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2014 Season Predictions
- Thread starter boydbuff
- Start date
IIRC Boyd had us at 4-5 wins...yup quite the sunshine pumper there.
Also glad we only play 11 games next year.
buffs04
Well-Known Member
2 wins, three tossups, 7 losses. So somewhere between 2 and 10 and 5-7. I think we are worse next year than we were this year. Why? Because Richardson is by a very dramatic margin our best player and I don't think that he'll be back next year.
5-7, potentially 6-6 is my prediction, meaning I think the over/under is 5.5.
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Glad PRich played defense to
buffs04
Well-Known Member
Obviously your observation that Richardson's presence doesn't directly impact the performance of the defense is a correct one, but unless you anticipate that the performance of the defense will improve to enough of an extent as to compensate or more than compensate for the likely step-back on offense due to the team losing by far it's best producer then I am not really sure what your point is.
I can see having extremely low confidence in the program after what we've been through and how far we see that we need to go... but a loss to UMass? Really? MacIntyre hasn't lost a game when the Buffs have been favored and we'll be a double digit favorite in that one.
PRich was a special player at CU, there is zero doubt about that and his production will not be replaced, I'll start by saying that. Now, on to my point of my post (which was a very smart ass post I admit).
I expect the defense to improve a lot between now and next season. Our DT of Solis, Henington, Tupuo, Kofavalu will all be upper classmen (Samson may be a RS-So, can't remember if he RS'ed in 2012) and will have been in the weight program for ~18 months (Forman asked for 18 months to change their bodies completely). Add in a couple JUCOs (please please please let it be the guy from UW and his brother) and we should have a pretty good DL. Our DE's will be pretty young with Gilbert and Reed but they will increase our athleticism on the edges, MacIntyre has also been saying McCartney has been impressing in practices so it'll be exciting to see if he can play at this level. Henderson will be a senior and will just improve like he has every year, Crawley will be a junior and as much as we bitched about him, he did get better, his next step is going to be making more plays on the ball when it is in the air and I think he'll do that, he certainly has the athletic ability to do it. Hopefully Wright got the most out of his RS year and put on weight (don't see how he wouldn't, not having to worry about playing Saturday should lead to a decent amount of weight gain during the season) and Awuzie will have a full year of starting and will have been in a college strength program for a year and a couple months so we should see some decent gains. At LB Gillam will be a Sophomore and should be one of the top MLB's in the country next year. He wore down as the season went on but another year in the strength program should help immensely in combating that. Rippy, while unproven and he may be a little light but he adds a lot of athleticism to the LB core and was very highly recruited by some very good programs. Greer, he's been hurt but he should continue to develop and he's a pretty athletic guy. Our 3 starting LB's will average nearly 6'3" in height which will help in pass defense. Safety play probably has the biggest question marks but I'm excited about Tedric, getting Moten back, and Bell having a full year of starting experience at the Pac 12 level.
On offense, we won't be able to replace PRich no matter who we bring in, JUCO or true freshman. But, we can improve on the OL and bring in a JUCO TE. Handler, while he gave everything he had to the team and CU, just wasn't a good center. Munyer moving over to center will upgrade the OL instantly. Crabb was in his first year starting this year after suffering back injuries so he'll be going into his second year as a starter. Irwin who got hurt in fall camp would have been a starter had he not been injured so he'll hop in there, not sure where, probably at RG if Harris stays or LT if not (unless we get a JUCO LT). Nembot...man he had a tough year and really, really struggled against Utah yesterday but he did show some things in a couple games late and I believe he'll get better as he keeps working and getting his technique dialed in. Add in a JUCO or two and we've made our OL better. Still not much depth that's not RS-Fr but if we can continue to avoid injuries like we did this year it shouldn't be *that* big of a deal. Now with a better OL that will improve the running game and I'm excited to see Adkins next year as he gets bigger and gains more game time experience and hopefully Powell can come in completely healthy to start the year and be the bruiser we need. Adding a JUCO TE would be huge to. I like Keeney, but I don't think he's ready to play unless he gains considerable weight, although he probably would provide a boost to our passing game over the middle anyway. Man, I wish Hobbs didn't have the family issues back home and could have stayed at CU, he would have gotten a lot of catches this year. At WR I like Spruce and think he'll make a good #2 next year and is more athletic than many give him credit for but we need Dunston, Bobo, or JT to step up on the other side. And then there's Sefo...I think he'll make big strides between now and next year. It all hinges on the OL as to whether we improve next year on offense. If the OL can protect Sefo and allow the running game to be a viable part of the offense we should see a better offense post-PRich.
Sigh...we're not going to regress from 4-8 to 1-11, not happening. Our OOC schedule is no more difficult than it was this year and we have two winnable PAC 12 games (OSU and Utah) at home compared to one last year (Cal) and we get Cal on the road which I think we can win, they are going to be suffering a whole helluva a lot of attrition in a locker room that is on the brink of disaster. Year 2 is where you see a lot of progress if you have a good staff. We didn't see that in Embree, we will not have that issue with MacIntyre. You may think you're prediction is 'realistic' but unless you can provide a legit reason as to why you honestly think we will lose to UMass AND CSU (ya know, CSU loses their whole OL...may want to check other teams when making predictions by the way, we're not going to be the only ones losing people which some seem to think that's the case) AND go winless in conference play, neither of which Embree OR MacIntyre did yet we're going to do it next year with a easier schedule, then you're post is just bull**** negativity.
