Tackling & Toughness – USC
filed in Tackling & Toughness on Sep.15, 2002 by Perrin
I give out awards for tackling and toughness each week because I believe these two fundamentals are what separate champions from the rest of the pack. So, it goes without saying that the Buffaloes neither tackled nor were tough on Saturday against USC. I have committed to giving these awards out; however, this week keep in mind that the awards are really just for those Buffaloes who sucked the least. Let’s step it up boys — this is embarrassing.
And the winners are ….
TACKLING: Marcus Moore
Just about half way through the first period Moore made one of the only Buffalo tackles worth mentioning in the entire game. The Buffs punted to K. Kelly who caught the ball around the 21-yard line. Moore kept his head in the game and avoided a halo violation and then wrapped Kelly up at the 22-yard line. Tackling went down hill from that point on.
TOUGHNESS: Special Teams led by Mark Mariscal
While the Special Teams were not nearly error free, they did remain tough throughout their numerous minutes on the field. Mariscal averaged 60 yards on eight punts and the rest of the gang prevented additional USC points. I think it is interesting to note that Colorado does not have a Special Teams Coach; you can read whatever you want into that.
Since there was no honor is this loss, I will not give out honorable mentions this week.
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September 15th, 2002 on 4:48 pm
I understand the need to give the awards weekly but this week noone needs recognition for tackling and toughness. The game was just plain sad. My grandmother can hit and tackle better than the BUFFS this weekend. I always try to maintain a PMA (positive mental attitude) about the buffs but after this weekends stellar showing this has become increasingly difficult. God willing, the Buffs will pull their heads out of their ass sometime this season.