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Turning Point Game

Heywood

Heywood

Rambling Boy of Pleasure
Club Member
During the game the announcers did a little piece on Stanford's "Turning Point Game". Which makes sense cause they are trying to hype some show on VS about NFL turning point. Any way they showed highlights of Stanford's upset of USC a while back and showed the record before and since. The record before was well below .300 and the record since is reflective of the current state of the program. Seems a pretty pivotal moment.

Stuart had an excelent article at http://www.cuatthegame.com/2011/reflections-at-fifty/ where he mentioned his favorite game, the '86 Nebraska Game. It seems to me that game was our "Turning Point" under coach Mac.

So looking ahead, what will be Embo's Turning Point? The optimist in me would like to point to USC on my birthday this season, however I am sure that is likely too soon. A big ranked team next season? Or Perhaps the next?

I also wonder how will we know when we have reached that win? It is probably something you wont know until well after it is over. I vaguely remember after the Oklahoma upset a few years ago thinking that things were turning around. Obviously I was wrong.

Lets hope it is this season. USC could be good, a big upset to give us some mojo into our easier Nov. schedule. Further wins in Nov. = good showing for recruits = quicker talent upgrade= early non con wins= better play in a home game heavy conference schedule= national championship in 7 years?

Hey a man can dream cant he.

Go Buffs!
 
I saw that stat and it was pretty amazing. They had a .300 winning percentage prior to that game, and it was like .700 or something afterwards.

Once that switch flips, we'll be back. I'm not very impressed by any of these PAC12 teams. Stanford will come back to earth in a few years (they have no support now), Oregon is all speed, but no power. Utah isn't ready for big boy football. USC is the only team we need to worry about in the PAC12 south and I don't think they have the right guy coaching them right now.

Hopefully that means we should be able to turn the corner quicker than usual. I agree that USC could set up as that turning point game for us. Look at the schedule:

Next week, we have Arizona at home (just lost to Oregon State)
UCLA on the road (UCLA plays at Utah the week before and @USC the week after)
Utah at home (in their last conference game of the year, they'll be beat up and dispirited)

Those three teams are a combined 2-8 in conference (UCLA wins at home against WSU and @Oregon State). Lets say by some miracle we beat USC. We get some momentum, we handle Arizona. We get even more confidence, we end our road losing streak against just 1 of those last 2 teams. We'd be 3-1 in our last 4, we'd have improvement, we'd eliminate our road curse, and most importantly, we could sell improvement to recruits. We get some great recruits, flip a few recruits, and boom, we are back. :smokin::thumbsup2:

A kid can dream right?
 
Tractor said:
I saw that stat and it was pretty amazing. They had a .300 winning percentage prior to that game, and it was like .700 or something afterwards.

Once that switch flips, we'll be back. I'm not very impressed by any of these PAC12 teams. Stanford will come back to earth in a few years (they have no support now), Oregon is all speed, but no power. Utah isn't ready for big boy football. USC is the only team we need to worry about in the PAC12 south and I don't think they have the right guy coaching them right now.

Hopefully that means we should be able to turn the corner quicker than usual. I agree that USC could set up as that turning point game for us. Look at the schedule:

Next week, we have Arizona at home (just lost to Oregon State)
UCLA on the road (UCLA plays at Utah the week before and @USC the week after)
Utah at home (in their last conference game of the year, they'll be beat up and dispirited)

Those three teams are a combined 2-8 in conference (UCLA wins at home against WSU and @Oregon State). Lets say by some miracle we beat USC. We get some momentum, we handle Arizona. We get even more confidence, we end our road losing streak against just 1 of those last 2 teams. We'd be 3-1 in our last 4, we'd have improvement, we'd eliminate our road curse, and most importantly, we could sell improvement to recruits. We get some great recruits, flip a few recruits, and boom, we are back. :smokin::thumbsup2:

A kid can dream right?
Click to expand...

We play Utah on the road...
 
I've been thinking about the same thing and expecting our team to have a turning point game. In fact, I'm looking for that turning point quarter. I remember in the 90 season the team was 1-1-1 and we were playing on the road in Texas with our hopes for an NC and the fate of the whole season in doubt. We were behinde but in the 3rd quarter we had that turning point moment, that magical gelling moment when the team pulled together and started believing in itself. We made plays and won that game through sheer force of will. We all know what followed...

We need that moment, and we are ripe for it. I'm hoping next week, at Washington we find that moment, come from behind in the 3rd quarter, retire our road losing streak and start the real work of rebuilding our program. Go Buffs!!!!
 
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It is not the game that turns things around - the victory is just a marker that things have turned around. Beating a team does not make you better...it may give you confidence but it does not all of a sudden increase your talent.

When Stanford beat Southern Cal that year they were 5-3 going into that game and it was Harbaugh's 3rd year. He had been preaching mental and physical toughness for 2 years before that season...I do not believe that game turned around the program. They already were turning around the program, they game did serve notice to others they were heading in the right direction and probably helped recruiting a little but winning one game does not turn a program around.
 
BlackNGold said:
It is not the game that turns things around - the victory is just a marker that things have turned around. Beating a team does not make you better...it may give you confidence but it does not all of a sudden increase your talent.

When Stanford beat Southern Cal that year they were 5-3 going into that game and it was Harbaugh's 3rd year. He had been preaching mental and physical toughness for 2 years before that season...I do not believe that game turned around the program. They already were turning around the program, they game did serve notice to others they were heading in the right direction and probably helped recruiting a little but winning one game does not turn a program around.
Click to expand...

Yeah! Yeah! Be the bow!
 
Daaah said:
Oklahoma 2007
Click to expand...

Sadly that was a turning point game. The next week we went on the road and ****ed Baylor in the ass. We went on to also beat TTU on the road and finish the regular season with a win over the corn and finally a loss to Bama in the bowl game after going toe to toe with them for 4 quarters. Only problem was we had Dan Hawkins and, as he did with everything else at Colorado, he managed to **** it up.

I think we are now at a level where we are going to need two turning point games. A win against a similar level opponent(UA, UCLA, Utah) to show this team can play fundamental football and know how to win. Then a big one against a national power. I just wonder if and when that will happen. Personally, I think Embree can do it.
 
Tractor said:
I saw that stat and it was pretty amazing. They had a .300 winning percentage prior to that game, and it was like .700 or something afterwards.

Once that switch flips, we'll be back. I'm not very impressed by any of these PAC12 teams. Stanford will come back to earth in a few years (they have no support now), Oregon is all speed, but no power. Utah isn't ready for big boy football. USC is the only team we need to worry about in the PAC12 south and I don't think they have the right guy coaching them right now.

Hopefully that means we should be able to turn the corner quicker than usual. I agree that USC could set up as that turning point game for us. Look at the schedule:

Next week, we have Arizona at home (just lost to Oregon State)
UCLA on the road (UCLA plays at Utah the week before and @USC the week after)
Utah at home (in their last conference game of the year, they'll be beat up and dispirited)

Those three teams are a combined 2-8 in conference (UCLA wins at home against WSU and @Oregon State). Lets say by some miracle we beat USC. We get some momentum, we handle Arizona. We get even more confidence, we end our road losing streak against just 1 of those last 2 teams. We'd be 3-1 in our last 4, we'd have improvement, we'd eliminate our road curse, and most importantly, we could sell improvement to recruits. We get some great recruits, flip a few recruits, and boom, we are back. :smokin::thumbsup2:

A kid can dream right?
Click to expand...

Gotta love the optimism in this post. I definitely think it's possible, but a lot of things will have to go right for us, especially to beat USC. Even with a suspect coaching staff, they're stocked with talent. We have to hope it's a cold night in Boulder to slow down their passing game. Also, as weak as Arizona's defense is, it'll be really hard for us to stop their passing game, especially in Tucson. Anyway, like I said, I hope you're right!
 
The turning point game for this program is going to be the win that breaks the road losing streak. Beating USC or Oregon at home means nothing if the next week you lose to Arizona on the road.
 
jpbuff said:
The turning point game for this program is going to be the win that breaks the road losing streak. Beating USC or Oregon at home means nothing if the next week you lose to Arizona on the road.
Click to expand...
You mean ASU right? We play Arizona at home.
 
It's still years away. This program has to build from the ground up. Completely restock the talent, and if necessary replace some ineffective coaches. Right now this staff has to pull together enough successful quarters of football to appear like they are improving enough to show prospective recruits that this program is going to succeed in the next few years.

The turning point game never really came for Hawkins. Oklahoma was close but they never really capitalized on that win. Maybe the Buffs next turnaround game comes in 2013 or 2014. It won't happen this year, and next year will probably be worse than this year. The key is recruiting - it's time for these talented recruiters live up to their billing. Mac was able to build a program despite the results on the field, and it this staff is going to have to do the same.
 
There is no turning point game. We will get the right people with the right scheme with the right execution. Only the unobservant will call it a turning point. Process process process!
 
Tractor said:
Once that switch flips, we'll be back. I'm not very impressed by any of these PAC12 teams. Stanford will come back to earth in a few years (they have no support now), Oregon is all speed, but no power. Utah isn't ready for big boy football. USC is the only team we need to worry about in the PAC12 south and I don't think they have the right guy coaching them right now.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but this remark is delusional.
 
Too early to think about any turning point game this year. Late next season or early in 2013 hopefully..
 
Selecting an individual game on a team's schedule and looking at records before and after is not legitimate analysis and shouldn't be used as a model for potential success for another team, IMO.
 
We really should be asking.....what was the turning point for when we moved from the 22nd most prestigious program to the ****hole that we are now. Without too much thought....I am leaning to a game at ISU under Barnett when a tornado moved in, and we lost to those jackoffs.
 
DallasBuff said:
We really should be asking.....what was the turning point for when we moved from the 22nd most prestigious program to the ****hole that we are now. Without too much thought....I am leaning to a game at ISU under Barnett when a tornado moved in, and we lost to those jackoffs.
Click to expand...

I remember the moment that I heard there were allegations against our recruits dating back to a December 99 party, the same way I remember the Challenger disaster. I was in Guam, and the news was all over ESPN. I remember thinking, "how bad is this going to hurt us?" I would have never imagined.

That was the turning point.
 
I do believe in the Turning Point theory. Being talented and physical helps, but CU is proving right now (if nothing else) how much a team's mentality can affect Ws and Ls. We have much better than 1-5 talent, we just have no idea how to win right now. You win one game that no one expects you too, and all of the sudden you know you can beat anyone.
 
The Walrus said:
I remember the moment that I heard there were allegations against our recruits dating back to a December 99 party, the same way I remember the Challenger disaster. I was in Guam, and the news was all over ESPN. I remember thinking, "how bad is this going to hurt us?" I would have never imagined.

That was the turning point.
Click to expand...

:iagree::shot:
 
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