Also, here are the final Sagarin Rankings of the teams we play next season...
CSU - #85 (7-6)
UMass - #190 (1-11)
Hawaii - #133 (1-11)
Avg. Ranking - #136
Combined Record - 9-28, 0.243
CU finished #76
Will UMass and Hawaii improve? Yeah probably, but they'll still both be awful, awful teams. CSU loses a lot and I expect them to take a step back, especially in the first game of the season with them graduating four seniors off of the OL, all of whom were 5th year seniors. CSU went to a bowl game this year, but that's not saying much in the WAC 2.0. Seriously, that conference is awful.
Joe Theismann's Leg
Well-Known Member
As a native Mainer, I watched the University of Maine Black Bears beat UMass by 10 this season. As good as the Black Bears were this season in the CAA, the Buffs are still about 1,000 times better. They'll destroy UMass at home. They're basically a FCS team.
I will go with 5 wins (CSU, HA, Mass, Utah at home and Cal on the road). Just enough to point towards improvement over this year and more than double the wins JE managed in his two years.
UMass is on the road, sort of
Joe Theismann's Leg
Well-Known Member
Playing at Gillette is part of a plan to build their brand across Massachusetts and New England over all.
It's not a bad plan. They're trying to connect to the Boston area money and UMass alumni in eastern Massachusetts. While Foxboro is about an hour and forty-five minutes away, the hope is that they can build a fan base there and tap into some money. I think it's smart, but CU is still going to wipe the turf with them. New England just isn't a football hotbed.
It's not a bad plan. They're trying to connect to the Boston area money and UMass alumni in eastern Massachusetts. While Foxboro is about an hour and forty-five minutes away, the hope is that they can build a fan base there and tap into some money. I think it's smart, but CU is still going to wipe the turf with them. New England just isn't a football hotbed.
FlatironsBuff
Well-Known Member
I am totally thinking about going to the UMASS game. Should we make shirts that say 'Here come the UM-assholes'?
They're gonna lose Cooks just like we're gonna lose PRich. Our home/road splits are awful to.
Many good comments in this thread. I understand the doubt as we have all suffered these past several seasons. However I see the effort and really feel solid with coach Mac. He is certainly not a whiner! The result on the field is grinding higher albeit accompanied by setbacks.
This program is no longer nose diving and we have some talent gathering for next year. Very young team with many frosh and sophs contributing in 2013. O line will be a primary factor in 2014 if we are going to climb another stair on the ladder.
O line plays without improvement 5 wins tops. 4 possibly if we really struggle there.
O line is better than this season and comes together, 6 wins and a bowl becomes a reality.
O line really exceeds current expectations and jells next year, we could surprise with up to 7 wins.
Just critical we begin to influence the line of scrimmage on offense.
This program is no longer nose diving and we have some talent gathering for next year. Very young team with many frosh and sophs contributing in 2013. O line will be a primary factor in 2014 if we are going to climb another stair on the ladder.
O line plays without improvement 5 wins tops. 4 possibly if we really struggle there.
O line is better than this season and comes together, 6 wins and a bowl becomes a reality.
O line really exceeds current expectations and jells next year, we could surprise with up to 7 wins.
Just critical we begin to influence the line of scrimmage on offense.
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I think they become bowl eligible next year and maybe 7 wins depending on what team they play in that bowl game.
seattlebuff
Well-Known Member
I'm hoping for 5-7 (wins vs. Cal and Utah in conf). But more importantly, we'll be hanging in more games into the 4th quarter, maybe with a chance to steal one. With all of the experience our (very young) core group has gotten the last 2 years, and another year of S&C and solid coaching, going 5-7 with less blowouts is another big step forward. 2015 we go bowling.
My prediction is based on thinking the game will be played at something like 11 am EST, which is an extremely early start for us. Again, I want to be wrong, but I have no idea how our offense scores without PRich.
FlatironsBuff
Well-Known Member
This for me. But add DL efficiency to the OL. Those two units will decide where we are between 4 and 8 wins (counting bowl game if we get 6 or 7 in regular season.) I will take middle ground and 6 wins.
I'm in the +/-6 wins camp. The OOC are all winnable, and with another year in the system, I expect (hope that?) the positive effects to take hold in a unifying way, leaving the Buffs with the ol' "sum is greater than the whole" thing. Throw in a possible bowl win for number 7.
I recall that before this season a bunch of the nay-sayers were ridiculing anyone predicting 3 or 4 wins. Some of them have been the biggest detractors all season, and remain negative now. I guess they're in the "There ain't NO water in that damn glass," crowd. The same guys will probably be bitching about going 10-3 when we clearly should have been 11-1, if only MacIntyre knew anything about coaching college football.
I recall that before this season a bunch of the nay-sayers were ridiculing anyone predicting 3 or 4 wins. Some of them have been the biggest detractors all season, and remain negative now. I guess they're in the "There ain't NO water in that damn glass," crowd. The same guys will probably be bitching about going 10-3 when we clearly should have been 11-1, if only MacIntyre knew anything about coaching college football.
You are trying to justify your negativity with falsities. Umass did not have a single kick-off before 12 EST this season and the vast majority of kickoffs were at 3pm EST or later for home games. To your other point, will it be hard to replace P-Rich's production? Yes, he was an all-time great for CU, but to somehow translate that into a one win season for us is a qausi-trolling leap in logic.
FlatironsBuff
Well-Known Member
And 'Someone stole my ****in' glass!!'