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Impressed by the coaching in Game 1

Buffnik

Real name isn't Nik
Club Member
Junta Member
Every year, CSU seems to pull a trick play on offense and uses some defensive stunts that our OL can't deal with.

Every year, CSU seems to play with greater focus and intensity than the Buffs.

Even though we've won like 5/7, it rarely feels like CU out-played CSU.

There was a different feel this year.

It starts with HCMM embracing this game. From all his comments and body language, it's clear that if you put a challenge in front of him that he immerses himself in the moment of it and legitimately enjoys the experience. That rubs off on the team. All we heard from him was how this was a great rivalry, a great venue, a great thing for the state, a great way to kick off the season, and a great opportunity for his football team. This is precisely the attitude the HC should have and it rubs off on his staff and team.

This year, the Buffs matched CSU's intensity. There was no feeling of CSU playing harder. Maybe CSU will always want it just a bit more, but I'm now confident that CU won't come out flat for the RMS.

On the big plays from offense and defense, CSU did nothing this year that surprised CU. Players picked things up and were rarely out of position. There were some first game mistakes, but it was CSU that looked off balance by play calling. Not just the offensive play calling that opened up some broken coverages, but the defensive playcalling left CSU searching for an answer. The most impressive thing about the defense was that it was completely vanilla. CU pretty much lined up in base, adjusted to formation, and then just beat CSU's guys with our guys. Scheme wasn't designed to take risks in order to create advantages. Instead, it put our players in position to do their jobs, win their individual battles, and make plays.

On top of that, we had effective adjustments during the game. Here, I'd point mostly to special teams. CU coverage teams struggled the entire first half and then CSU broke a couple in the 3rd quarter. That's not the type of thing that can be fixed during the game. That takes film study and practice. Maybe some personnel changes. So the CU coaches decided that since their defense was winning against CU's offense, they were better off avoiding big ST plays even if they had to give up some field position. We got the rugby punts and squib kickoffs. Decisive moves that kept things from getting out of hand.

Next, the team responded to adversity. After losing the lead in the 3rd quarter, the Buffs delivered and 18-3 4th quarter. That's huge for the psyche of this team. HCMM's comment to the team after the last CSU ST play was telling. He emphasized how much fun this was. It's a rivalry. CSU made a play, now we get to answer. Love it.

Finally, the team closed the game. There's some "clutch" that's being developed. Oliver nailed pressure field goals. O'Neill coffin cornered a punt when it was sorely needed. Defense stoned CSU deep in its end when needed. Defense got 3rd and 4th down stops all game and especially in crunch time. And the offense, getting the ball up 6 with about 4 minutes to go, went for the jugular instead of playing "not to lose". 75 yards to P-Rich and couches started burning.

We're seeing a culture shift. We're seeing guys who we had written off realize their potential. At the end of last year, who thought that Wood would be completing 65% of his passes and throwing for 400 yards without a pick? Who thought that DD Goodson would be a key playmaker? Who thought Bell would be the answer to solving our coverage issues in the deep middle?

As HCMM said after the game, the team showed that it could play with a chip on its shoulder when no one was singing its praises. And now the challenge is to respond this week when folks are singing its praises. How will the Buffs deal with success? In recent years, they haven't been able to handle it during a game or coming off a win. This is an important challenge to overcome and the next step in rebuilding the culture.

I've seen nothing to make me believe that they won't meet this next challenge.
 
yups. not sure on our deep coverage quite yet. The only time CSU went deep was down the sideline against Parker. It worked for 40.
 
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I initially predicted a loss to CSU. The week leading up to the game MacIntyre was saying all the right things. You could tell he legitimately cared for the game and was preparing according. But most importantly he respected CSU. Embree just expected to line-up and win without putting in the work. In the days prior to kick-off, I had zero doubts we were going to win the game.
 
yups. not sure on our deep coverage quite yet. The only time CU went deep was down the sideline against Parker.

I'm assuming it wasn't there. They've got 2 good TEs. I thought they'd kill our safeties and LBs in the seam. We couldn't defend that the past several years. But... they got NOTHING.
 
Biggest things that stood out to me during the game.

As you mentioned the shift in kicking strategies. The coaches were paying attention and knew what adjustments to make. No guess work.

