Where I Come From: Expectations for the 2010 Season
by Jon Woods on Jul 12, 2010 9:14 AM MDT
in EA Sports NCAA FB 11
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As our final piece of the "Where I Come From" series, Bob and I were asked to discuss our expectations for the Colorado Buffaloes 2010 football season. College fans, probably more than any other sport, start each season overly optimistic and, for 90% of the teams in the FBS, with rather unrealistic expectations. It's what makes the sport great, and makes the summer a slow boil, counting down the days until the season starts on Labor Day weekend. To sit down and really think about my expectations I tried (but didn't succeed) to be objective and lay out how I think the season will play out.
Sat, Sep 04
Colorado State
at Denver, Colo.
12 p.m.
The Mtn.
Sat, Sep 11
California
at Berkeley, Calif.
1:30 p.m.
FSN
Sat, Sep 18
HAWAI'I
BOULDER
1:30 p.m.
FCS
Sat, Oct 02
GEORGIA
BOULDER
2:30 p.m.
FSN
Sat, Oct 09
*Missouri
at Columbia, Mo.
TBA
Sat, Oct 16
*BAYLOR
BOULDER
TBA
Sat, Oct 23
*TEXAS TECH
BOULDER
TBA
Sat, Oct 30
*Oklahoma
at Norman, Okla.
TBA
Sat, Nov 06
*Kansas
at Lawrence, Kan.
TBA
Sat, Nov 13
*IOWA STATE
BOULDER
TBA
Sat, Nov 20
*KANSAS STATE
BOULDER
TBA
Fri, Nov 26
*Nebraska
at Lincoln, Neb.
1:30 p.m.
ABC
Non-conference: The Buffaloes should get out of these four games with at least a 2-2 record, but as we have seen the last two seasons that is absolutely not a given. Does the word Toledo ring a bell? If Hawk is planning on getting the Buffs back to a bowl game and possibly keeping his job then he will need to beat Colorado State and Hawaii. A slip up in either one of those games would not only set them back in the win loss column, but it would damage the fans outlook on the season and create one heck of a mountain to climb to bowl eligibility. On the other hand, a win over either Georgia or Cal, both doable if unlikely, and a 3-1 record heading into Big 12 play could create a wave of optimism and some real momentum heading into a manageable conference schedule.
Conference: This is one of the best Big 12 schedules that the Buffs have received in the last few years. They get the games they can, and should win at home and the games that look a bit more difficult on the road. The way it sets up, if the Buffs can take care of business at home, and maybe steal one win on the road, they would be looking at a 7-5 record and a sure invite to a solid bowl game. The conference is down and CU is going to miss two of the better teams in the South in Texas and Texas A&M.
Outlook: I'm going to go with wins against Colorado State and Hawaii, and close, hard fought losses to both Georgia and California. I think that we will go 3-1 in the Big 12 at home, I would love to go unbeaten in conference but I just don't have the faith to call for it. The Buffs will slip up against either Baylor or Texas Tech. On the road the Buffaloes will end up 1-3 with losses to Missouri, Oklahoma and Nebraska and a win against Kansas. That would be good enough for a 6-6 record and a birth in a low-level bowl. A few of the games I picked as losses are most definitely winnable if the defense performs up to expectations and we can get the running game going. I feel really good about this season and I truly believe that this team is going to surprise a lot of people. But, as I mentioned above, I'm pretty sure I say that every year...
What about all of you? How do you think the 2010 season will go?
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7-5 is doable
But I think 6-6 is more realistic. The Buffs would absolulutely have to win-out at home to go 7-5. I have no faith that we can win on the road. KU is the only realistic conference win, but I simply do not have enough faith.
I agree with you on the 2-2 non-con record. I am hoping we can sneak up on Georgia and steal one. I think Cal will be more prepared to face thier future Pac-10 foe.
Here is to hoping for a bowl and a 7-6 record. 8-6 and I will throw a party. Sad isn’t it?
