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CU LB situation getting more bizarre...

buffsyko

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Now, before the " nothing to see crowd" gets worked up, I'm just laying out what's been presented to us via daily camera and other news sources.

Let's take a look at what some called the best LB group since 90/94.

Katoa- His status up in the air,MAY not play this season.

Mohlers- Still needs to pass some courses.

Major and Rippy are good to go for fall.

Now Jones and smart return but beyond that there are even more questions. Hawk states he's mentoring Sipili and Burton, this isn't the best of news. Neither have practiced the past couple days and burton had grade issues last year.

The coaches can only do so much, it's time for these players to get their grades in order.


I know this, if we look at a worse case scenario, cu is SCREWED at lb in 2008.

We would go from having 6-7 guys who can play to TWO.

Katoa,mohlers,sipili and burton. CU can not afford to have these 4 not play in 2008. We need at least 2 of these guys if not 3.

Now,we will have to see how the grades and classes come out for mohlers and I would guess for burton and sipili now. I think katoa will be out for this year but we'll see.


No excuse for all these grade issues,time for the players to step up.
 
As I mentioned in another thread, the Burton situation is the one that I am having a hard time understanding. The guy didn't play at all last year because of academics and he's still having troubles?

It is a very unsettled situation. Let's hope it all works itself out.
 
I wouldnt worry too much about Sip, he played well as a true freshaman and kept his grades in order then, I am sure he'll be back and ready come the fall. Hawk myabe mentoring him to help him catch up for the semester that was stolen from him.

Burton i would worry about, but since he didnt play last year its not really a "loss"

If your senario plays out as above we are in trouble, but this is a young team and things will happen, and we'll have set-backs.

The O is looking good and thats going to help us a lot over last year in just keeping our D off the field. Hopefully Mohler gets in, I think Katoa is def. not playing next year, and I am confident in Sip.
 
We also have Major, which no one has mentioned as an asset. It would be my guess that he will do very well academically next year since he was in good status in HS. I agree Mohler would be a big loss, but it sounds like the kid is busting his ass to get his work done which shows his commitment to the buffs. It could also be that Hawk is mentoring Sip in football related issues. Hawk might be explaining defensive schemes, are we sure its academic and not football related? Katoa will hurt us but it will not be the end of the world. Brad Jones had a great practice the past 2 days and I think he will step up and be the defensive leader he needs to be alongside Hypolite. Lets think positive here.
 
We also have Major, which no one has mentioned as an asset. It would be my guess that he will do very well academically next year since he was in good status in HS. I agree Mohler would be a big loss, but it sounds like the kid is busting his ass to get his work done which shows his commitment to the buffs. It could also be that Hawk is mentoring Sip in football related issues. Hawk might be explaining defensive schemes, are we sure its academic and not football related? Katoa will hurt us but it will not be the end of the world. Brad Jones had a great practice the past 2 days and I think he will step up and be the defensive leader he needs to be alongside Hypolite. Lets think positive here.

We heard the same thing about Gates working hard etc. There's really no way to know.
 
well, katoa and major are true frosh so i wasn't counting on getting much out of them this fall in any case. who knows how the katoa thing will resolve, but with the current depth chart, i guess you have to figure major will get some pt in the fall. maybe rippy too.

the guy i was most counting on to contribute in the fall was mohler. it sounds like he isn't really struggling as a student, he just has to take a huge credit load to get the right classes in to come to CU. taking all those credits is never easy, but i wouldn't write him totally off yet. it sounds like a different deal than pt gates.

we have to have sip and burton in there in the fall. maybe hawkins' "mentoring program" is just him making sure that those guys stay eligible. you want them to get a little bit of a leg up so that they have a bit more margin for error in the fall on the academic side. they are going to be needed, for sure.

fingers crossed.
 
That's a sobering analysis. Good job connecting all the dots.
My worse case scenario is if the team were to lose Coach Cabral.
With Hawk's attention to detail and Cabral's mentoring, I have every confidence in seeing Smart, Miller, Sipilli and Jones as a solid core.

I wondered last year how the team would fare without B-Jax and an inexperienced receivers corp. Charles and McKnight stepped up. Smart really came along, too. I expect more of the same, even should Katoa, Mohler and Burton fail to find a way to contribute.
 
I wouldnt worry too much about Sip, he played well as a true freshaman and kept his grades in order then, I am sure he'll be back and ready come the fall. Hawk myabe mentoring him to help him catch up for the semester that was stolen from him.

