Colorado Buffaloes Season Preview

Many publications, including Phil Steele, rank the 2011 schedule of the Colorado Buffaloes as the most daunting of them all. They will face seven bowl opponents from a season ago, not even counting a USC Trojans team that figures to be darn good.

Keep in mind it is their first year in the new Pac12 and that their second game of the season against Cal will not count towards the conference standings because they scheduled it a few years ago as a non-conference game. They will still face another nine opponents in-conference.

They face Hawaii in the opener on the road, which might as well be considered their bowl game (depressing that it is their first game of the season since it will all be downhill from there).

The following week they face Cal, which is followed up by their annual battle with the Rams of Colorado State. It does not stop there as they have to travel to Columbus and take on the Buckeyes in the Horseshoe. That is not going to be fun one bit, especially since there is a chance that the Buckeyes will have a loss on their hands already.

Toughest Schedule in America

Luckily, they host Wazzu the next week before they get buried against Stanford and Washington on the road. The schedule gets better, actually, as they get to host the BCS Title runners-up in the Oregon “I love my Ducks.”

Lastly, their road tilt ends with trips to Tempe, LA, and Salt Lake City. They may lose seven games this season just on the road! Hosting Oregon, USC, Arizona, Washington State, and Cal is not exactly great news either.

I feel bad for the fighting Chris Fowler’s (alma-mater) as they also enter a new head coach in Jon Embree who played for the team between ’83-‘86 and then coached them from ’93-’02 under several different coaching positions (tight end, defensive end, wide receiver, kicking).

Solid Receivers

As far as the team is concerned, they return their top offensive threat in Rodney Stewart (1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns). He has the makings of a Pac12 honorable mention player at worst and, if he follows his blocks, he could make a First or Second Team.

He returns four of his linemen, led by All-American right guard Ryan Miller. At 6’8", 310 lbs. he was a prized recruit when he came in as a freshmen and he is starting to live up to the billing now.

Ethan Adkins and David Bakhtiari are worthy linemen that deserve some hype because they could be starting on teams like USC, Oregon or Stanford this year. Unfortunately, none of the other players on offense would even be seeing the field for those same teams.

They lose their all-time reception leader at receiver in Scotty McKnight and former Michigan transfer Toney Clemons will now have to take over from there.

Clemons is also the punt returner so he is a double-duty type of player that gives the Buffs solid field position, which is vital for their vanilla offense. Paul Richardson is a nice, young player who is turning the corner into becoming a full-time stud (Third Team Freshmen AA).

At 6’1" only 165 lbs., he is lightning quick with long strides that can burn you deep. Throw in former UGA quarterback Logan Gray who is playing wide receiver and this unit is not as bad it may seem. 

No Hawkins, No Problem?

Still, Richardson and Clemons must get open for starting QB Tyler Hansen, who has been bothered by injuries the past few seasons. In nine games last year he threw six touchdowns and six interceptions while backing up for the starting and injured quarterback, Cody Hawkins.

Hawkins, of course, was the starter for his father, Dan Hawkins. Hawkins was let go after the ninth game, which was a loss to Kansas in which they led 45-17 in the third quarter.

They then allowed 35 points in the fourth quarter, which was the second most allowed in NCAA history. Colorado finished the season 5-7, actually marking their third season in a row without a bowl appearance. Hawkins did lead Colorado to one bowl game (Independence loss to Alabama ‘07).

Ralphie Is Allergic to Defense

The defense returns seven starters and will be led up front by defensive end Josh Hartigan, who led the team last year with seven sacks.

Will Pericak is not a senior like Hartigan but is a run stuffer and will need to perform like a stud to shore up the porous defense that ranked just 83rd in total defense yards per game allowed (400).

The linebacking core should be a bit better assuming their star Jon Major returns after missing the final five games last year. He had 57 tackles in just seven games and is expected to total well over 100 this season. It is imperative that the Buffs stop the run. 

The secondary may struggle, having lost the team's biggest star in Jimmy Smith (No. 27 overall draft choice by Baltimore), and the corners are fairly green because of it now.

Parker Orms and Arthur Jaffee are the expected starters and it may be tough since these Buffs were just 110th against the pass a season ago. This was because nobody could catch a cold as there were dropped interceptions and just poor angles being taken the entire season. 

Drama's Forecast

Colorado has the makings of putting together three or four wins. However, their schedule is beyond atrocious. If they were in any other conference save the SEC, they might be bowling. They may be the worst team not only among BCS teams but also among all FBS teams (not talent, but record-wise).

What game are they honestly going to be favored in besides those against Washington State and Colorado State? Answer: None!

I wonder if they can come within single digits of any Pac12 opponent outside of the Cougars and perhaps California who may struggle since they do not have a true home (all home games at AT&T Park). The offense is a gigantic mess and the defense is not much better off.

While the offensive and defensive lines are not bad, they still lack the overall depth and talent you need to contend for a bowl game, let alone a conference crown. How bad have their QB’s been as of late? The last Buffalo QB (Koy Detmer) to make All-Conference was back in 1996! Poor Ralphie.  

Predicted Finish: 1-12, 0-9

Predicted Bowl: None 

Predicted order of finish in Pac12: Sixth in South, 12th in Pac 12