Defense played hard. We should have had two interceptions in addition to the fumble. They were in good position all game. As Coach Mac has said, the other team will make plays, but you have to respond and make more. The defense did this, and stepped up in crunch time. They shut down CSU in the 4th quarter it really was impressive. Now lets see how they do against a better opponent.

The offense was obviously solid as well and really only had one trick play as well with the reverse. Connor was poised. PRich was quick and showed off his great hands. DD showed what kind of ability he brings to the slot position. Spruce showed why people have been calling him McKnight 2.0. Tyler McCulloch showed that he has the potential to be that big possession target we have been missing, he needs to learn some footwork though and how to sell contact to the officials. TE played solid underneath. Not too much YAC, but good 6yd grabs underneath. The run game needs improvement, but I am not sure where. O-Line did good in pass protection, and I saw some holes for the runners but To Jo ran into his blockers. We will have to see how Pow Pow does next week.

Mac and his staff were able to beat CSU soundly on both ends of the ball playing mostly their base packages. That bodes very well for the future.
 
I'm assuming it wasn't there. They've got 2 good TEs. I thought they'd kill our safeties and LBs in the seam. We couldn't defend that the past several years. But... they got NOTHING.
on at least one of their failures to convert in our red zone there was a TE wide open down the middle (he ran a post). Grayson just missed him. Wide. ****ing. open.
 
I fully expected a loss against CSU and a very tortureous turnaround (which may still be coming), just due to the absolute trainwreck we were under Embree. I'm glad to say that I was absolutely wrong about the staff's ability to get this team that prepared that quickly to put a beatdown on CSU.

There are going to be plenty of rough spots this season, but if I see this team continue to build on what we saw on Saturday, then I have very high hope for the future.
 
I also expected a loss on Sunday. Going into the game the 1 key thing I wanted to see was coaches that looked like they know what they are doing and players at least showing an understanding of the offense and defense.

I was so impressed by the coaching staff and players in week one. The entire team was a 180 from any game last year. Players knew when they were substituting on both sides of the ball. The O played fast and there was not a single instance where they looked confused and didn't know where to line up. We didn't have any wasted time outs because we didn't get people on the field or they could not line up correctly.

The D played solid minimizing big plays. There were only a few instances where players were out of position. A huge change from any game last year where people were wide open on every other play. They also eliminated the damn 10 yard cushion that the CB's were giving all last year. I was happy to see that CSU could not just throw the quick 5 yard out or slant the entire game.

One player on D that really stood out for me was Crawley He made some great tackles and was solid in pass coverage.
 
that #44 on "d" the supposed two star recruit looked like a 5 star recruit to me!
 
Great write up Nik!

We all know that this game is 90% mental and I believe that is our staff's specialty. We won't have the most talented team on the field all year, but we'll have a mentality that will keep us in games. At least, that's what signs are pointing towards.

You could tell that Wood was able to just go out and play without having to think about 100 things at once. He has all the abilities to be a great CU QB. Lindgren has done a phenomenal job already.

I actually liked seeing a vanilla defense. I know we didn't get great pressure, but we also kept the offense in front of us and prevented a lot of big plays. We tackled! I would like to see our LB's play a little more physical in the holes and getting off of blocks.

Our Kicker and Punter did a great job all game. They were up to the challenge. Our coverage teams were close on both returns but just made stupid mistakes. Easily corrected.

All great signs that have rejuvenated my hope for CU's future. Mike Mac and staff are what we hoped they'd be. I don't know if we'll get to a bowl game this year, but I'll be damn happy just to be close!

If this positive momentum keeps up, I can't see why we wouldn't open some doors to some high ranking recruits who will love the opportunity to compete for starting time in an up and coming BCS program. Let's get em!!!
 
You know, I wonder if just the experience at SJSU got the whole staff into the mode of never taking any games lightly. Sure, they went 10-2 last year, but at San Jose they couldn't afford to take anyone lightly. This weekend will be telling. If the team comes out flat, I'll eat some crow, but I don't think they're going to come out flat. Considering CSU has always been a trap for us, I don't think the FCS game will be either.
 
And a huge point that I forgot to put in the OP: dead ball penalties were not an issue for CU. That's damn impressive any game, but especially in week one for a team that has been plagued by this for years.
 
