Through the first four weeks of the season the young Colorado Buffaloes have had some ups and some downs. The good news is that a 3-1 non-conference record is good start. Against CSU and WVU, well early on, the Buffs offense looked high powered and exciting. Against Eastern Washington and FSU the offense looked boring and stuck in a rut. After such a bad performance against FSU the Buffs will surely want to rebound and put a solid game together in all three aspects of the game. The bad news is the Buffs host the Texas Longhorns.
Texas is loaded on both sides of the ball and are currently ranked 5 in both polls. And the last time these two schools met Texas embarrassed the Buffs 70-3 to end the Gary Barnett era at Colorado. Well these are not Gary’s Buffs. Dan Hawkins has brought in better players in his first two years. But these players are young, and depth has not yet been established. Injuries have plagued the Buffs offensive line this season, which will not help against Texas’ defensive front.
If Colorado is going to have a chance against Texas they will need a big day from Rodney Stewart and Darrell Scott. Stewart has been the surprise of the year thus far and provides Colorado’s running game with some exciting lightning. Against Texas the Buffs need Scott to step up and be the thunder and control the clock. This will allow Cody Hawkins a better chance when he has to pass and hopefully slow down the pass rush of Texas.
On defense the Buff’s must contain Colt McCoy. The Texas quarterback can run, although not as well as WVU’s Pat White. But he can throw better than White so don’t figure Texas to turn into a one dimensional team like the Mountaineers did. If the offense can control clock and keep the defense fresh into the fourth quarter then anything can happen as we saw last year against Oklahoma.
Special teams hurt the Buffs last week in Jacksonville. The Buffs missed a field goal, almost fumbled a kick off, which led to a safety (on a blocked punt), and gave up a kick return for a TD. These numbers will have to improve if the Buffs are going to have any chance.
This week will be a true test for this squad. I’m not one to believe in moral victories, but after the tough loss last week this might be the best the Buffs can hope for. If Colorado can come out and play a complete game on offense, defense and special teams, get a couple of breaks to go their way they have a good chance to win this game. I am hoping that the team that showed up last week is not the true Colorado Buffaloes, if it is then this will be a long long day and could affect the team for the rest of the season. I don’t think Dan Hawkins will let that happen, he does not let this team quit ever and he always plays to win.

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  2. BUFFS Drop Texas Tech on the Road!
  3. On the Road Again: Buffs head to Texas