Thursday Buff Bites - Buffs Offensive Line Outweighs Toledo Defensive Line By 42 Pounds

Scout.com: RocketDigest.com Staff Predictions
Three of the RocketDigest.com writers have picked Toledo over the Buffs this week. The one guy who didn't take the homer train brought up a good point about the Rockets being too small up front on the defensive line. Got me to look at the starters last week and then look at their size...Check this out:

#56 Derrick Summers - 6'2" 258 pounds
#40 Alex Johnson - 6'2" 244 pounds
#98 Maurice Hill - 6'2" 286 pounds
#58 Douglas Webster - 6'3" 233 pounds

No, those aren't typos. They average 255 pounds across the front. The Buffs starting offensive line averages 297. You do the math. RUN THE BALL!

toledoblade.com -- University of Toledo quickly tackles fix for defense
Toledo gave up 300+ yards rushing last week to Purdue. They believe they have made the necessary changes to fix the problem for the Buffs.

After ranking as one of the worst defenses in the Mid-American Conference last season, UT worked all preseason with the expectation of shedding that label. Yet the Rockets still allowed the most rushing yards and points of any MAC team last weekend. 

Beckman and the Rockets said there were 10-15 "big chunk" plays that decided the course of Saturday's loss. They also said their mistakes were "minor" and are immediately correctable heading into Friday's primetime home opener at the Glass Bowl against Colorado. Richmond said filling run gaps, something the Rockets didn't do a good enough job at against the Boilermakers, will be key against Colorado. "It goes from the defensive line all the way back to the secondary," Richmond said. "The d-line has to fit into their gaps. Then the linebackers have to get off blocks and hit their gaps, and then, ultimately, it's up to the secondary. You can't score if the secondary makes a tackle."

Tim Griffin Predicts Buffs Win in a Nailbiter

Colorado 21, Toledo 20: This might be the biggest game of Dan Hawkins’ career after his team’s opening-game debacle against Colorado State. The Buffaloes need to get a ground game going -- remember that guy on the bench is Darrell Scott -- and do a better job of limiting big plays on defense. Toledo quarterback Aaron Opelt threw 67 passes in last week’s loss at Purdue, but will find it much tougher this week against the Buffaloes’ underrated secondary keyed by cornerback Jimmy Smith. I’m looking for the Buffaloes to do just enough to escape the Glass Bowl with a victory-- but it’s not going to be easy or pretty.

CU Buffs set for road game rarity - Boulder Daily Camera

Coach Dan Hawkins was 16 years old the last time the program played a team from a non-Bowl Championship Series conference in a true road game outside the state. Almost 32 years later, the Buffs will head for the airport this afternoon for a flight to Toledo where they face the Rockets at The Glass Bowl Stadium on Friday night.

Let's Go Rockets " Colorado Buffalo Q&A: The Ralphie Report

more links after the jump...

The University of Toledo Game Notes For Colorado
A total of eight true freshmen and four redshirt freshmen saw action against Purdue. True Freshmen: Robert Bell, Julian Bellinger, Byron Best, T.J. Fatinikun, Dan Molls, Eric Page, Jermaine Robinson, Daxton Swanson. Redshirt Freshmen: Jimmy Davidson, Danny Farr, Sam Gaymon, David Pasquale.

What to watch for in the Big 12 this weekend - Big 12 - ESPN

1. Colorado handling adversity after its opening-game debacle: The Buffaloes suffered an embarrassing loss to cross-state rival Colorado State in their opener Sunday night. Coach Dan Hawkins and his team have only five days as they travel halfway across the country to try to blot those painful memories against Toledo. It will be interesting to see how much heralded Colorado tailback Darrell Scott will play against the Rockets -- particularly after his pointed criticism of his lack of playing time earlier this week.

2009 Colorado Football: Game 2 - Toledo - CUBuffs.com
This cubuffs.com page has a lot of good roster and depth chart notes about Toledo. Here is a good stat about Colorado from last week:

Obscure Notes Of The Week: Looking inside the statistics, the defense didn't have a horrible game in the opener. CU did surrender five plays over 20 yards, four which covered 42 through 57 yards for a total of 215; that means CSU gained 161 on its other 57 plays from scrimmage (2.8). The Rams missed on their last 10 third down conversions, had four three-and-outs on its last six possessions (not including the game's final one where they kneeled down to run out the clock), and gained three or fewer yards on 34 of 59 plays (58%, again not include those three late kneeldowns).

FSN Rocky Mountain Schedule Announced - CUBuffs.com
FSN Rocky Mountain will telecast nine University of Colorado men's basketball games and eight women's games during the 2009-10 season, the network announced on Thursday.

Colorado O-line knows it must improve - Buffzone

Colorado faces an aggressive Toledo defense that likes to use speed to disrupt the run and blitzing to get to the quarterback. The Rockets gave up 315 yards on the ground last week to Purdue in a game CU coaches say was much closer than the 52-31 final scores indicates. It should help that center Mike Iltis is probable for the game after missing all but the first six snaps of the CSU game. His replacement, Keenan Stevens, played well in his absence, but losing Iltis so early in the game compounded problems because it added more unfamiliarity.

The Longmont Times-Call - QB Slota Temporarily Suspended
Head coach Dan Hawkins said walk-on quarterback Jerry Slota has been "temporarily suspended from the football team until we ascertain further evidence." Hawkins did not say what evidence he’s seeking, or why Slota was suspended.