I can't wait until the Fresno State game. They return 16 starters from the team that kicked our ass last year. Signs are all pointing in the right direction after week 1, but THAT will be the game where we find out how much this team has improved (especially the secondary).
 
I'm gonna echo something Jax pointed out -- while I only saw most of the 4th quarter I did notice that the D kept everything in front of them. If you saw a CU player or players making a tackle, there we're still other defenders between the ball and the end zone. Welcome change.
 
I thought keeping the D vanilla was smart. Just having guys know their job and allow them to play fast made a difference. We'll see more blitz looks down the road probably when the guys get more comfortable.
 
And a huge point that I forgot to put in the OP: dead ball penalties were not an issue for CU. That's damn impressive any game, but especially in week one for a team that has been plagued by this for years.

:yeahthat:, also gotta give Connor some credit for that too. Gives me a little hope that we have not only found a competent staff, but a competent QB who is a a true leader. Having that will make the rebuilding process much smoother.
 
I love saying i told you so:) i have been saying hcmm is the real deal that coaches make a huge diference in trámite performance and that we were going to see a very different team this year.
Its too early to confirm but that Was a totally different team on the field
 
I love saying i told you so:) i have been saying hcmm is the real deal that coaches make a huge diference in trámite performance and that we were going to see a very different team this year.
Its too early to confirm but that Was a totally different team on the field

We are all happy to hear you say I told you so! A lot of good things happened on Sunday. However, I have never seen a first-game CU team this well prepared since old Mac. That is a very good sign.

I really hope our guys come out swinging on Saturday. Time to build some momentum.
 
And a huge point that I forgot to put in the OP: dead ball penalties were not an issue for CU. That's damn impressive any game, but especially in week one for a team that has been plagued by this for years.
Quoted for emphasis; as in, locusts ass-****ing frogs on a lake of blood, plagued.
 
on at least one of their failures to convert in our red zone there was a TE wide open down the middle (he ran a post). Grayson just missed him. Wide. ****ing. open.

Saw that. Happened right in front of us. You mean like PRich was "Wide. ****ing. open."?

As I recall, replay showed Buff DL was closing with their hands up, forcing a high, wide pass from Grayson. No sack, but the hands-up made a difference. Thanks to Jeffcoat for that. More than one way to blow up a good play.
 
Coolest thing I saw was Connor's confidence growing. They started out with short throws and running it, then they opened it up.
 
Coolest thing I saw was Connor's confidence growing. They started out with short throws and running it, then they opened it up.

Connor's confidence definitely grew, but I'm pretty sure the 85 yard bomb to PRich was the second offensive play of the game for CU. Regardless, I was very happy with the coaching on Saturday. However, tackling and special teams coverage have to get better if we want to win more than 2 games this year.
 
Signs of good coaching I saw:

No turnovers
Few big plays given up on defense and overall great discipline.
Despite the numerous substitutions, no delay of game or anything. Everyone knew what to do.
McElwain said they left PRich in single coverage twice, and both were scores. If that's true, it shows Connor can really read defenses.

This game exceeded any expectations I had, except what was called "KoolAid" at the time. This may be a KoolAid season, don't know. But I do know this team will be prepared for every game; they certainly won't win them all, but they will look like a legit FBS school.

So pumped! Go Buffs!!!!!
 
Connor's confidence definitely grew, but I'm pretty sure the 85 yard bomb to PRich was the second offensive play of the game for CU. Regardless, I was very happy with the coaching on Saturday. However, tackling and special teams coverage have to get better if we want to win more than 2 games this year.
It might have been, I was excited and forgot lol. They just busted that, the second long one, he just ran right by him. We had a 16 or 17 play drive, so they were executing. That reverse was a very good play call. The pass to DD was a big league throw as well.
 
To me, the lack of penalties is especially exciting because it's only week one. I don't know for sure, but is it safe to assume that most teams generally get better throughout the season?
 
Coolest thing I saw was Connor's confidence growing. They started out with short throws and running it, then they opened it up.

Buff fans now so bursting with confidence that we refer to an 86 yard completion as a "short throw". The rest of college football can suck it.
 
Buff fans now so bursting with confidence that we refer to an 86 yard completion as a "short throw". The rest of college football can suck it.

Well PRich did half the work lol. Connor ONLY threw that ball for like 35 yards
 
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