I'm not falling for this again this year
Embarrassing opening day loss to CSU, Hawk is fired before he even makes it to the bus back to Boulder.
Finish non-conference 1-3 with a TD win over Hawaii and losses to Cal and Georgia, one of which will be a complete blowout.
Go on to beat Baylor, Iowa State and Kansas to finish the season 4-8, best case scenario in my eyes is 6-6 with additional wins against CSU and T-tech/K-state.
Overly pessimistic? probably, but I think there are still some very big holes on this team especially in the skill positions.
2011 we get back on track!
agreed
No excuse for losing to CSU, im still waiting on 10 wins NO EXCUSES, Or at least NO EXCUSES! Think we can get Georgia though
6-6
If we play the way we should, meaning minimal dumb penalties, keeping possession, and making field goals, there’s absolutely no reason we shouldn’t be able to attain this number, especially with our relatively weak home schedule (aside from UGA).
Either way, can’t wait!
Yes, I actually do like cricket. I'm Indian.
"We could have had Jesus on the mound and [the Rockies] still would have gotten hits." -Paul Lo Duca
"I mean come on, you can’t be from Nebraska and go to school at CU, I think they take away your overalls or one of your last remaining teeth for that."
Hollidayrain Music
thoughts and predictions
Well, I am always enthused going into the season, but I have had my expectations beat down over the past few years. This season, as all seasons, comes down to how/if CU is going to be able to move the ball, and how they are going to stop anyone. The lack of RB depth on the roster, an underachieving offensive line, and the 5’8 starting receivers gives one cause for perhaps not just concern, but outright panic. Unless you are running the wishbone, your QB shouldn’t be your leading rusher for the year, and alas, I think that might be the case.
Looking at our non-conference schedule, It seems to me that 2-2 would be a best case scenario. I would like to pencil in wins against CSU and Hawaii, but CSU, dominated us last year, and that was a team that ended up losing their last 9 games of the year. I guess you can look at that as both a positive for this year and a negative, but knowing how close those games are typically, that it will be played at Invesco…that game is a coin flip.
If the CSU game last year was bad, Toledo was even worse, and that was a team that only finished 5-7. Despite the regular Cody bashing that goes on, he was the only one in that game that showed any heart.
I digress. Hawaii should be a winnable games, but with Hawaii playing Charleston-Southern (apparently KSU, Nebraska and Texas missed out on a scheduling opportunity) the following week you can best believe that they won’t be overlooking CU.
California will be a difficult challenge for CU, especially their defensive line. Cal will come in with a formidable running game and a new defensive coordinator pendergast, who had been KC’s Defensive coordinator.
Georgia also is moving in a new defensive coordinator and will be running the 3-4, combining that with a healthy offensive line, this is another difficult challenge for CU.
Conference play this year will be very interesting given the bad blood that the other teams will have for CU, especially those that were on the verge of being without a conference.
Missouri will be a loss b/c frankly Missouri kicks our ass every year. You can bet that Baylor will be coming into town pissed will something to prove to CU and frankly the PAC 10 that they made a mistake by snubbing them. CU will have similar feelings going into the game. That one can go either way but I’ll go CU.
Tech will be a win, OK will be a loss. Kansas will be interesting with Turner Gill at the helm know. I know a lot of us in Buffalo Nation pined for Gill for the past few years to replace Hawkins. I guess we’ll see what a coach can do for a program in this game. I’ll give it to Kansas at home given our tremendous road record.
Iowa State and KSU on paper look like wins. Nebraska on the road to perhaps conclude our rivalry game will be close, but I have to give it to a pretty good Nebraska team.
Final prediction: 6-6
Although we always seem to win one game we shouldn’t and lose 5 games we should, so who knows.
I'm with most of you
we SHOULD go 6-6 (2-2 non-con, 4-0 at home, 0-4 on the road in conference) but who knows. With how Hawkins coached teams play against “lesser” opponents there isn’t one game that I would just mark down as a victory, but there aren’t many I would mark as automatic losses either (OU and Cal probably). Let’s hope we actually overachieve for once, but I’m not gonna get my hopes up like I have the previous couple years.
