Spring Practice...and A New Offense?

So, it's been since 'Nam that I posted on this blog. Work has been crazy busy. My son just turned two (jeez, I'm freakin' old). My brother is getting married soon (yes, for those of you that remember Brent, the kid's takin' the plunge). Oh, and I've been engrossed in the 2008 presidential election. Being an avid Barack Obama supporter, it's been quite fun, though I could do with less Hillary Clinton these days. Sorry, ladies and gents. Can't handle John McCain. 100 years in Iraq is a long time for you all to be deployed...

Anyway, so I'm reading my RSS feed this evening and read through the CU Athletics site and came across this articlethat quotes redshirt freshman Markques Rimas as saying:

The Buffs have been evolving on both sides of the ball, but the offense should be noticeably different next year.

“The first week has been pretty good,” redshirt freshman wide receiver Markques Simas said. “I wasn’t real sure how things were going to go with the new offense but things are going well. It’s been nice to get out here and back into the swing of things, even if we aren’t in pads yet.”

New offense? It sounds good to me. As you might have read during my live blog of the bowl game and the postgame analysis, I wasn't terribly satisfied with last year's offense. I'd be perfectly OK is Hawk 'n' Crew ripped up the old playbook and brought in something new, fresh, and a little more exciting. We could sure use it, in my opinion.

Anyway, as we get closer to the draft, I'll be posting a little more often. We don't have a ton of talent being auctioned off this coming draft, but it'll be nice to see some of the competition lose some of their best talent. Of course, Chase Daniel is returning to Mizzou, so that kinda sucks.

I'll hope to have David Plati on record a little more often as I get the blog ready for the upcoming season. I'll make sure to have everything ready to go so that we can follow the team for a whole season.

Oh, crap! I almost forgot. For those of you on Facebook, add the "Colorado Football Fans" unofficial fan group to your profile. It's fun for smack-talking (I just smack-talked a friend of mine that is a KU fan - ha ha, Mr. Gardner) and has some cool trivia that gains you points and stuff. Pretty cool. I'll probably be using Facebook to complement this blog come fall time. Good way to increase traffic and make the site more interactive.

Anyway, take care, all. Talk to a few of you soon. Adios!

2008 NFL Scouting Combine

Alright, since I'm recovering from the flu - Lord, it sucks - and have nothing better to do with my time, I decided to TiVo the NFL Scouting Combine these past few days and I'm scooting through the episodes for nuggets about our boys that were invited.

CU's Assistant AD David Plati has been gracious enough to respond to my inquiries and has allowed me to post most of his stuff that he sends me. Basically, he told me that 3 of our players were invited to the Combine - Tyler Polumbus, Jordon Dizon, and Terrence Wheatley - and will likely have a place on someone's pro squad after the Draft. No juniors or other underclassmen had declared for the Draft and he didn't see any others doing so at the time.

Anyway, the combine results are out and here's how our 3 participants did in the activities prescribed for them:

- Tyler Polumbus (O-Line - 6'7", 312 lbs)

- Bench press, 225 pounds (reps) - 24
- Broad jump (standing long jump) - 9 feet, 0 inches
- 40-yard dash - 5.33 seconds

- Jordon Dizon (Linebacker - 5'11", 229 lbs)

- Bench press, 225 pounds (reps) - 21
- Broad jump (standing long jump) - 9 feet, 0 inches
- 40-yard dash - 4.70 seconds
- 3-cone (a form of shuttle run) - 7.01 sec

- Terrence Wheatley (D-Back - 5'9", 187 lbs)

- Bench press, 225 pounds (reps) - 17
- 40-yard dash - 4.37 seconds
- 3-cone (a form of shuttle run) - 6.74 sec
- Vertical jump - 36.5 inches
- 60-yard shuttle run - 11.58 sec

A couple of positive notes about our guys:

- One of the top draft prospects for 2008 in the D-Back position is Leodis McKelvin of Troy State U. Wheatley tied him in the 40 and bench press and outjumped him by 3 inches in the vertical jump. Not bad.

- Tyler Polumbus - a 312-pound hog - can jump 9 FRIGGIN' FEET FROM A STANDSTILL?

