Kyle over at DawgSports.com has asked us to provide some insight into this weekends game and the rest of the Colorado season.
1. What concerns you the most about playing Georgia? What about playing Colorado ought to concern Georgia the most?
The thing that concerns me the most about playing Georgia is that they are an all around better team than the Buffs are at this point. It’s no secret that Colorado has a lot of issues and has yet to put together a respectable performance. Prior to the season, I expected Georgia to be the better team, and was hoping that the Buffs would just keep this game close. Now, I don’t see any way that we don’t get blown out. The only thing that I think Georgia has to be concerned with is completely overlooking the Buffs. While the offense has been terrible, the defense has actually played remarkably well and nearly held ASU to 14 points (if not for a punt return fumble). If Georgia take the Buffs lightly and allow them to stay in the game, I suppose it’s possible that the Colorado offense could click and surprise the Bulldogs.
2. Where are the Buffaloes most improved this season?
The answer to this question is the same now as it would have been prior to the season, the only difference being the degree of “weaker”. The defense has improved over last season and is the strength of this team. The biggest improvement I see is in the defensive line, specifically Abraham Wright who has been a monster up front. It’s been a while since the Buffs have had a good defensive front and it’s really been the one bright spot this season. On the flip side, the Buffs are obviously weaker on the offensive side of the ball. QB Bernard Jackson is athletic, but has little experience and has had trouble in the passing game. The offense made some strides against ASU last week, but have a long, long way to go and I don’t see them improving against a tough Bulldog defense.
3. What effect is the coaching change having on this team? Does Dan Hawkins’s experience in last year’s game between Boise State and Georgia help or hurt the Buffaloes’ chances in Sanford Stadium?
It’s hard to tell if the coaching change has had a real effect on this team or if we’re seeing a continuation of last year’s slide and a lack of talent left by the prior staff. Long term, I think the change was the right one and believe that Hawkins will get this program turned back in the right direction. Recruiting talk is already optimistic and the players seem to be buying into his system. Continued losing may change that, but I think that this staff will pull it together this year and finish on a positive note. I’m not sure that last year’s game between Georgia and Bosie State will have any effect on this game as Hawkins is working with an entirely different group of players that were recruited for a different system. Georgia is obviously the better team in this matchup and I think Hawkins and his staff will be more concerned with trying to get the team to improve and eliminate the mistakes they’ve made in the previous games.
4. Colorado went through an exceedingly tough stretch run last season. What contributed to the Buffs’ late-season collapse?
I think that there were a couple of reasons that the Buffs collapsed at the end of last season. I think a big part was the players giving up on the staff and then giving up on themselves. We’re still seeing issues this year where the players seem to fall back when they get behind. It’s as if they lost the confidence that they could come back and beat teams. From my vantage point, it seems to be getting better as the team continued to play hard against ASU despite being down most of the game. However, the late season collapse as well as the coaching change have obviously contributed greatly to our slow start this season. It remains to be seen if the team starts pulling it together or continues to spiral downward.
5. Where will the Buffaloes finish in this year’s Big 12 North race?
The easy answer is that we’ll finish last (6th) in the Big 12 North. However, I’m still optimistic that Hawkins will get some results out of this team and we have the chance to finish 4th, as I don’t think Kansas or Kansas State are any good either.

Related posts:

  1. Buffs Sign Hawking to Extension
  2. Colorado Buffalo Season Preview
  3. Mid-Season Evaluation