Sunday Buff Bites - Action Packed and Worth the Read

by irish1611 on Sep 13, 2009 7:18 AM MDT in Daily Buff Links Comment 12 comments

A good set of Buff Bites today, all very much worth the read. Mike Bohn makes some interesting comments (that's me being kind). Hey, even the Ralphie Report got some mentions in the New York Times and Sports Illustrated. Plus, the Buffs break four dubious records against Toledo. Even Toledo head coach Tim Beckman admits that he was a "little surprised" at the talent gap between his team and the Buffs this past Friday night. Read on!

Colorado AD vows support of Hawkins : All Things Colorado Sports Colorado

"I know our fans are frustrated. I'm hurting too. "The team is hurting. All our coaches are hurting. It's a matter of us continuing to work hard. We're all disappointed and we're all frustrated. The good news is, we're coming home (for a Sept. 19 game against Wyoming) and Folsom Field has been good to us, the environment is always good."

Folsom was really good to the Buffs last Sunday...really good, nothing like Colorado State fans on the field. The environment will probably not be that great either. You should expect some pretty pissed off season ticket holders, a half filled student section and a bunch of crazy Wyoming fans who are giddy over their new coach, Dave Christensen, who stuck with Texas for a half Saturday.

see the rest of the links after the jump...

Kiszla: Where the Buffs roam is not a happy place - The Denver Post

Since CU announced last autumn that Hawkins' contract had been extended through the 2012 season, the Buffaloes have produced a 2-7 record. Worse, they have surrendered an average of almost 33 points per game. So, at this point, there's literally no defense for Bohn's business decision.

Kiszla: Onus is on Bohn - The Denver Post
Here is a quote from Mike Bohn that should make you all feel really good:

"How many times did Texas and Oklahoma take to get the right coach? About four. But we're not about to give up on Dan Hawkins," Bohn said. This was the worst loss since a 70-3 drubbing by Texas led Bohn to fire Gary Barnett in 2005. "I know there's anger. How are we going to respond? Are we going to start knee-jerking?" Bohn said. "If we decided it was time to go the Johnny Next Coach route, what kind of message would that send?"

What kind of message are we sending right now?

Barking Carnival — Blog — CU/Toledo Thoughts
Good statement here by the Texas blog, Barking Carnival:

It’s not all Cody. He must be sitting there thinking "why do the Toledo receivers look like TO and Ochocinco and mine look like…well, like McKnight and Espinoza?" I hear you, Cody. Take it up with dad.

Omaha.com - The Omaha World-Herald: - Halftime thoughts: Blaine who?
I usually despise the Omaha World-Herald but this one hits it on the head:

Man, Colorado was really, really bad. That team lacks speed and is poorly coached. I mean, their strength should have been running Scott behind that big offensive line against a Toledo team that can't stop the run. But what did Cody Hawkins have, 55 pass attempts? Why? Even if you're down 21, you still have three quarters left to come back on the ground and you're keeping their offensive off the field! Dan Hawkins looked like fired coach walking all night. No fire, no nothing. That will be interesting these season. Cash-strapped CU can't afford to fire him, but they can't afford to keep him, either.

It figures to only get worse for Buffaloes - Andy Staples - SI.com
The Ralphie Report gets a mention on Sports Illustrated.com.

About 30 minutes later, Colorado athletics director Mike Bohn stood on the field. Those damning numbers, 54 and 38, still showed on the scoreboard. "We're frustrated," Bohn said. "Dan's frustrated. And our fans are frustrated as well." That they are. At halftime, when Toledo led 23-3, the proprietors of the Ralphie Report blog opened a "2nd Half Suicide Hotline Thread" to allow fans to vent their frustration.

We certainly did vent. Look for a top 20 comments post from that game thread this week sometime so we can get some comedic thoughts going in what has been a rough first week of football for Buff fans. Yes, it has only been a week, feels like months.

Holy Toledo, Colorado Looks Awful - The Quad Blog - NYTimes.com
Hey The Ralphie Report gets another mention for our second half game thread, this time in the New York Times:

And while Toledo’s fans partied in the Glass Bowl last night, Colorado’s fans are beyond restless. The message boards had everything from threads offering a suicide hotline to one whose title was Bohn’s e-mail address. (The few Colorado officials and administrators I saw here looked like they swallowed buffalo chips when I saw them at halftime. And it only got worse from there.)

Nice work Woods.