Strangley, Hugh Charles was not invited to the event, so no stats on him at all. Anyway, when I see more stuff, I'll post it. In the meantime, I hope to kick this stupid flu and get back to work. Peace!

2008 schedule

Now that the big signings are behind us it's time to look forward to the 2008 schedule. Here is a breakdown of what I believe we can expect.

We start with CSU - Not a good team. Finished 3-9 last year. A rivalry can always produce upsets so we better watch out but this should be an easy win (knock on wood)

Eastern Washington. Yes, thats right, Eastern Washington. They are the Eagles and play in the Football Subdivision. Barring any repeat of that better off forgotten game against Montana State a few years ago, we should win this one.

This brings us to 2 very good out-of-conference matchups. Florida State and W. Virginia. We played very well against FSU last year at home and should be able to put up a good performance this year. It is a road game which will make it tough . This is a toss up and the first real test for the boys. W. Virginia will not be as good as last season and losing Rich Rodriguez (head coach) will hurt but it is at home and televised nationally on ESPN (Thursday night game). This is another toss up.

Conference play poses some challenging matchups. The big challenge is that we play most of our tough games away from home. Kansas, Mizzou, A&M and Nebraska are all on the road while Texas (homecoming), Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Kansas State are at home. Mizzou and Kansas promise to have good teams again with both big play QB's returning. Texas is always a challenge as we have not beaten them in 3 meetings since the 2001 Big XII Championship game. We should be favored to win the ISU, OSU and KSU games. The Nebraska game should be a winner given the turmoil in Lincoln lately but that game is always a wild one and could go either way.

Overall, I think an 8-4 season would be a good year for the 2008 team. If we can be 3-1 or better out-of-conference there is no reason a 9-3 season can't be within reach. This team is still maturing and 2008 has the potential of setting the table for a 2009 or 2010 National Championship run! Let's all keep our fingers crossed and get out there to support our Buffs!! Hawk and Coach McCartney have challenged the CU faithful to show up 50,000 strong for the spring game (April 19th). So if you are in Colorado, GO TO THE GAME DAMMIT!!

SHOULDER TO SHOULDER!!

Jimmy Love

Jimmy Love in the HOUSE!!!

I would like to give a big Buffalo Stampede welcome to my good buddy, Jimmy Love. Jimmy is one heck of a die-hard Buffs football fan and it is my honor and pleasure to have him posting as a regular contributor on this blog.

Jimmy's a big fan of Rivals.com and does a lot of research on recruiting and draft stuff. I've been horribly busy at work lately (trying to build flight hours up for a reason unknown to most people outside my own family...you military types may want to look into it...), so the posting has been a bit scarce. However, as we approach the NFL combine and draft, expect more and more posts coming from the two of us.

Anyway, welcome banner unfurled for Jimmy Love. Welcome to the Buffalo Stampede :)

Recruiting Jackpot!

First I'd like to thank The Mack for allowing me to guest post here on Buffalo Stampede. I'll add my two cents from time to time and hopefully provide some good insight into Buffalo football. I'm sure you all will keep me honest.

Now, on to the important stuff. How about them Buffaloes! Wednesday was national recruiting day and our Buffs scored big. Compiling one of the best classes in recent history, Hawk inked 21 young and talented future Buffs. The class includes 7 four-star, 9 three-star and 1 five-star recruits according to rivals.com. We recieved a final ranking of #15 in the country with an average star rating of 3.24! What a day! The big fish was RB Darrell Scott (5 star) out of St. Bonaventure HS in CA. Announcing his choice live on ESPN, Scott decided to become a Buff because "Coach Hawkins has a vision and I want to be a part of that vision". I don't know about you but I like the sound of that! Scott shunned Texas, USC and FL to become a Buffalo! Of course having his uncle (WR Josh Smith) on the team i'm sure helped. Josh is the youngest brother of Darrell Scott's mom. Darrell Scott is the all around package. He is compact and powerful with lightning quick acceleration and the ability to pound the ball inside. At St Bonaventure, Scott amassed 99 TD's and became the 4th leading rusher in CA HS football history! He promises to make an immediate impact at CU and could be the new face of Championship football in Boulder.

