Buffs Miss Opportunities, Again
filed in Post-game on Oct.22, 2007
The game was there for the taking. The defense held another high powered offense in check. But the Buffs just kept giving KU chances to win. And KU took advantage. On offense the Buffs actually outgained the Jayhawks, held a slight edge in time of possession, yet continued to make mistakes when it counted most. Early in the game Colorado had the ball in the red zone looking for points and senior running back Hugh Charles fumbled. This wasn’t a fumble that was caused by some great defensive play. No, instead it looked like Charles fumbled on purpose. He pushed the ball towards the 1st down line, where a swarm of white Kansas jerseys waited and pounced on the ball. No points for the Buffs.
Offensive struggles were not limited to the running game. As usual CU receivers dropped passes. Key passes. Passes where they actually ran a route past the 1st down marker on third down and could have kept the drive alive. Hard to win games when you are 5/17 on third down. The receivers are not the only ones to blame for the passing game issues. Quarterback Cody Hawkins made several mistakes as well. Some will say he’s still a freshman, he’ll grow out of it. Well by the 8th game of the year you’re not really a “freshman” anymore. You’ve been through the majority of a season and need to show some improvement. Hawkins does not have the arm strength of a John Elway or Brett Favre, so he should not try to through into double coverage because DB’s can pick off his passes that float instead of zip.
Overall there were several opportunities for Colorado to win this football game, but they continuously fell short. It’s a couple plays here and a couple plays there and we could be talking about a win. There appears to be hope for the future. After the OU game everyone raised the expectation level for this team forgetting where they were at last season. Coming into the year it was expected the Buffs would have to fight for a bowl game. With four games left they have the opportunity to get the necessary two wins for eligibility. Lets hope they find some of that magic they had against OU when they made the plays when they mattered most.
Related posts:
October 22nd, 2007 on 1:33 pm
Well, as bad it looked the buffs are still a good team. They remained competative even though they made mistakes. I see lots of improvement from last year.
October 22nd, 2007 on 1:56 pm
Thats why this loss was so hard for me to accept… they were not outclassed at all, they beat themselves on offense and fought hard on D
October 22nd, 2007 on 3:19 pm
GOOD BYE, FAREWELL. Sorry to say folks, the Dr. has ordered me to give up CU Football for the rest of the year. Time to ween me off the Hawkens Bandwagon. My prescription entails no more Buff football viewing,no more Buff News Blogs, and most importantly, no visit to Folsom Field.
He felt, after my meltdown watching the pathetic endeavour last weekend by Helfrich & Cody called the CU Offense, that I need to give up CU Football for health reasons. Some of you will applaud, most should cry out..”WE COULD HAVE BEEN A CONTENDER THIS YEAR.”
October 22nd, 2007 on 8:08 pm
It’s hard to say the least. We could have been a contender. We beat the number 3 team in the nation. Not to say that we got lucky that game but we were still making mistakes on offense and gave up some big plays on defense. Thought passed through my head of pulling Cody Hawkins from that game during the third quarter, he was struggling. But then somehow he was clutch in the fourth quarter. The O-line dominated in the 4th, we ran the ball and caught some passes. We did not score on every drive, but there was a glimmer of hope that we would or that we could..
But the last two games, that glimmer of hope has been well missing. Not once this season have i been able to confidently talk hold of my steering wheel and yell “We’re Driving”
The offensive momentum just does not get rolling for these guys. It is a solid run and then a stuff at the line. It is a decent pass play followed by a muffed snap. It is tight end over the middle followed by a tip for an interception.
I’d love to see the stat for the most number of consecutive completions by the offense this season. That number is probably 3 or 4, which does not a drive make.
October 23rd, 2007 on 12:08 am
Consistency comes with time. Oh ya, and receivers catching perfectly thrown passes on 3rd down. I think its obvious not everyone is on the same page on offense quite yet. And I hope to God that our Center gets his head on straight. those bad snaps are awful.
This team needs a bowl game very badly. The extra weeks of practice could really make a huge difference next year. I see us beating Iowa State as an almost lock…. so 2 and 2 in this next stretch makes a lot of sense to me. The team would really have to melt down to do worse (and after they refused to do so all of last year, I don’t see it happening now!).
October 23rd, 2007 on 9:03 am
Skye, so the team is down and you are bailing on them? I don’t care if you come to blogs or not, but not going to see games because the teams is rebuilding? That sounds a lot like the traditional fair weather Buffs fan. This is the time that the teams needs more support, not less.
If you feel that abandoning the team is the way to go for you then so be it…good riddance.
October 23rd, 2007 on 9:47 am
Ummm, at what point do you see me “bailing” on the Buffs? I have reassessed my hopes and expectations for this team, that is all. If you would read my post KU game rant, you would see me defending the QB and the Defense. I may be a homer, but I am not blind. I am really excited about where this team is going to be in the next year or 2, but they quite obviously are not where I thought they were after the OU game. Seven and 5 sounds pretty nice right now (The Buffs need to go 3 and 1 to do that).
Did you even read my last post? Look at the part where I comment about how this team doesn’t give up, and I don’t expect them too.
Lowered expectations does not a bad fan make.