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By Stuart
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[h=3]“Just Keep Believing, and We’ll Keep Battling”[/h]–
Sometimes numbers lie.
Sometimes they tell too much.
Colorado is in its fourth year as a member of the Pac-12 conference. In all likelihood, it will end its fourth year later this month*with a grand total of four conference victories.
To date, the Buffs’ record, in their new conference is 4-29.
Four wins … Twenty nine defeats.
Coach Mike MacIntyre’s contribution to that total … 1-14.
Those are mind-numbing numbers, and while it may well be*true that the 2014 team could beat the snot out of the 2011, 2012, and 2013 teams, it is also true that the 2014 squad is well on its way to becoming the first team at the University of Colorado to go winless in conference play in almost a century. Unless the Buffs can beat No. 12 Arizona or No. 5 Oregon on the road, or take down No. 17 Utah at home, this will be the first team at CU to go without a conference win since the*Buffs went 0-5 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play … in 1915.
True enough, there were plenty of positives*for the Buffs coming out of*the 38-23 loss to Washington:
- Colorado had a two score*advantage – twice – taking 17-7 and 20-10 leads. Instead of coming out sluggish in the first quarter, the Buffs scored on their first three possessions of the game;
- The Buffs had 495 yards of total offense, marking the first time in school history that a CU offensive unit has generated over 400 yards of total offensive in eight consecutive games;
- The Colorado defense surrendered only 24 of the 38 points posted by Washington. Playing without star linebacker Addison Gillam (illness), and safeties Tedric Thompson and Terrel Smith (concussions), the Buff defense*nonetheless was able to do its part in the second half, holding the Husky offense scoreless after Washington took its first lead of the game, at 24-23;
- The Buff defense held the Husky offense to two-for-11 on third down conversions;
- Colorado came into the game ranked 121st in the nation in red zone defense, giving up 34 scores in 35 enemy penetrations. Washington, which came into the game with the nation’s ninth-best red zone offense, managed only two scores in four attempts (losing two fumbles);
- Sefo Liufau continues to set new school records on a weekly basis. Before Liufau came along, no Buff quarterback, in the history of the program, had thrown a touchdown pass in ten consecutive games. Liufau, with two touchdown passes against Washington, has now thrown a touchdown pass in every one of the 17 games in which he has played. His streak of multiple touchdown pass games is now up to 12, the longest current streak in the nation;
- Nelson Spruce, who came into the 2014 season with 99 career catches, has 90 through the first nine games of the 2014 season. Last fall, Paul Richardson set the new single season standard at Colorado with 83 catches. Spruce passed that record in the second quarter against Washington, and in the next game or two will become the first Buff player in history to record over 100 catches in a season;
- Against Washington, Spruce had 13 catches for 138 yards. Two months ago, the 13 catches would have set a new school record. Now, it’s just another day at the office for the CU junior. After setting the new standard of 13 against Hawai’i (the old record was 11), Spruce went out and crushed that record with 19 catches against Cal;
- Freshman wide receiver Shay Fields, with two catches against Washington, now has 40 on the season, breaking a 32-year old school record for freshmen of 39 catches, set by Chris McLemore in 1982;
By the same token, there were negatives – too many negatives – coming out of the Washington game for the Buffs to overcome:
- Sefo Liufau threw his 12th interception of the season, most amongst quarterbacks in the Pac-12. That the interception came just seconds after Washington had taken its first lead of the game – and was returned for a touchdown – multiplied the negative effect.
- Washington had 298 yards of total offense*at halftime, coming on just 34 plays (8.7 yards per play). Linebacker turned running back Shaq Thompson had 151 yards rushing on ten carries – a nifty 15.1 yards per*carry -*to go with a 41 yard reception*for 192 yards of total offense in the first two quarters. Had Thompson not been limited by injury in the second half, there would be talk of record offensive numbers … by a player who was a full-time linebacker three weeks ago.
- There has been much discussion about how Colorado had been out-scored 93-45 in the first quarter this season. The Buffs turned that around somewhat against the Huskies, winning the first quarter, 10-7. What hasn’t been discussed as often is how poorly Colorado has played in the third quarter this fall. Out-scored 89-45 coming into the Washington game, the Buffs were out-scored by the Huskies, 14-3, in the decisive third frame of this game.
- The Buffs keep finding new ways to lose. Colorado had not given up a non-offensive touchdown all season … then gave up two in less than six minutes. An interception for a touchdown and a punt return for a touchdown are killers to an underdog, and the Buffs allowed both to the Huskies in the second half.
Perhaps the most disconcerting part of the loss came after the game, in coach Mike MacIntyre’s post-game quotes. You can the write*the comments*off to frustration or*to post-game emotion.
Or you can see them as potential *****s in the armor.
Let’s take a look:
When asked what the loss said about the Buffs, MacIntyre said: “It just says that we’re young.* We had a freshman fumble the ball twice” … Well, there were options other than Phillip Lindsay, coach. Lindsay was sent back to return a kick moments after fumbling the ball on offense. The result – another fumble. Let’s not blame freshmen for playing like freshmen.
When asked about linebacker turned running back Shaq Thompson running over his defense, MacIntyre said: “In the first half, we didn’t roll-tackle the big back like had worked on, but in the second half we did and it made all of the difference in the world.* Once you get trucked, you have to listen to the coaching and do what we ask you to do … That’s something that they’ve done about 100 times since August”. In games played in November, is it the players’ fault for not executing, or the coaches’ fault for not properly preparing the players?
Then there was this, which was the most*troubling …
When asked about getting over the hump and finally winning games, MacIntyre said: “We play in a tough league.* It’s going to take a while.* My mentor at Duke [Head Coach David Cutcliffe] didn’t win six games until his fifth year.* Then he won 10 and they’re going to win 10 again this year”.
Red Flag No. 1 … Colorado didn’t hire David Cutcliffe’s protégé. Colorado hired the San Jose State head coach who went from one win, to five wins, to ten wins in his third season. Now, don’t get me wrong. No one with an I.Q. above room temperature has believed in weeks that Colorado was going to go to a bowl game this fall, and no one is projecting*that the Buffs will win ten games next season. That being said, it sounds as if the three year plan to get to a bowl game has now been turned into a five year plan.
It sounds as if coach MacIntyre is prepping the press and the Buff Nation for three more losses this November, and an eight game losing streak heading into the 2015 season.
But MacIntyre was not done. After bringing up Duke and David Cutcliffe, MacIntyre continued: “When we went there (to Duke), they were the worst BCS program in the country.* When I came here, this was the worst BCS program in the country”.
Red Flag No. 2 … Over the past 23 months, I have read or listened to most of what Coach MacIntyre has had to say. This is the first time in my recollection that he has referred to the CU situation he entered into as “the worst BCS program in the country”. To me, this bears too much of a resemblance to Dan Hawkins ranting about how the CU program – a program which had won four Big 12 North titles in the previous five seasons – had been “burned to the ground” prior to his arrival … but only after it was obvious he couldn’t turn it around.
Now, truth be told, Colorado was the worst BCS program in the country when Mike MacIntyre arrived. But this is*not something the Buff Nation (or the players who were on that team which are still in his locker room) want to hear. If you take your car into a mechanic when it is not running, you don’t want the mechanic to come out to the waiting room three hours later, hand you a bill, and declare the car has problems. You want him to fix the damn car.
Buff fans don’t want to hear about the problems facing the CU football program, they want them*fixed. Mike MacIntyre is not being paid $2 million per year to tell us how bad the situation is. He is being paid to turn it around.
What makes this worse is to have to watch what is presently*happening in Berkeley. While Colorado may have been the worst BCS program in 2012, California was the worst BCS program in 2013. Last season, Cal defeated – with a late touchdown – the Portland State Vikings, and lost every other game. The Bears went 0-9 in Pac-12 play, were within two touchdowns in only one game in conference play, and finished the season with a 63-13 loss to rival Stanford. Truly, the 2013 Bears were as bad as the 2012 Buffs.
This season, the Bears are 5-4 and talking about a bowl bid.
That turnaround took place in a year.*CU is*two years removed from being the “worst team in the BCS”, and are now – realistically – only four of five slots above that title.
Coach MacIntyre did have words of encouragement for the Buff Nation, fans cheering for a program now*guaranteed a ninth consecutive losing season:**“We’re moving our way up.* We are in fourth quarters, we are in football games and we’re going to win some of them.* I don’t look at this like the world is coming to the end.* I look at this as an opportunity to improve.* I didn’t think that we were overmatched today”.
When asked about giving a message of optimism for CU’s fans, MacIntyre said: ““Just keep believing and we’ll keep battling.* Anything can happen.* That’s what we’ll keep telling our players while we keep fighting and pushing.* That’s all that you can do”.
That’s true. All the Buff fans can do is keep believing.
We have nowhere else to go.
——
Originally posted by CU At the Game
Click here to vie
–
[h=3]“Just Keep Believing, and We’ll Keep Battling”[/h]–
Sometimes numbers lie.
Sometimes they tell too much.
Colorado is in its fourth year as a member of the Pac-12 conference. In all likelihood, it will end its fourth year later this month*with a grand total of four conference victories.
To date, the Buffs’ record, in their new conference is 4-29.
Four wins … Twenty nine defeats.
Coach Mike MacIntyre’s contribution to that total … 1-14.
Those are mind-numbing numbers, and while it may well be*true that the 2014 team could beat the snot out of the 2011, 2012, and 2013 teams, it is also true that the 2014 squad is well on its way to becoming the first team at the University of Colorado to go winless in conference play in almost a century. Unless the Buffs can beat No. 12 Arizona or No. 5 Oregon on the road, or take down No. 17 Utah at home, this will be the first team at CU to go without a conference win since the*Buffs went 0-5 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play … in 1915.
True enough, there were plenty of positives*for the Buffs coming out of*the 38-23 loss to Washington:
- Colorado had a two score*advantage – twice – taking 17-7 and 20-10 leads. Instead of coming out sluggish in the first quarter, the Buffs scored on their first three possessions of the game;
- The Buffs had 495 yards of total offense, marking the first time in school history that a CU offensive unit has generated over 400 yards of total offensive in eight consecutive games;
- The Colorado defense surrendered only 24 of the 38 points posted by Washington. Playing without star linebacker Addison Gillam (illness), and safeties Tedric Thompson and Terrel Smith (concussions), the Buff defense*nonetheless was able to do its part in the second half, holding the Husky offense scoreless after Washington took its first lead of the game, at 24-23;
- The Buff defense held the Husky offense to two-for-11 on third down conversions;
- Colorado came into the game ranked 121st in the nation in red zone defense, giving up 34 scores in 35 enemy penetrations. Washington, which came into the game with the nation’s ninth-best red zone offense, managed only two scores in four attempts (losing two fumbles);
- Sefo Liufau continues to set new school records on a weekly basis. Before Liufau came along, no Buff quarterback, in the history of the program, had thrown a touchdown pass in ten consecutive games. Liufau, with two touchdown passes against Washington, has now thrown a touchdown pass in every one of the 17 games in which he has played. His streak of multiple touchdown pass games is now up to 12, the longest current streak in the nation;
- Nelson Spruce, who came into the 2014 season with 99 career catches, has 90 through the first nine games of the 2014 season. Last fall, Paul Richardson set the new single season standard at Colorado with 83 catches. Spruce passed that record in the second quarter against Washington, and in the next game or two will become the first Buff player in history to record over 100 catches in a season;
- Against Washington, Spruce had 13 catches for 138 yards. Two months ago, the 13 catches would have set a new school record. Now, it’s just another day at the office for the CU junior. After setting the new standard of 13 against Hawai’i (the old record was 11), Spruce went out and crushed that record with 19 catches against Cal;
- Freshman wide receiver Shay Fields, with two catches against Washington, now has 40 on the season, breaking a 32-year old school record for freshmen of 39 catches, set by Chris McLemore in 1982;
By the same token, there were negatives – too many negatives – coming out of the Washington game for the Buffs to overcome:
- Sefo Liufau threw his 12th interception of the season, most amongst quarterbacks in the Pac-12. That the interception came just seconds after Washington had taken its first lead of the game – and was returned for a touchdown – multiplied the negative effect.
- Washington had 298 yards of total offense*at halftime, coming on just 34 plays (8.7 yards per play). Linebacker turned running back Shaq Thompson had 151 yards rushing on ten carries – a nifty 15.1 yards per*carry -*to go with a 41 yard reception*for 192 yards of total offense in the first two quarters. Had Thompson not been limited by injury in the second half, there would be talk of record offensive numbers … by a player who was a full-time linebacker three weeks ago.
- There has been much discussion about how Colorado had been out-scored 93-45 in the first quarter this season. The Buffs turned that around somewhat against the Huskies, winning the first quarter, 10-7. What hasn’t been discussed as often is how poorly Colorado has played in the third quarter this fall. Out-scored 89-45 coming into the Washington game, the Buffs were out-scored by the Huskies, 14-3, in the decisive third frame of this game.
- The Buffs keep finding new ways to lose. Colorado had not given up a non-offensive touchdown all season … then gave up two in less than six minutes. An interception for a touchdown and a punt return for a touchdown are killers to an underdog, and the Buffs allowed both to the Huskies in the second half.
Perhaps the most disconcerting part of the loss came after the game, in coach Mike MacIntyre’s post-game quotes. You can the write*the comments*off to frustration or*to post-game emotion.
Or you can see them as potential *****s in the armor.
Let’s take a look:
When asked what the loss said about the Buffs, MacIntyre said: “It just says that we’re young.* We had a freshman fumble the ball twice” … Well, there were options other than Phillip Lindsay, coach. Lindsay was sent back to return a kick moments after fumbling the ball on offense. The result – another fumble. Let’s not blame freshmen for playing like freshmen.
When asked about linebacker turned running back Shaq Thompson running over his defense, MacIntyre said: “In the first half, we didn’t roll-tackle the big back like had worked on, but in the second half we did and it made all of the difference in the world.* Once you get trucked, you have to listen to the coaching and do what we ask you to do … That’s something that they’ve done about 100 times since August”. In games played in November, is it the players’ fault for not executing, or the coaches’ fault for not properly preparing the players?
Then there was this, which was the most*troubling …
When asked about getting over the hump and finally winning games, MacIntyre said: “We play in a tough league.* It’s going to take a while.* My mentor at Duke [Head Coach David Cutcliffe] didn’t win six games until his fifth year.* Then he won 10 and they’re going to win 10 again this year”.
Red Flag No. 1 … Colorado didn’t hire David Cutcliffe’s protégé. Colorado hired the San Jose State head coach who went from one win, to five wins, to ten wins in his third season. Now, don’t get me wrong. No one with an I.Q. above room temperature has believed in weeks that Colorado was going to go to a bowl game this fall, and no one is projecting*that the Buffs will win ten games next season. That being said, it sounds as if the three year plan to get to a bowl game has now been turned into a five year plan.
It sounds as if coach MacIntyre is prepping the press and the Buff Nation for three more losses this November, and an eight game losing streak heading into the 2015 season.
But MacIntyre was not done. After bringing up Duke and David Cutcliffe, MacIntyre continued: “When we went there (to Duke), they were the worst BCS program in the country.* When I came here, this was the worst BCS program in the country”.
Red Flag No. 2 … Over the past 23 months, I have read or listened to most of what Coach MacIntyre has had to say. This is the first time in my recollection that he has referred to the CU situation he entered into as “the worst BCS program in the country”. To me, this bears too much of a resemblance to Dan Hawkins ranting about how the CU program – a program which had won four Big 12 North titles in the previous five seasons – had been “burned to the ground” prior to his arrival … but only after it was obvious he couldn’t turn it around.
Now, truth be told, Colorado was the worst BCS program in the country when Mike MacIntyre arrived. But this is*not something the Buff Nation (or the players who were on that team which are still in his locker room) want to hear. If you take your car into a mechanic when it is not running, you don’t want the mechanic to come out to the waiting room three hours later, hand you a bill, and declare the car has problems. You want him to fix the damn car.
Buff fans don’t want to hear about the problems facing the CU football program, they want them*fixed. Mike MacIntyre is not being paid $2 million per year to tell us how bad the situation is. He is being paid to turn it around.
What makes this worse is to have to watch what is presently*happening in Berkeley. While Colorado may have been the worst BCS program in 2012, California was the worst BCS program in 2013. Last season, Cal defeated – with a late touchdown – the Portland State Vikings, and lost every other game. The Bears went 0-9 in Pac-12 play, were within two touchdowns in only one game in conference play, and finished the season with a 63-13 loss to rival Stanford. Truly, the 2013 Bears were as bad as the 2012 Buffs.
This season, the Bears are 5-4 and talking about a bowl bid.
That turnaround took place in a year.*CU is*two years removed from being the “worst team in the BCS”, and are now – realistically – only four of five slots above that title.
Coach MacIntyre did have words of encouragement for the Buff Nation, fans cheering for a program now*guaranteed a ninth consecutive losing season:**“We’re moving our way up.* We are in fourth quarters, we are in football games and we’re going to win some of them.* I don’t look at this like the world is coming to the end.* I look at this as an opportunity to improve.* I didn’t think that we were overmatched today”.
When asked about giving a message of optimism for CU’s fans, MacIntyre said: ““Just keep believing and we’ll keep battling.* Anything can happen.* That’s what we’ll keep telling our players while we keep fighting and pushing.* That’s all that you can do”.
That’s true. All the Buff fans can do is keep believing.
We have nowhere else to go.
——
Originally posted by CU At the Game
Click here to vie