Alright, enough about Scott. There is too much talent in this class to spend all our time talking about one guy. Partnering with Scott will be 4-star RB Ray Polk out of Phoenix, AZ. Polk is a great runner and conjures up visions of Bobby Purify when watching him run. These 2 along with 2-star Rodney Stewart gave CU a national ranking of #4 at the RB position.

What about LB? LB is a position that CU traditionally is very strong at. Matt Russell, Ted Johnson, Chad Brown, Greg Beikert, Hannibal Navies and of course Jordan Dizon all have been studs for CU and in the NFL. This class promises to continue that tradition. Led by 4-star LB's Lyn Katoa out of Utah, Jon Major from Colorado and Shawn Mohler from CA (CC transfer), this bunch ranks #3 in the nation! These 3 will make an immediate impact in 2008 as freshman! Other new LB's include 3-star Will Pericak from Boulder High and 3-star Doug Rippy out of Ohio. LB and newly promoted associate head coach Brian Cabral must be fired up about these guys.

At OL CU bolstered up by snagging 4-star Max Tuioti-Mariner and 4-star Bryce Given from Denver. Mariner actually could have been a 5-star but an injury limited his playing time as a senior. These 2 along with 3-star Ryan Dannewitz gave the Buffs a #19 national ranking at the OL position.

The TE position also bolstered up with the signing of 4-star Ryan Deehan from CA and 3-star Ryan Wallace out of KY. This gave CU a #7 national ranking

Other future Buffs are:

2 star: Jameson Davis (K), Vince Ewing (DB), Paul Virgo (Athelete)

3 star: Chance Blackmon (WR), Curtis Cinningham (DB), Tyler Hansen (QB) Steven Hicks (DB), Patrick Mahnke (DB),

So, there you have it. A very strong and promising class for 2008. There is a lot of potential here but Hawk needs to turn that in to success. I have no doubt he can do it. This is an exciting time for the program and the leadership at CU is looking for everyone to get on board. If you are in CO, go to the spring game and show your support. It's these kinds of things that recruits see and factor in when making a choice. Alabama got 92,000 people at their spring game last year and they inked the #1 class in the country! We need that kind of commitment from students, faculty, fans and alumni to turn this recruiting success into a National Championship program.

That's all for now, thanks again Mack for letting me post .

SHOULDER TO SHOULDER!
Jimmy Love

Post-Season Round-Up

Well, we gave it a good effort to end the season but came up short. A 6-7 record is better than last year but leaves HUGE amounts of room for improvement. As I said before, pass D and guts on offense are things that, I believe, we need to improve if we're going to rise to the levels of UT and OU - or Kansas, I guess...

For the time being, I'm going to be ratcheting back to posting about once a week. I'm going to be pretty busy doing extra flying at work coming up and, well, the football season is over. There'll be some good stuff to write about here and there, so once a week will probably suffice.

I hope everyone is doing well in this, 2008. Talk to all of you soon.

Flashback: 2002 Fiesta Bowl

So, this freakin' writers' strike is killing me. I'm deprived of my normal shows, "Chuck" and "Journeyman" (and my wife's "Grey's Anatomy", sorry), and I decided to TiVo the replay of the 2002 Fiesta Bowl between CU and Oregon. We lost this game at the worst time for me - I was newly dating a recently-graduated Oregon Duck (my wife) - and we didn't look very good at all beyond the first drive.

A few things I noted from the game's first couple of quarters (it was over in the 2nd, basically):

- Oregon had Maurice Morris AND Onterrio "The Whizzinator" Smith as their RBs. Not a bad pair. Morris had enough brains to stay off the whacky tobacky and is still in the NFL as Shaun Alexander's able backup. Onterrio Smith is probably one of those telemarketers that show up as "unavailable" on your caller ID screens trying to sell you nutritional supplements or used Barbie dolls or something. He showed some good promise - even after calling himself "S.O.D" (Steal of the Draft) - as a 4th-round pick to my Vikings. He would have been the starter if he stayed off the whacky...

- Joey Harrington actually looked GOOD. I see why he was the big pick. Too bad he didn't pan out as well in the NFL. It's unfortunate.

- I forgot about Bobby Pesavento.

