is miles ahead of previous classes. The ratings would tell you so though.

I mean, if you don’t believe that Tyson is better than Jale Stacks, I don’t know what to tell you. There are other P5 offers for the bottom of this class. The 2020 class had none.

You’re also giving the bottom of prior classes the botd but then using the top of Tuckers class to bolster your argument. Harris, Clayton, Wray, Mister Williams, Devin Grant, Carson Lee??

There just isn’t a huge difference when you look at it from top to bottom

 

[Duff Man]

I mean, if you don’t believe that Tyson is better than Jale Stacks, I don’t know what to tell you. There are other P5 offers for the bottom of this class. The 2020 class had none.

You’re also giving the bottom of prior classes the botd but then using the top of Tuckers class to bolster your argument. Harris, Clayton, Wray, Mister Williams, Devin Grant, Carson Lee??

There just isn’t a huge difference when you look at it from top to bottom

I'm not giving the bottom of the previous classes the benefit of the doubt at all. Quite the opposite actually, they have mostly played to form. I just do not buy the bottom five players in this class are a LOT better in this class than in previous classes.

 

[Bliff Cranch]

Regardless of what recent year is looked at, aside from the occasional Gonzales’s and Rice’s, the classes have been filled with JAGs. Those JAGs got pounded by the fifth best team in the brutal PAC12 on Saturday night.

Recruiting is and has been awful.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

I am not suggesting this class is going to move the needle for this program by any stretch, but maybe we just need to back off the talk that the 2020 class was any better. This class is likely going to end up as the second best at CU, maybe the best, in over a decade by average recruit rating.

It’s a sad state of affairs.

 

[bigbang2]

Good first half, didnt finish. CU is a young team that don't know how to win games. Part of the growing pains. I am extremely concerned about the defense going forward without landman. Got to get faster and more athletic.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Well, I guess it depends on which way you expect the needle to move.

here please.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

Good first half, didnt finish. CU is a young team that don't know how to win games. Part of the growing pains. I am extremely concerned about the defense going forward without landman. Got to get faster and more athletic.

We all appreciate you perpetuating this “young team” narrative

 

[Da Lama]

There’s an argument to be made that this class is on par w Tuckers 2020 class. I get it doesn’t have the 4* guys like Clayton, Harris and Gonzo, but it’s actually not as bad of a class right now as people are making it out to be… relative to CU standards of course

It's not good. There are guys on there that are FCS role players at best. And that seems to be the level we're going after. It's not good. EOS.

 

[Da Lama]

There are several players in the class getting very favorable ratings.

Like 3-4. Let's be honest many of the rest are borderline 2/3 stars despite what their score is.

 

[hokiehead]

But millions more will claim they were there.

this is amazingly poor fan support. compare to CU:

• LA is the 2nd largest metro area in the US; Boulder is the 155th (Denver is 19th)
• UCLA actually has slightly larger enrollment than CU
• This wasn't their lowest attendance of the season, that was 33k (Hawaii); our lowest attendance this year was 44k (Northern CO)

someone remind me of this next time I rag on Coloradans for being so pro-sports focused. Californians seemingly have zero interest watching sports that are not played by multi-millionaires.

 

[hokiehead]

Broncos won the super bowl 5 years ago. Buffs haven’t been relevant for almost 20

we were relevant in 2016

Great first half. Lots of Buffs fans in attendance. The Rose Bowl has a very cool vibe. UCLA fans were extremely polite and welcoming. Like we were in Canada or something. Made the pre-game tailgate where RG was watching the basketball game. He is very comfortable in his position.
As for the game, although we were up 20-10 at half, I had a horrible feeling of dread. Our defense got torched a few times and just managed to get lucky with a few penalties. Sure enough, the second half comes around and UCLA has absolutely no trouble whatsoever moving the ball at will and the offense steps on its crank. ****ing infuriating. Here’s the deal: that second half wasn’t scheme or preparation. It was UCLAs athletes imposing their will on ours. Classic case of getting out-athleted. A five year old could have called halfback runs up the middle for 8 yards. UCLA wasn’t doing anything terribly complicated. They just won. Easily. Let that sink in.

awesome.

super jealous you got to see a game in the Rose Bowl. massive respect for road tripping that far when your team is such a big underdog.

...The whole reason for the switch to the PAC 12 was to re-engage west coast alumni...

1. noting this contradicts the typical narrative on Allbuffs that CU switched conferences to get away from Texas
2. if that indeed was the whole reason, the Pac12 was mistake from the start. Coloradans don't GAF about college sports and Californians take that to another level (see post above). <rhetorical> who really thought that CU moving to the Pac would start some interest in the sport in a region that hasn't cared about it in decades? </r>

 

[SINKRATZ]

this is amazingly poor fan support. compare to CU:

• LA is the 2nd largest metro area in the US; Boulder is the 155th (Denver is 19th)
• UCLA actually has slightly larger enrollment than CU
• This wasn't their lowest attendance of the season, that was 33k (Hawaii); our lowest attendance this year was 44k (Northern CO)

someone remind me of this next time I rag on Coloradans for being so pro-sports focused. Californians seemingly have zero interest watching sports that are not played by multi-millionaires.

The Rose Bowl is also 26 miles from campus. It’s as far from campus as Empower Field is from CU.

 

[sackman]

we were relevant in 2016

awesome.

super jealous you got to see a game in the Rose Bowl. massive respect for road tripping that far when your team is such a big underdog.

1. noting this contradicts the typical narrative on Allbuffs that CU switched conferences to get away from Texas
2. if that indeed was the whole reason, the Pac12 was mistake from the start. Coloradans don't GAF about college sports and Californians take that to another level (see post above). <rhetorical> who really thought that CU moving to the Pac would start some interest in the sport in a region that hasn't cared about it in decades? </r>

Different groups had different motivations for the move. The AD probably couldn’t have cared less, but the money was better in the PAC and ditching UT had its benefits. The CU admin wanted to capitalize on the big numbers of West Coast alumni who - in theory anyway - would regain some connection to the school if the football team was playing out there every year. That connection would - in theory anyway - lead to increased donations to the school. From what I can tell, that has happened. It would be a lot better if the football team didn’t suck, though.