CGB Pre-Season: Colorado Roundtable

TwistNHook: Well, well, well, looks like the hunter has become the hunted.  And it looks like the cat burglar was caught by the very person trying to catch it.  

NorCalNick:  How ironic

TwistNHook:  For so long, Colorado wanted to be a part of the awesomeness known as the Pac10, when, in reality, they were going to have a cameo appearance anyway.  On 9.11.10, a rather unfortunate date, Cal takes on Colorado in the friendly confines of the frozen tundra of Memorial Stadium.  We get a sneak preview of our future bitter Pac12 rivals all before they fire Coach Dan Hawkins and, most likely, totally clean house.

Hopefully, Cal will be riding high off of its squeaker of a victory over powerhouse veterinary school UC Davis and can ride that momentum to a victory over the Buffs.  What are your guys thoughts?


Berkelium97:  I knew Colorado wasn't a very good team in recent years, but I didn't realize their last winning season was all the way back in 2005.  Since then they're 16-33.  They haven't won a road game since October 27th, 2007.

As bad as they've been, I remember being fairly impressed by them multiple times last season.  They had a lead at halftime over no. 2 Texas, they played tight games against Okie State and Nebraska, and they defeated a no. 17 (albeit highly overrated) Kansas team.

They seemed to split QB play between Cody Hawkins and Tyler Hansen, neither of whom appeared very good (50.6%-10TD-11INT, 55.8%-8TD-7INT, respectively).

All in all, this doesn't look like a team that will keep Tedford up at night.  Cal ought to give them a painful introduction to the new Pac-12.

Solarise:  Make no mistake - the Buffalos will compete.  They finished the 2009 season 1-3 in November, with their only win coming against Texas A&M 35-34 at home.  Their losses were by slim margins at Iowa State (10-17), at #12 Oklahoma State (28-31), and at home against the 2009 Holiday Bowl champs Nebraska (20-28).  Dan Hawkin's young 2009 squad went 1-2 against ranked opponents.  They won against #17 Kansas (34-30), rolled over at #2 Texas (14-38), and came back strong in Stillwater against the aforementioned #12 Cowboys.  

Kodiak:  Colorado is coming off a 3-9 season where they ranked either last or near the bottom of their league in most offensive categories.

This may sound eerily familiar, but they have a quarterback controversy heading into summer camp, and apparently have a really unreliable kicking game.

They do have a stud LT who is a pre-season All-American candidate.  Other standouts include a senior WR, and a senior CB.  They claim to now have the best group of WR's under Coach Hawkin's tenure, but have little depth at TB.

Their defense is supposed to be the strength of the team.  They have a veteran group of D-linemen, two experienced corners, and an up-n-coming playmaker at safety.  They replace two starters at LB, so that position will probably still be raw.

It's simply unknown at this point whether the Buffaloes have the guys to improve on their woeful offense last year.  Coach Hawkins had a great run at Boise St, but has never gotten over the hump at Colorado.  He's on the hot seat, so the team should be highly motivated, especially at the beginning of the year.(while there's still hope)

On offense:  We need to respect their D-line and experienced corners.  This will be our o-line's first challenge.  We should still be able to man-handle them. If they can contain/slow our game with their front 7 and put it on Riley to beat them...well, that makes me uneasy.  Considering the inexperience at LB, our TE's and backs could have a big day catching the ball. 

On defense:  Since this is where they're in re-building mode, I don't know that we need to be overly aggressive.  Giving up a big play here might be really damaging in terms of giving them confidence.  They don't have much of a run game, so we shouldn't need to stack the box.  It'll be a big test for whoever lines up across from their stud LT.  If it's Jordan, this match-up could potentially be worth millions to him.

Special teams:  Dare I hope that we might actually have an edge here?  Nah.

Overall:  They should be pumped to start the game, but you've got to think their psyche is a bit fragile considering they've largely been pummeled by everyone the last three years.  If we withstand their early emotion, force some 3 n' outs, and then ruthlessly put together a few sustained drives, we should be able to get the young guys some time in the 4th quarter.  The Cal Fan in me says that we'll turn it over, give up some big plays, and allow them to stay in the game emotionally.  We'll pull it out barely thanks to an effort-play by Vereen.  This is a big test for Tedford and his renewed emphasis on leadership, competition, and accountability.  After last year, we can't afford to take anyone lightly.  A good team would take Colorado's best shot, knock 'em down, and then step on their neck.  I hope that's what we see.

Atomsareenough:  09-11-01 was an unfortunate date. 09-11-10 is going to be a glorious date full of Cal Football victory and celebration and more Buffalo massacring than when they used to gun them down them from trains back in the late 19th century!

Oh, and btw, I have a buddy who went to CU, and for the record, he thinks the team is garbage, and the only thing he is confident of is that they will have the lousy season they need to finally prompt the dismissal of Hawkins.

OhioBear: Here we go.  This is we might get a sense of where the season is truly headed.  Hopefully, we will be coming off of a victory against UC Davis.  Without a doubt, we will nitpick our performance (though nowhere near as much as our coaching staff will) and will identify areas that we would like to see improved.  And against Colorado, our first FBS opponent of the year, we will expect to see those areas addressed. 

via www.cualum.org

via www.autumnspectacle.com

They have two linemen likely to anchor the unit next season. Their left tackle Nate Solder is 300 pounds but 6'9--last season he just couldn't put it together to keep his man in front of him, often leaving his quarterback to get hammered from the blind side.  He showed great ability this spring though and received a multitude of spring awards, so he might finally have rounded into form.

They also have a 6'8 guard in Ryan Miller. That's really freaking tall for even a basketball guard, much less a football guard. He was injured and missed most of spring, but he should be the second best player up front.

Both players took 850 snaps last year combined, so you have to figure that experience will pay off here. Colorado's offensive line vs Cal's front seven will provide a nice clue as to how much the former unit has improved and the latter unit has evolved.

Sources:
http://cfn.scout.com/2/980482.html
http://www.ralphiereport.com/2010/6/21/1529348/nate-solder-ryan-miller-named-to