- Why are so few CU players in the NFL? It's kinda like Nebraska (stay with me here). The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. No stars but a good team. The draft is a topic for another day.

Anyway, just some things I noticed watching the game. Hope the new year (and the workweek) is treating everyone well. Take care and talk to you all soon!

Neuheisel: Prescient or Just Lucky?

I've noticed that a few readers have quite the passion for Mr. Neuheisel. As you probably already read, as well, he received the head coaching position at UCLA. This was much to his delight, as he is an alumnus and for assistant coach for the team. I want to congratulate Rick on the promotion.

However, I have to wonder if something bigger is going on here inside Mr. Neuheisel's brain. Rick was most recently the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens - a team coached by Brian Billick, the former offensive coordinator of my favorite pro team, the Minnesota Vikings. Billick was the OC for the 1998 Minnesota Vikings that should have TROUNCED the Atlanta Falcons and Jamal Anderson in the NFC Championship...but Dennis Green got outcoached by Dan Reeves and got beat at home. My Vikes would have gone on to plow the Broncos into the ground that year, as Randy Moss was a ROCK STAR at the time...BUT, I digress...The fact of the matter is that Billick was considered (and considers himself) an offensive genius with the Vikings and the Ravens. Therefore, he called all the plays for the Ravens. That makes me wonder why they had an OC to begin with? Dress rehearsal? My Vikings have a similar setup with Darrell Bevell. Brad Childress used to be the OC at Philly and still calls the plays in Minnie. Bevell is relegated to "running the offense". Whatever that means. Either way, the job couldn't have been that great for Rick Neuheisel. I'm guessing it was a little boring and demeaning living under the shadow and ego of Brian "I'm not going anywhere next year" Billick. Good move for Rick.

However, Billick didn't seem to know that the ax was about to fall on his (and everyone else's) head. He made a rather grand proclamation during a press conference that, despite his 9-game losing streak, he was not planning to be fired and that most people should shed the notion.
On Black Monday, he and the whole staffed were tossed...less than a week after Neuheisel jumped ship and took the offer at UCLA. Makes me wonder if, while he coveted the UCLA job, he didn't know that, somehow, the ship was sinking in Baltimore and he was tethered to it. It seemed that even Billick didn't know.

So, question. Rick Neuheisel: Lucky or wise? You decide.

2007 Independence Bowl Post-Mortem

First off, Happy New Year! I'm at home tonight because, well, I have 2 kids - one is 3 and the other just short of 2 - and finding a high-schooler to watch them until 0100 is just a little difficult. So, we rode into the new year here at home with a bottle of champagne, watching Fergie (yowsa...), Carrie Underwood (not bad, either), and Alicia Keys (again, quite nice...what's with all the chicks?) sing on the TeeVee. While I'd rather have seen something a little less Top 40, I guess I'd be asking a bunch and showing my 30 years of age. So, decent entertainment. Dick Clark sounds better this year, too. Seems to have his wits fully about him as he jabs Ryan Seacrest...OK, enough of this crap. FOOTBALL!!!

Well, we came up just a bit short last night. However, it's tough to get going when you're picked off on your first play from scrimmage. Hawkins appeared to just plain miss MLB Rolando McLain during his scan for receivers and tossed it straight to him, resulting in a 17-yard return and setting up Alabama's first FG. We managed to make John Parker Wilson (JPW from here on - too long of a name) look like an all-star at the beginning of the game, where he lit us up for 20 points in the first quarter ALONE...

CU made a valiant effort of it, however, as Hawkins drove us for 2 TDs in the last few minutes of Q2, sending us to the locker room at 27-14. The momentum, however, died out when we narrowly missed that FG on the opening drive of Q3. We played 'em tough for the rest of the game and outgained and outscored them, but it was too tough to dig out of that 27-0 hole we jumped into at the beginning of the game.

Altogether, we looked pretty good and our offense showed some promise. Problems I see from last night, however...

- Power running game: If this is due to play-calling or running back size, I'm not sure. Either way, we appeared afraid to run it downhill. The misdirection and end-arounds didn't fool anyone and it appeared as if UA was simply waiting for us to do it on running downs. I'm pretty sure it's not the O line, as those guys certainly had no problem giving Hawkins plenty of time to pass. The run blocking was no worse. Hugh Charles is not huge, but he isn't tiny, either. Run at 'em, already.