I can't get away from Hawks approach
He still thinks a few minor adjustments will get the job done. You went 3-8 last year dude, minor adjustments are not getting it done anymore. Nothing about his approach to this season leads me to believe in their ability to turn it around which is sad because there is a lot of talent on this team. The defense will play well enough to put us in a position to win games but the offense will struggle again. Sadly I’m expecting another losing season. Wins (Hawaii, Baylor, Tech, ISU and Kstate). Hawkins has beaten the optimism out of me.
No matter how the season pans out...
a win in Lincoln would be ever so sweet.
Every week's the playoffs, man.
We’ve got five true road games, so theirs five losses already. We should win the CSU and Hawaii games. The rest of the home games are winnable minus Georgia. We always seem to win one were not suppose to and lose one the same.
6-6 with a trip to the Dallas football classic bowl.
Hopefully that will be to little for Hawk to keep his job. I’ll root for us to go 5-7 if a non bowl bid coasts him his job.
1990 National Champions- Colorado Buffalo's
1913,1957,2004 National Champs- Auburn Tigers
IM SERIOUS
8-4 BIG 12 NORTH CHAMPS THIS IS THE YEAR WE ALL EXPECT CU TO BE AWFUL SO WE WIN WIN THIS YEAR UNLIKE THE PAST FEW SEASONS WHEN WE ALL THOUGHT WE WERE READY TO SURPRISE PEOPLE AND DIDNT . CALL ME CRAZY BUT WATCH.
i like this optimism
Yes, I actually do like cricket. I'm Indian.
"We could have had Jesus on the mound and [the Rockies] still would have gotten hits." -Paul Lo Duca
"I mean come on, you can’t be from Nebraska and go to school at CU, I think they take away your overalls or one of your last remaining teeth for that."
Hollidayrain Music
by Hollidayrain on Jul 12, 2010 8:48 PM MDT up reply actions
6-6 is probably where I would peg this team
But I could see them also going into a tail spin early and going 4-8.
"Me fail english, that unpossible" - Ralph Wiggum
"Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem" - Duffman
"Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun" - Ash from Army of Darkness
"H.I., you're young and you got your health, what you want with a job?" - Evelle from Raising Arizona
"It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes." - Agent Rogersz from Repoman
6-6 is most likely
And, I’d actaully be pretty pleased with that (How far my expectations have fallen over the years, sad……)
Fall is just the time that I have come to anticipate all year, only to be crushed by the realization that early season defeats spell another dissapointing season.
It's depressing to even hear us talking about going 6-6.
What happened to the annual end of summer sense of excitement? I mean we’re talking about 6 losses! We should be talking about running the table and worrying about how a loss will knock us out of the Championship game. We need the proper people in place coaching at Colorado and they need to have the talent to recruit, train and provide results. Right now it doesn’t appear we have that. I hate going to business functions and hearing the Texas, Nebraska, Oregon and Ohio State’s of the world talking about how they think they can run the table this year. Then everybody looks at me and I sort of laugh awkwardly and say, we’re still recovering, but give us a few years in the Pac 12…
If Hawk loses to Colorado State he will and should be fired. That means he has clearly not gotten the job done and that we will likely not get a win all year.
NorCal CARDS FAN
6-6
Sounds right to me. 7 5 at best and and I would be happy as could be. How sad is that
by JT Buffs 27 on Jul 14, 2010 3:30 PM MDT via mobile reply actions
Not so optimistic
5-7 at best. I’m not sure how they’ll get there, they might beat OU on the road for win #5 and then lose out, and it wouldn’t surprise me. No level of success or failure of this team would surprise me in the least. I’ve seen flashes of brilliance and loads of not living up to potential. It seems like lately I just hope for the best and expect the worst. