The Kool-Aid was emptied last week. This week, hope became a hard reality...and it came like a freight truck coming 100 mph down the freeway right into Folsom Field. There were so many things to be disappointed with last night, it made all Buff fans take the big pill that was prescribed for those who still maintained the FSU game was an anomaly. This post will be honest and straight forward. It will be different than other wrap ups because it is not all about X and O's anymore. Don't get me wrong, I still believe this team is headed in a positive direction, we are just so far from the talent that the Big 4 in Missouri, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Texas put on the field. The question is will the Buffs ever have the talent to compete with Texas and Oklahoma? After sitting 20 rows right behind the Texas sideline (unfortunately with a bunch of Texas fans...thanks for selling your tickets to Texas fans CU donors), you see the eye-popping difference between the two teams. I have to tell you Buff fans, there might be one or two players on Colorado that would start/play at Texas. That is a fact. CU's defensive line would be scout players, that includes DT George Hypolite. I like our linebackers but they would be special teams players. C Daniel Sanders and injured OT Ryan Miller might play for the Longhorns but that is it. And do I have to go into our skill players? Texas backup quarterback John Chiles was bigger than our linebackers. And it isn't just bigger for Texas players, it is faster, taller, stronger, tougher and more physical. And they make plays, they are confident, they have an amazing amount of pride in their university and it shows in their performance. I can't say that for Colorado. It is a complete athlete.

It is really hard to look anywhere other than the talent on the field and blame coaching or play calling but once again I am dumbfounded. I know some of you are sick of WR/KR Josh Smith. He almost made a bad safety last night and had bad kickoff return/fumble against FSU but nothing is bad about his offensive game. Last night, Josh Smith was taken out of the game by the coaches and substituted for Cody Crawford until they went 4 WR in the fourth quarter? Smith is CU's leading statistical WR? The Buffs' coaches have voluntarily taken our best play maker off the field for a possession receiver. Unbelievable. The Buffs already have 2 possession receivers out their in Scotty McKnight and Patrick Williams. CU has no field stretch, no deep threat, nobody who can out run the defense when Smith isn't in there. What is going on...am I missing something?

Once again the opposing teams offense showed the Buffs how to do it. First, EWU showed the Buffs how to smoothly execute the spread offense. The Buffs still run it like an erratic fire drill that has no consistency and is starting to become a detriment. Then it was FSU who knew they didn't have a strong QB, just like CU, and they made a point to run the ball. Last night Texas did something beautiful that the Buffs refused to do until a 7 minutes left in the third quarter. Texas got McCoy into rhythm, throwing quick passes to get the ball out of his hands, away from the CU blitzes and into their receivers hands. Texas was moving forward on first down every single time because the ball was out of McCoy's hands early. The Buffs continue to call long developing plays, running that slow play action out of the shotgun and roll out passes that Cody doesn't have the arm strength to throw on a consistent basis. No simple out routes, no screen passes to counter the "pass rush first" Longhorn defensive line. Nothing but plays that took forever to develop. Time for CU to watch how OU runs the spread offense or is it time to scrap the spread offense? The Buffs aren't physical enough and they don't have the speed to make it work. The offense doesn't feature the running game enough (the strong part of this team) while it over features the quarterback (the weakest part of this team).

Now for the impending quarterback controversy. A couple of weeks ago, I think one our members was calling for Matt Ballenger and I dismissed it. I am here to say I was wrong. I am wrong not on the basis that Ballenger looked decent against a second team Texas team and not because I think Ballenger can do much better than Hawkins. I was wrong because it cannot get much worse. I have been a big supporter of Cody Hawkins but he is not going to get it done. Great kid, great perspective, good football...not physically big enough to do it in the Big 12. Cody went 13 - 33 and 118 yards with one TD and one fumble. Too many balls batted down, too many easy throws missed, too much of an altered game plan to get it done. Too many mistakes and turnovers like the fumble last night where he just dropped the ball on the broken play for fumble that led to 7. It's hard to say that because I like the kid but this team needs a jump start and Cody just isn't going to take this team to where they need to go.

Among other thoughts...was K Aric Goodman wearing some sort of copper/gold colored shoes last night? That is embarrassing especially when you miss 3 field goals. Make those, the game is probably 14 - 9 heading into half time and who knows at that point. Add a kicker to the need list. And whoever game him the nickname "Money" needs to rethink that immediately to more like "Practice Player." Nothing drives me up the wall more than kicking problems. That being said, the play calling on the series before being forced to kick the field goal was confusing. The Buffs threw the ball 7 of the 9 times? Two were forced by a holding call but still the Buffs tried to get cute again with subpar talent. Do we need to start questioning Coach Hawkins game day coaching now? It is probably unfair right now due to the talent disparity between Texas and Colorado? If anything, the play calling is not strong right now. The CU offense is anemic. I thought the defense came out with a good game plan, blitzing a lot and at least trying to attack Texas early. Shaun Mohler was active, Brad Jones got to McCoy early and the Buffs forced a couple of meaningful turnovers. There was actually some movement up front. The first touchdown was a great play by McCoy who really impressed me with his zip on the ball and his complete control of the offense. Nothing the CU defense could really do about that one. The offense continues to put the defense in horrible spots.

Now looking at Texas. Good team...I don't think a great team. I still think this defense can be beaten and the offensive line was not extremely impressive to me. The Buffs were able to get some pressure and Colt McCoy won't have that much running room against a faster defense like OU. I believe the OU vs Texas game is not within 14 points. Yes, if Texas fans read this, you can beat me up now but the OU team is scary good.

Now to the fans. I am ashamed to be a CU fan this morning not because of the play on the field but because of the students. I realize we have students who read this report and we thank you. But hopefully you weren't one of the people/idiots throwing shirts on the field, right in front of recruits, all night long. And then you leave in the 3rd quarter. I am in my mid 20's so don't call me an old fart. I don't see Texas or OU (the class of the Big 12) throwing items on the field on a regular basis like Boulder fans do. The fans not in the student section don't stand up. Luckily or unluckily on other fronts, there were a lot of Texas fans in my section so the complaining fans who yelled at them to sit down in the first quarter where forced to finally stand up as they refused.

I don't like to judge an entire group based on a couple of fans but I had the most annoying Texas fans around me that at one point I got up told this lady that she should stop saying "Colt McCoy was better than Mark Sanchez from USC so Colt should win the Heisman" because she was embarrassing Texas fans. A couple of them then asked the others around them whether this game counted or not in the season standings or do the games start counting only when Texas plays OU. All of the Texas fans were good for in my section was putting their horns up and singing that fight song. The best part is how Texas fans have "OU sucks" worked into their songs. Should be more like "OU owns us." I think Texas fans successfully turned 50,000 CU fans into Oklahoma fans next week. Yeah, bitter CU fan here, say what you want but I wasn't very impressed with the supposed great football IQ of Texas fans? Texas fans shouldn't be impressed with CU fans either so I guess it cancels itself out.

Either way, Texas worked the Buffaloes this weekend. A darn good football team beat an athletically challenged Buffaloes team. The Buffs better get something to click quick or this could be a 5 win season before we know it. Buffs can take nothing positive from this one. The coaching staff needs to shake it up to get a fire under this team. Thanks to Burnt Orange Nation for the Q&A session this week. Buffs take on Kansas this week...could be another long day. At least we don't have to watch it in person.

Once again the opposing teams offense showed the Buffs how to do it. First, EWU showed the Buffs how to smoothly execute the spread offense. The Buffs still run it like an erratic fire drill that has no consistency and is starting to become a detriment. Then it was FSU who knew they didn't have a strong QB, just like CU, and they made a point to run the ball. Last night Texas did something beautiful that the Buffs refused to do until a 7 minutes left in the third quarter. Texas got McCoy into rhythm, throwing quick passes to get the ball out of his hands, away from the CU blitzes and into their receivers hands. Texas was moving forward on first down every single time because the ball was out of McCoy's hands early. The Buffs continue to call long developing plays, running that slow play action out of the shotgun and roll out passes that Cody doesn't have the arm strength to throw on a consistent basis. No simple out routes, no screen passes to counter the "pass rush first" Longhorn defensive line. Nothing but plays that took forever to develop. Time for CU to watch how OU runs the spread offense or is it time to scrap the spread offense? The Buffs aren't physical enough and they don't have the speed to make it work. The offense doesn't feature the running game enough (the strong part of this team) while it over features the quarterback (the weakest part of this team).

Now for the impending quarterback controversy. A couple of weeks ago, I think one our members was calling for Matt Ballenger and I dismissed it. I am here to say I was wrong. I am wrong not on the basis that Ballenger looked decent against a second team Texas team and not because I think Ballenger can do much better than Hawkins. I was wrong because it cannot get much worse. I have been a big supporter of Cody Hawkins but he is not going to get it done. Great kid, great perspective, good football...not physically big enough to do it in the Big 12. Cody went 13 - 33 and 118 yards with one TD and one fumble. Too many balls batted down, too many easy throws missed, too much of an altered game plan to get it done. Too many mistakes and turnovers like the fumble last night where he just dropped the ball on the broken play for fumble that led to 7. It's hard to say that because I like the kid but this team needs a jump start and Cody just isn't going to take this team to where they need to go.

Among other thoughts...was K Aric Goodman wearing some sort of copper/gold colored shoes last night? That is embarrassing especially when you miss 3 field goals. Make those, the game is probably 14 - 9 heading into half time and who knows at that point. Add a kicker to the need list. And whoever game him the nickname "Money" needs to rethink that immediately to more like "Practice Player." Nothing drives me up the wall more than kicking problems. That being said, the play calling on the series before being forced to kick the field goal was confusing. The Buffs threw the ball 7 of the 9 times? Two were forced by a holding call but still the Buffs tried to get cute again with subpar talent. Do we need to start questioning Coach Hawkins game day coaching now? It is probably unfair right now due to the talent disparity between Texas and Colorado? If anything, the play calling is not strong right now. The CU offense is anemic. I thought the defense came out with a good game plan, blitzing a lot and at least trying to attack Texas early. Shaun Mohler was active, Brad Jones got to McCoy early and the Buffs forced a couple of meaningful turnovers. There was actually some movement up front. The first touchdown was a great play by McCoy who really impressed me with his zip on the ball and his complete control of the offense. Nothing the CU defense could really do about that one. The offense continues to put the defense in horrible spots.

Now looking at Texas. Good team...I don't think a great team. I still think this defense can be beaten and the offensive line was not extremely impressive to me. The Buffs were able to get some pressure and Colt McCoy won't have that much running room against a faster defense like OU. I believe the OU vs Texas game is not within 14 points. Yes, if Texas fans read this, you can beat me up now but the OU team is scary good.

Now to the fans. I am ashamed to be a CU fan this morning not because of the play on the field but because of the students. I realize we have students who read this report and we thank you. But hopefully you weren't one of the people/idiots throwing shirts on the field, right in front of recruits, all night long. And then you leave in the 3rd quarter. I am in my mid 20's so don't call me an old fart. I don't see Texas or OU (the class of the Big 12) throwing items on the field on a regular basis like Boulder fans do. The fans not in the student section don't stand up. Luckily or unluckily on other fronts, there were a lot of Texas fans in my section so the complaining fans who yelled at them to sit down in the first quarter where forced to finally stand up as they refused.

I don't like to judge an entire group based on a couple of fans but I had the most annoying Texas fans around me that at one point I got up told this lady that she should stop saying "Colt McCoy was better than Mark Sanchez from USC so Colt should win the Heisman" because she was embarrassing Texas fans. A couple of them then asked the others around them whether this game counted or not in the season standings or do the games start counting only when Texas plays OU. All of the Texas fans were good for in my section was putting their horns up and singing that fight song. The best part is how Texas fans have "OU sucks" worked into their songs. Should be more like "OU owns us." I think Texas fans successfully turned 50,000 CU fans into Oklahoma fans next week. Yeah, bitter CU fan here, say what you want but I wasn't very impressed with the supposed great football IQ of Texas fans? Texas fans shouldn't be impressed with CU fans either so I guess it cancels itself out.

Either way, Texas worked the Buffaloes this weekend. A darn good football team beat an athletically challenged Buffaloes team. The Buffs better get something to click quick or this could be a 5 win season before we know it. Buffs can take nothing positive from this one. The coaching staff needs to shake it up to get a fire under this team. Thanks to Burnt Orange Nation for the Q&A session this week. Buffs take on Kansas this week...could be another long day. At least we don't have to watch it in person.