- Pass defense: We just made JPW look too damn good. Sorry, but this guy was on the skids for the last half of the season. We gave them the mid pass (20-30 yards) too easily. We need to make them earn that. We have the talent to stop it. Perhaps the Cover 2 scheme is too easily picked apart? I know it doesn't work so well for my Vikes with a good QB...

Well, that's about it from here for the night. Happy New Year, everyone. I appreciate your joining me last night during the game. I'll be expanding the blog (and hopefully moving over to SB Nation) as we move into 2008. Have a good sleep this evening/tomorrow morning/tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to try to ignore the fireworks going off outside my window and get some sleep here shortly. More coming up later this week. We'll talk NFL draft, upcoming recruits, and even some CU basketball.

Peace, all. Take care!

Live-Blogging Open Thread - Independence Bowl 2007 - 2nd Half

- Sorry, Jimmy Love. Just published your comments now :)

- Alright, we came out of the locker room this half and are kickin' some butt. Who the heck is this DeVree guy? He's going balls-out right now...

- AHHHH!!! Hawkins had Josh Smith wide open and just missed him. Would've been 6...

- Crap. We missed the FG. All the momentum wasted. We'll have to see how the D comes out...

- JPW and 'Bama look a little dumbstruck. Good D for us, especially on 2nd down with the D line being in JPW's face. He threw that to no one. Hell of a punt, however. We have a LONG way to go...

- Good. Out of the dungeon with a first down...and another on 3rd and 15. 'Bama isn't going to go far with this kind of D...

- Hell of a run by Charles for 27. 1st down...again...and 'Bama is looking flat on D.

- Another 1st down. Man, that was a weird screen pass that took FOREVER to develop...but it worked...though the follow-up play - another counter - didn't work. We need to quit trying that out...

- Jeez...Eberhart almost missed THAT FG, as well. Whatever 3 points on the board and we have a 10-point game.

(...and these announcers need to shut it about the bowl system being better than playoffs because it "compromises the game". Sorry, not buying it. Just because pro teams rest some guys because the games don't matter during the last two weeks of the year doesn't mean college football is any better. Once you have 7 losses, you're not bowl-eligible. So, if you start 0-7 and decide to sit all seniors, does that "compromise the game"? Lousy argument, guys...)

- FUMBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CU BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My wife says "game on, yo!"...

- Damn, ANOTHER 3rd down conversion. 'Bama's pass D is looking like my Vikes' pass D.

- Crap. Punt...

- 'Bama looks much better on this drive...and we let them out of a hole and gave 'em 20 yards for 1st down on CU's 42...We need a turnover...but a sack will do. Back to the 50. Sorry, JPW...

- 8:39 to go in the game. We need 10 to tie. We start on our own 20. Time to get aggressive.

- CRAP, PICK!!! Ugh...

(Good point by Jimmy Love: resting players won't happen when there are 119 teams in FBS [Div 1A] and nearly none of them - relatively speaking - ever play each other, making head-to-head tiebreakers nearly impossible. Computers will still make the seedings for a playoff system, meaning that sitting starters will not help your cause in a horserace. Now, one way to alleviate some of those issues is to use the Wetzel Plan, making the computers much less influential. The computers are half the problem now, anyway...)

- Just not stopping them. 1st down inside the 10. Looks like potential victory is slipping away. The missed FG appears to be the turning point for the momentum in this game...

- Man, this drive was beautiful. Big passes and a hell of a strike by Hawkins to cap it under SERIOUS pressure. He has good poise for a Freshman...Anyway, 6-point game...

- That holding penalty was a killer for the Tide. Took back a seriously nice run. Lousy play by #10.

- Buffs need a stuff here on 3rd and 7...badly...DAMMIT! JPW runs it for the 1st down. Looks like the final nail...

- Last play coming up. We'll see how it works out...Nice razzle dazzle at the end, but no dice. Good effort, but too many points up front to dig ourselves out.

I'm out for the night. Thanks for joining me! Take care...