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Reflection on the Spring game

Buff_since76

Still a fan...
Club Member
On father’s day I was hanging out with a buddy of mine, and we were talking CU football while watching our kids. I told him I was slightly optimistic regarding the start of the football season (this really isn’t a big deal since I always am), but what surprised me was his mild optimism (as he is a natural pessimist). I asked why, and said I need to go back and watch the spring game footage on cubffs.com. I looked at him a little puzzled and he said “when you watch think black=past and gold=future”. I told him that was a load of crap, and so we let the kids keep playing with Thomas the Train and watched the game on the web. The black team is the best metaphor fore the last 4 years of CU football I have ever seen. They start by showing little or no emotion when they take the field, while gold does the Haka. Then the game breaks down as follows:

Black offense

- Short throws that focus on one receiver who catches 60% of the completions
- Few throws over the middle (only 2-3 for the game including the flee flicker play)
o Once Cody gets the ball the field gets cut into 1/3, since he doesn’t throw over the middle
o No improvisation on plays since he doesn’t have good mobility
- The successful running plays are not by intention, rather they require change of direction and over pursuit by the defense
- Certain drives require penalties in order to continue the drive, other times are unable to recover from minor infractions
- Early turnover deep in opposing zone results in a missed field goal
- Seem to change game plan in order to play catch-up
- Have a turnover late in the game at a critical time that helps seal the loss

Looking at the halftime score of Gold 14 Black 7 reminded me of Kansas State, Iowa State, and West Virginia where I was saying to my friend “if only”, and “we needed one play and then…”. Then at the end of the game we would say “we had our chance to win, but instead we did…”

Gold offense

- Showed emotion before and during the game
- Threw the ball to multiple receivers and used the entire field
o This was the most noticeable difference between Tyler and Cody on film. Tyler would start to one side and work his way back while using the whole field, and Cody would focus to one side and the receivers in that area
- Once they started rolling they kept the defense on their heels by not falling into any type of pattern
- Had a 7 ½ minute drive that set the tone for the second half, even if they only scored a field goal
- Had very good play selection and didn’t allow the defense to focus on one area
- Running plays were successful run by design. The ball carrier used the gaps that were designated to run in for the play


My friend started to make me even more optimistic (god help me) so I decided to make a list of what the similarities are to last year (and why we will struggle again), and what is different (why we may succeed):

Similarities between 09 & 10:

- Lost our #1 receiving target in the offseason (Smith 09, Simas 10)
- Are thin at one skill position on offense (WR 09, RB 10)
- Have an offseason without a #1 QB (although I am pretty sure it will be TH)
- Trying to come up with a starting 5 for the O-line
- Looking for someone to step up on the D-line
- Still lack something special on special teams (punter, FG kicker, punt returner, and kick coverage)

Differences:

- Tyler is not recovering from thumb surgery, and is participating in (hopefully leading) summer drills
- The O-line isn’t learning a new system while our experienced players are also switching positions.
- No turnover on the O-line
- D-line isn’t being completely replaced with true & red shirt freshmen.
- The D-line can stunt, delay, and throw other wrenches at the o-line, giving them experience at picking up different sets
- Ron Prince! Having a receivers coach and passing game coordinator with his experience
- Wide receivers are experienced and we have depth at the position
- O-coordinator isn’t green, and has experience when things aren’t going right on the field

I left one big thing off of Similarities and that is of course the head coach. Last year I believe Hawk bit off more than he could chew. By having a first time offensive coordinator who was also passing game coordinator, and making himself the WR coach (nothing like having your boss be a subordinate at the same time) did he leave the offense under coached and lacking proper chain of command? By not having anyone to truly oversee everything occurring on the practice field did too much slip through the cracks due to this lack of proper oversight? If any of this is true will the on the field product improve and allow the 2010 Buffs to play more like the Gold squad?

Sorry for the long post, work was slow and I had to write it.
 
This is all well and good, but when Hawkins comes out and announces Cody as the starter for the CSU game, all is lost. Don't put it past him. The guy is nuts. Certifiable.
 
Lets just hope the gold team takes the field against CSU and not the black team.. wouldn't put it past Hawkins.

That being said, good post
 
you better be right or im blaming everything on you and your buddy. how many beers in were you guys when you watched the vid? :smile2:
 
This is all well and good, but when Hawkins comes out and announces Cody as the starter for the CSU game, all is lost. Don't put it past him. The guy is nuts. Certifiable.

Sacky, you remind me of my darkest fears at times....I wonder if given enough time, DH will convince himself Cody is the answer. Is September enough time? I hope not.
 
I hope you're right about the Gold team being the future since they won the game, although it seems a lot of the analysis boils down to which QB was leading which team. Again, I hope you're right about gold being the future.
 
This is all well and good, but when Hawkins comes out and announces Cody as the starter for the CSU game, all is lost. Don't put it past him. The guy is nuts. Certifiable.


You trying to make me cry ?
 
Sacky, you remind me of my darkest fears at times....I wonder if given enough time, DH will convince himself Cody is the answer. Is September enough time? I hope not.

You trying to make me cry ?

Anybody with half a brain who watches this team knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Tyler Hansen is the better choice at quarterback. It's not debatable. It's painfully obvious. Yet all we hear from Dan is that the QB position is wide open, and there's competition for every position on the roster. What kind of hellified bullshat is that? Why would you make a statement like that? It defies all logical reason. Ludicrous? absolutely. Dan Hawkins is off his nut.
 
Only difference I needed to see in Spring to tell me which direction we BETTER be going:
- Black offense did the typcial 2-5 yard plays and any setbacks (e.g. penalty) was a big problem and lead to punts; moved the ball a bit but one hiccup and the drive ended
- Gold offense was able to put plays in that gained 10+ yards frequently and could overcome a penalty

I sure as hell hope we will be going the way of the Gold offense vs. what we have seen for multiple years.
 
Anybody with half a brain who watches this team knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Tyler Hansen is the better choice at quarterback. It's not debatable. It's painfully obvious. Yet all we hear from Dan is that the QB position is wide open, and there's competition for every position on the roster. What kind of hellified bullshat is that? Why would you make a statement like that? It defies all logical reason. Ludicrous? absolutely. Dan Hawkins is off his nut.
Well, I can't debate whether or not he is on or off his nut, but I will say that I believe Hansen will be the starting QB. You HAVE to prepare both guys, don't you? To me, the best way to prepare them is to at least make it seem like they are competing. I also do not think Hawkins makes the final decision. Yeah, I know, I'm off my nut. :smile2:

Clarification. He has the final sign off, as HC. But I believe he will go by what his coordinator/coaches recommend.
 
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I'd give Hawk a little more credit if he wasn't clearly trying to find any possible time to get Cody in the game last season after he was benched. He can't let him just be the clipboard holder, he wants his son to get some playing time.

"You just can't beat having a 5th year senior QB running your team."

"Cody and Tyler were very close and in the end Cody just knew the offense a little better."

"Cody graded out higher than Tyler during practice so we're going with Cody."

"Cody demonstrated the ability to lead this team to a championship!"
 
Anybody with half a brain who watches this team knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Tyler Hansen is the better choice at quarterback. It's not debatable. It's painfully obvious. Yet all we hear from Dan is that the QB position is wide open, and there's competition for every position on the roster. What kind of hellified bullshat is that? Why would you make a statement like that? It defies all logical reason. Ludicrous? absolutely. Dan Hawkins is off his nut.

The kicker is that Hawk has said that "it is obvious that Nate (Solder)" is our starter at left tackle, and I think he said the same about our cornerbacks too.

So, it isn't like "every position" is up for competition, or just "coach-speak".

The obvious talent gap at QB (the single most vital leadership position) makes the lack of a commitment to Tyler all the more mysterious.

This is one "Sacky-vision" that I will deny out of pure Ostrich-syndrome. I hope this is your one off-season "gut feeling" that misses the mark.

Or else the whole momentum gained with the move to the Pac-10 will be washed away in a tide of frustration.
 
On father’s day I was hanging out with a buddy of mine, and we were talking CU football while watching our kids. I told him I was slightly optimistic regarding the start of the football season (this really isn’t a big deal since I always am), but what surprised me was his mild optimism (as he is a natural pessimist). I asked why, and said I need to go back and watch the spring game footage on cubffs.com. I looked at him a little puzzled and he said “when you watch think black=past and gold=future”.


Nice post. Love the optimism and I'm with you there.
 
I'd give Hawk a little more credit if he wasn't clearly trying to find any possible time to get Cody in the game last season after he was benched. He can't let him just be the clipboard holder, he wants his son to get some playing time.

"You just can't beat having a 5th year senior QB running your team."

"Cody and Tyler were very close and in the end Cody just knew the offense a little better."

"Cody graded out higher than Tyler during practice so we're going with Cody."

"Cody demonstrated the ability to lead this team to a championship!"
Too much of this post is true for me to be comfortable....
 
If I hear 'Cody knows the offense better' one more time, I'll blow a gasket. WHAT OFFENSE?!?!!? Seriously. We haven't had an offense in five years. How can Cody know the offense better than Hansen when the coaches don't even know what offense they're trying to run?
 
If I hear 'Cody knows the offense better' one more time, I'll blow a gasket. WHAT OFFENSE?!?!!? Seriously. We haven't had an offense in five years. How can Cody know the offense better than Hansen when the coaches don't even know what offense they're trying to run?

He's got that Macchu Picchu mojo, you can't discount that.....
 
My first post so be kind. Die hard CU Fan.

DH knows he is out the door after this season. Why wouldn't he play his son?

O-line has tons of talent, but no coaching. They never engage defenders when blocking. All they do is back up. We need them to be physical.

John Elway couldn't complete passes behind our O-line, and Terrell Davis couldn't gain a yard.
 
My first post so be kind. Die hard CU Fan.

DH knows he is out the door after this season. Why wouldn't he play his son?

O-line has tons of talent, but no coaching. They never engage defenders when blocking. All they do is back up. We need them to be physical.

John Elway couldn't complete passes behind our O-line, and Terrell Davis couldn't gain a yard.

Welcome.

And Elway completed a lot of passes behind some pretty weak O-Lines. He played at Stanford, you know. They weren't exactly setting the world on fire. What Elway had was the ability to elude defenders and make a play. Seems like we have a guy at CU who has shown the ability to do the same thing. Strangely, he's in a "dead heat" with a lead footed, weak armed, short quarterback who just happens to be the head coach's son.
 
Welcome.

And Elway completed a lot of passes behind some pretty weak O-Lines. He played at Stanford, you know. They weren't exactly setting the world on fire. What Elway had was the ability to elude defenders and make a play. Seems like we have a guy at CU who has shown the ability to do the same thing. Strangely, he's in a "dead heat" with a lead footed, weak armed, short quarterback who just happens to be the head coach's son.

Couldn't agree more. Elway/TD comment was simply for effect and to show my frustration. I like Tyler's fire and skill and am praying that he starts. I am a father and will say that nepotism is very real. No way Cody sits all year holding a clipboard. Especially when DH knows he is gone after this year.
 
even the average fan can see that TH adds another dimension to the offense that Cody can't bring. I can't believe Cody is even being considered to have a shot as the starting QB.
 
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