Last year I was not very high on the Colorado Buffaloes heading into college football season, and the C Buffs did not disappoint going 3-10 and losing 7 in midseason. Well actually, they did disappoint, quite a bit, just not me because I had zero expectations for Jon Embree’s group. I have a similar negative outlook for them this year, I predict a seventh straight losing year in Boulder.
Colorado will be one of the youngest teams in the nation, and starting over with a new quarterback; one that we’re not even sure on, so they’re going to have some major issues.
2011 was: pretty bad, especially for a Pac 12 debut. The team ranked DEAD LAST in the conference in both scoring defense and scoring offense; which is admittedly difficult to do. To complete the ineptitude in all three phases, Colorado was 105th nationally in punt return and 112th nationally in kick returns.
2012 will go smoothly if: they establish the run finally, as they were 97th in the nation last year, and learn how to stop people, as they were terrible in scoring (109th) and total defense (102th). As you might expect, the passing and rushing defense numbers were bad too. With the new QB in place…they’ll still have some issues
None of the active quarterbacks on the CU roster this spring have ever played in a college game. Sophomore Nick Hirschman is out this spring after undergoing surgery on his broken right foot, but when he returns this summer, he only adds five partial games of experience to the group. CU sophomore Connor Wood, a transfer from Texas, is considered the frontrunner to earn the starting job in Boulder in 2012, but if former Kansas Jayhawks QB Jordan Webb joins the program, that dynamic could change.
2012 will be rough if: they consistently give up 40+ points and 500+ yards in games, like they did on five occasions last year. It also hurts that they lost WR Paul Richardson, who had 284 yards receiving in one game, for the season (acl). The d line will be stocked with freshmen; could be problems.
BMOCs: LB Jon Major, frosh CB Yuri Wright, who’s rated the #7 corner in his recruiting class, tailback Tony Jones, whoever gets the starting signal caller gig.
All-name team: backup LG Kaiwi Crabb. It sounds like something you order at a sushi house, “I’ll have the sashimi special, seaweed salad and the kaiwi crab.”
Bottom Line: There are too many issues in the secondary, linebackers and offensive skill positions for this team to matter. They’ll probably finish 3-9 and in the Pac 12 South basement. Their toughest games are all on the road, and they’ll likely be the worst team in conference.
Rankings: Athlon- 84 Lindy’s- 77
All the 77s
#73 Kansas
#76 Minnesota
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, MSN and Fox Sports
A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; and he’s a member of the Football Writers Association of America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and Society of Professional Journalists. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too