Burton i would worry about, but since he didnt play last year its not really a "loss"

Losing an experienced LB would most definitely be a loss. We need all the bodies we can get at LB right now. We really wore down as the season dragged on last year because we had virtually no depth at the position.

Like Syko said, as long as we can get at least two out of the three (Sip, Burton, Mohler), we'll be okay.

As far as the freshmen, I am really hoping we will be able to redshirt a couple of those guys. Eventually, we have to get to the point where we're not counting on multiple true freshmen every year.
 
This may be a stupid question: Could/would Katoa potential 'year-long-suspension' essentially count as a redshirt?
 
This may be a stupid question: Could/would Katoa potential 'year-long-suspension' essentially count as a redshirt?

Yes. Sipili sat out last season with his suspension, but it essentially it will end up counting as a redshirt year because he played as a true freshman.
 
Well maybe if Katoa does get suspended and is forced to red shirt he will learn that he has to control himself off the field and will follow in the footsteps of Sipili and keep working out (off campus) but will still be focused on returning to the field next year.
 
Like BoulderBuff said, CU needs all the depth they can get. Hawkins and staff are doing great in recruiting but for this team to continue to improve and take the next step, we need ALL HANDS on deck.

CU has done a good job on the offensive side getting rb's,wr's and especially OL.

Defense needs EVERYONE on deck.

I'm sure everyone is tired of the "what if" this guy wasn't hurt,academically ineligible etc....

We need evryone on board,especially guys who will start or be good 2nd team guys.
 
Every year there will be adversity to overcome. That's part of what makes a winning season so special.
 
I saw the kid whose head Katoa shoved into a wall last night at a party. Immediately put me in a bad mood. I wanted to throw him off the balcony.
 
I saw the kid whose head Katoa shoved into a wall last night at a party. Immediately put me in a bad mood. I wanted to throw him off the balcony.

(gasp!) Katoa shoved a kid's head into a wall last night at a party? And you saw it? :) Whatever you felt, don't throw Katoa off a balcony.
 
Losing an experienced LB would most definitely be a loss. We need all the bodies we can get at LB right now. We really wore down as the season dragged on last year because we had virtually no depth at the position.

Like Syko said, as long as we can get at least two out of the three (Sip, Burton, Mohler), we'll be okay.

As far as the freshmen, I am really hoping we will be able to redshirt a couple of those guys. Eventually, we have to get to the point where we're not counting on multiple true freshmen every year.
Redshirting is the name of the game if you have the depth to do it. All the big time programs try to redshirt as many players as possible. If you have a ture freshmen that's ready or he's got to play because of lack of depth that's a different situation. KSU and Prince are really gambling when they signed alot of JC's this year. They come in and don't know the system, which takes a year to get comfortable, and after that year - they only have one or two more left to play. You are constantly reloading. It sucks to see our team win six games, but you just have to think future - The Buffs will eat nails in one or two years from now.
 
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well, after the scrimmage reports i read today, i am now on syko bandwagon of fear re: the linebackers.

it sounds like the middle of the d was soft as pudding today.

oh, and, while i like the no-huddle, that doesn't mean you have to run every damn play out of the shotgun. line up and pop some people! how about a no-huddle power-I for chrissakes!
 
well, after the scrimmage reports i read today, i am now on syko bandwagon of fear re: the linebackers.

it sounds like the middle of the d was soft as pudding today.

oh, and, while i like the no-huddle, that doesn't mean you have to run every damn play out of the shotgun. line up and pop some people! how about a no-huddle power-I for chrissakes!

The stats from today are extremely misleading. Jaffee, the teams leading rusher today, is about a 4th or 5th stringer playing against the 2nd and 3rd team. You cant go by stats in the scrimmages/spring games. I agree about the concern for linebackers, but we will do just fine.
 
The stats from today are extremely misleading. Jaffee, the teams leading rusher today, is about a 4th or 5th stringer playing against the 2nd and 3rd team. You cant go by stats in the scrimmages/spring games. I agree about the concern for linebackers, but we will do just fine.

Awesome recap jj:thumbsup:

We'll know come fall if everything is okay with the LB's.Right now,katoa is up in the air and sipili,burton and mohlers,wtf is going on? Academic problems? Classes scheduled are a conflict with spring ball?

Somebody get this crap squared away,no excuse for this.I say again,sipili MUST be on the field period and 2 of the 3 katos,burton,mohlers better be playing or the LB situation will not be fine.


Great updates rep your way
 
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