The real embarrassing part of the article came when Toledo head coach Tim Beckman admitted that he was "surprised" at the talent gap between his team and the Buffs:

Toledo Coach Tim Beckman is a friend of Hawkins, but even was taken aback by the Buffs lack of athleticism. "A little bit," he said when asked if he was surprised by Toledo’s athletic advantage. "A little bit, to be honest with you."

Bohn not ready to make coaching change - Boulder Daily Camera
Athletic director Mike Bohn stands behind Dan Hawkins, throwing out a lot of quotes that don't really give you the warm feeling that things are changing for the better:

"We maybe have been guilty of building a façade that maybe didn't reveal the hole that we were in and the severity of the situation we were in associated with the program," Bohn said.

I wish you would explain.

Woelk: CU free-fall inexplicable, inexcusable - Boulder Daily Camera
All you need to know from Neill Woelk's article:

I`m still not betting on a coaching change.

CU-Toledo Notes - CUBuffs.com
Talk about breaking four of the worst records you can possibly break in a game. CU has been playing football for a long, long time and in one game, they broke records you never, ever hope to get to because they all signify that you are behind by a lot of points:

INDIVIDUAL RECORDS A number of individual records were broken or tied tonight:
Most Receptions, Game-11, Scotty McKnight
Most Passing Attempts, Game-64, Cody Hawkins
Most Kickoff Returns, Game-8, Darrell Scott
Most Kickoff Return Yards, Game-204, Darrell Scott

Cowboys vow to compete against CU - Boulder Daily Camera

"They know we have another game next Saturday, a big game down at Colorado," Christensen said. "They`re looking forward to it. They want a chance to compete again and there won`t be a letdown. These guys come ready to play."

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Two Road Wins in 3+ years

Really, what else is there to say?

by Ever on Sep 13, 2009 9:05 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

What Bohn fails to understand is that its just going to end up costing more money the longer this takes. He is going to have fewer fans showing up to games and all that goes with it, merchandise, concessions etc. as well as less support from the community. Not too mention fewer televised games, poor recruiting etc. I wish he and the school would recognize the kind of marketing tool a winning football program can be.

Its a hell of a lot easier as a fan and alum to support a team financially when they are winning or atleast act like they want to win.

by NYCskibum on Sep 13, 2009 9:19 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly... My example

Living in Dallas I am finally back in Big 12 country and have been planning for the past 6-9 months to get to a couple games (Texas, OK State, and aTm in Boulder) at a minimum. Also was going to do everything possible to bring the wife along as well.

Now, I’m so disgusted/embarrased by our play, I’ll probably just go to the aTm game in Boulder becuase its tradition between me and my brother (he’s an aggie).

End analysis is that I bleed black and gold and it will always be that way, but the dollars I spend will certainly be more when I think we have a competitive team and SOME hope of not being embarrased at the end.

by BuffnBigD on Sep 13, 2009 9:29 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Not all Cody's fault on offense but

Barking Carnival — Blog — CU/Toledo Thoughts
Good statement here by the Texas blog, Barking Carnival:

It’s not all Cody. He must be sitting there thinking “why do the Toledo receivers look like TO and Ochocinco and mine look like…well, like McKnight and Espinoza?” I hear you, Cody. Take it up with dad.

Cody, Your Ochocinco(Simas) was suspended for the game. Your TO(JoshSmith) quit. I am not sure why Andre Simmons is always standing on the sideslines. I guess the big freshman receivers are not ready for prime time. You were running for you life all night(poor line blocking) which wasn’t your fault. But even when not pressured you missed a wide open D Scott for a TD.

When asked why Cody over Hansen Hawkins answer was “a little more efficient”. Cody has little to no running ability. Yes he did stuff it in at the end of the Toledo game, but he also got knocked out. Hansen has proven in games he is a pretty good running QB. You have an offensive line that has provided poor pass blocking in 2 games. To me the answer is clear who should be under center. Don’t understand why the coaching staff can’t come to that conclusion?? I think most Buff fans felt Hansen should have been in there from the start.

Would the Buffs be 2 and 0 if Hansen started the year at QB? No probably not. But it is clear to see Cody isn’t the answer behind center. I feel Hansen will learn more in live games than he ever will on the pine at this point. Other than gain a year of seperation from Cody, not sure why he would want to reshirt unless he feels that unless Cody’s injured and can’t play, he’s not going to get a shot behind center this year.

Bohn not ready to make coaching change – Boulder Daily Camera
Athletic director Mike Bohn stands behind Dan Hawkins, throwing out a lot of quotes that don’t really give you the warm feeling that things are changing for the better:

“We maybe have been guilty of building a façade that maybe didn’t reveal the hole that we were in and the severity of the situation we were in associated with the program,” Bohn said.

I wish you would explain.

ME TOO????

by TraderJesse on Sep 13, 2009 11:05 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

good post

I wonder though about Simas. Smith (just like Simmons) was hardly ever on the field on offense last year. We’ll see how much Simas contributes once he comes back, but knowing Dan Hawkins I bet McKnight and Espinoza will continue to be the primary WRs and Simas and Simmons will continue to languish on the sidelines.

by nebraskasux on Sep 13, 2009 12:09 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Totally agree w/ the post above

Next week put Simas & Simmons on the field and just chuck the ball up in the air about forty yards and let them go get it. Yeah, maybe they don’t know the whole playbook but we need some athletes on the damn field who can stretch our offense.

by CleBUFFS on Sep 13, 2009 1:58 PM MDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

Guilty of building a facade, eh?

Hmmm… that would look better than not seeing the tiger trap at all, wouldn’t it. For Bohn, that is.

“We totally saw the hole we’re in, we just didn’t tell you about it.” Really now.

So I guess it’s better to look like liars, rather than totally inept.

Spin baby spin.

by AllBroncsallday on Sep 13, 2009 7:16 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just saw over in Buffzone

maybe it was here as well but just saw this from Kyle Ringo at the Daily Camera

Littleton High School running back Mister Jones committed to CU in June, but he said Saturday he has decided to make official visits to other programs because he is concerned about the state of things in Boulder.

“I mean, it’s obvious,” Jones said when asked why he has decided to schedule visits. “They lost to like Toledo and Colorado State the last couple weeks. The CU program isn’t doing too good right now.”

I mean what does it take? Will a 20+point loss to Wyoming do it? Hawk’s recent comments are even worse

Coach Hawkins says no major changes or adustments are needed. "You just have to do what you do better."

by NYCskibum on Sep 13, 2009 8:54 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

sorry, butchered the formatting......

by NYCskibum on Sep 13, 2009 8:55 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

From BuffZone

http://www.buffzone.com/ci_13329737

Hawkins and the Buffs practiced early Sunday morning and afterward the coach indicated no one in the program is in panic mode and no significant changes are in store for this week’s home game against Wyoming.

“How about some blocking, tackling, and covering of opponents receivers”? That would be a good place to start.

Also, from same article.

Littleton High School running back Mister Jones committed to CU in June, but he said Saturday he has decided to make official visits to other programs because he is concerned about the state of things in Boulder. “I mean, it’s obvious,” Jones said when asked why he has decided to schedule visits. “They lost to like Toledo and Colorado State the last couple weeks. The CU program isn’t doing too good right now.”

That was quick, the fall out has started all ready.

I was typing after reading same article NYCskibum when yours popped up.

by TraderJesse on Sep 13, 2009 8:57 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

At the game.......

I am embarrassed to admit that I made the trip to Toledo. I hit rock bottom at halftime when I got hazed by a bunch of 10 year old Rockets fans. Thank God for the limo filled with beer that took us away from that terrible scene. An all day tailgate in Ann Arbor started up a few hours later, followed by solid matchup in the Big House. What a weekend….

by we don't live in lincoln on Sep 14, 2009 9:33 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Insanity

I took this from one of the other post’s comments:

Biggest question for the here and now is, what is Hawk and his staff going to do to make changes for the rest of the year?
Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

And then from TraderJesse’s comments above:

Hawkins and the Buffs practiced early Sunday morning and afterward the coach indicated no one in the program is in panic mode and no significant changes are in store for this week’s home game against Wyoming.

Wyoming may hang 60 on us, I am scared. This is true insanity. No one has to panic, but Hawk is a mega-dumbass if he thinks he can prep the same way as he has been and something is going to change or get better. Step one of this is he has to realize that maybe we have not been doing things the right way and maybe something has to change. Until the coaches’ realize that (or Hawk, I’m sure some of the coaches are like WTF), we are eternally screwed this season and everyone decent we have will transfer by next season unless there is a change at the top.

Part of winning in big conference college football is being able to make adjustments and find a way to make things work with what you have. Hawk seems to have square peg in a round hole syndrome where he can’t fathom that his Boise sh*t won’t work in the Big 12 and maybe we need to do something different. He has not made the transition and unless he admits that and starts changing things we are F’ed.

My Music Blog: DBF

by BVaz on Sep 14, 2009 4:31 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs