Just How Bad Has CU's (Not So) Special Teams Been?
It has now been officially stated by me that the entire operations known as the CU special teams needs to be blown up and put back together. New players, new coaches...everything. The main reason: CONSISTENTLY being horrible, costing the Buffs points and, since the beginning of the season, not giving the Buffs anything positive. Yes, Josh Smith will bust one here and there that will give CU good field position, but not since the Eastern Washington game has he really put the Buffs in an immediate position to score. So just how bad are the Buffs this year on special teams? According to my calculations, the Buffs have given up a total of 81 points to the opposition on special teams. Get out your calculator and do the math. 81/10 = 8.1 points/game. See the chart below for a breakdown of what I am counting in my 81 points. You could argue against one of the Missouri touchdowns due to bad coverage and short punt but most of the other "blunders" are truly legitimate. The number could be higher if you factor in the momentum changers the missed field goals cost the Buffs in the Texas game and the Florida State game. You could even throw the Iowa State game in as one of those games where the Buffs convert, it may be a different outcome. 81 points. Yes, Josh Smith has a few good returns and a touchdown against CSU that would offset a few points but when the CU place kickers are 28.6% on the season in made field goals and the Buffs play musical punters in the Mizzou game, they lose the benefit of the doubt in a lot of scenarios. To make matters worse, the Buffs are 117th in the nation in kickoff coverage, giving up 27.17 yards/kickoff. There are only 119 teams in FBS! CU ranks 85th in punt coverage giving up 11.0 yards/punt. For how good WR/KR Josh Smith has seemed to have done this year, the Buffs still rank 50th in punt return average and 54th in kick return average. In net punting, the Buffs only average 39.1 yards/punt which is good for 79th in the nation. I am sorry, this performance is not acceptable. 8.1 points a game plus the influence that poor special teams play has on the momentum of the game has killed the Buffs this year. I believe it cost them the Florida State game, gave them no chance against Missouri and could have cost them the Iowa State game.
| Opponent | Play | Result | Total Points |
| Colorado State | Kickoff TD | CSU Kickoff Return TD | -7 |
| Eastern Washington | Missed Field Goal | Goodman Missed Field Goal | -3 |
| Eastern Washington | Buffs Fumble | Josh Smith fumble, Led to EWU TD | -7 |
| Florida State | Missed Field Goal | Goodman Missed Field Goal | -3 |
| Florida State | Jfly Bonehead Return | Smith Gets tackled at the 4, led to safety, field goal | -5 |
| Florida State | Kickoff TD | FSU returns kickoff 94 yards | -7 |
| Texas | Missed Field Goal | Goodman Missed Field Goal | -3 |
| Texas | Missed Field Goal | Goodman Missed Field Goal | -3 |
| Texas | Missed Field Goal | Goodman Missed Field Goal | -3 |
| Kansas St | Missed Field Goal | Goodman Missed Field Goal | -3 |
| Kansas St | Missed Field Goal | Goodman Missed Field Goal | -3 |
| Missouri | Punter Fumble | Suazo Drops the Ball on Own 5 yd line, TD Mizzou | -7 |
| Missouri | Bad Punt | DiLallo 23 yard punt before half leads to FG | -3 |
| Missouri | Bad Punt/Cov | DiLallo 34 yard punt, returned 30 yards, net 4 yd punt, TD Mizzou | -7 |
| Missouri | Bad Punt/Cov | Suazo 33 yd punt, returned to CU 39, TD Mizzou | -7 |
| Texas A&M | Missed Field Goal | Goodman Missed Field Goal | -3 |
| Iowa State | Missed Field Goal | J Davis Missed Field Goal | -3 |
| Iowa State | Missed Field Goal | J Davis Missed Field Goal | -3 |
| Iowa State | Blocked Ex Point | Goodman Blocked Extra Point | -1 |
| TOTAL | -81 | ||
| TOTAL/GAME | -8.1 |
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Comments
Does anyone have the ABC Coverage map...
for Saturday’s game?
by buffsnbruins on Nov 11, 2008 11:18 AM MST 0 recs
I believe coverage maps come out tomorrow
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?page=coveragemaps2008
The Ralphie Report - Shoulder to Shoulder...All Colorado Buffaloes on SBNation - http://www.ralphiereport.com/
by irish1611 on
Nov 11, 2008 11:31 AM MST
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They usually don’t put them up until Wednesday or Thursday.
Still has last week’s right now: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?page=coveragemaps2008
by BVaz on
Nov 11, 2008 11:33 AM MST
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Good breakdown
I would also be curious to see a sort of +/- as far as what the positives vs negatives end up being in total (not many positives naturally).
And scarily enough this doesn’t even include stuff like the 2 roughing the kicker penalties in a row against ISU. Ugh.
by BVaz on Nov 11, 2008 11:19 AM MST 0 recs
I have to agree, our special teams are "special" for the wrong reasons
With guys like Smith, Stewart and Scott, we should have some outstanding teams. Why we can’t recruit a kicker to CU is beyond me.
"Me fail english, that unpossible" - Ralph Wiggum
by Broncoman on Nov 11, 2008 12:02 PM MST 0 recs
I think we should just sneak Crosby back into the stadium and throw a Goodman jersey on him.
by BVaz on
Nov 11, 2008 12:10 PM MST
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hey Broncoman, yet get banned from the San Diego site? I love it!!!!!!
The Ralphie Report - Shoulder to Shoulder...All Colorado Buffaloes on SBNation - http://www.ralphiereport.com/
by irish1611 on
Nov 11, 2008 12:16 PM MST
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Apparently I did (sob).
I guess going on there and cheering for the Chiefs will get you banned, man SD fans must have thin skins, didn’t use profanity or vulgarity, just said go chiefs. Didn’t even call out their QB or coach, Oh well, doesn’t hurt the feelings.
"Me fail english, that unpossible" - Ralph Wiggum
by Broncoman on
Nov 11, 2008 5:50 PM MST
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spot on analysis
you should e-mail this to hawkins and bohn
by nebraskasux on Nov 11, 2008 3:05 PM MST 0 recs
another for the list...
It may not have cost us any points, but you could probably add Smith forgetting to take a knee against Texas, and almost walking out of the end zone. He probably won’t forget because he got tattoo’d on that play…
Just another ST mistake.
by kingpants on Nov 11, 2008 4:12 PM MST 0 recs
wow, that chart says it all
Ten missed field goals?
How many have we made? I’m guessing … three? It’s been so long, I can’t remember.
I know Davis is injured (and probably shouldn’t have been kicking anyway), but the other misses are a long dry spell between good kicks.
by JustmyOp on Nov 11, 2008 8:56 PM MST 0 recs
4
3/11 Goodman, 1/3 Davis. Yeah, there is no way Davis would of kicked this year if it wasn’t for Goodman’s troubles. You don’t normally see a kicker going out to kick field goals with a big o-lineman style knee brace on his plant leg :-)
by nebraskasux on
Nov 12, 2008 7:01 AM MST
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you could hear the crowd tonight
… telepathically willing Goodman’s first FG attempt to be good.
Then it bounced off the uprights. What are the chances, really?
Unbelievable.
But he kicked another that was good. Good, I say! He MADE A FIELD GOAL.
Curse over. Spell broken. Right?
by JustmyOp on Nov 15, 2008 10:29 PM MST 0 recs
can you keep updating this?
I’d like to be able to see the stats picture after yesterday’s game and NU if you can keep up with the chart, that would be great.
BTW, Davis still has a lot of power on KOs considering he’s wearing that brace.
by JustmyOp on Nov 16, 2008 7:48 AM MST 0 recs











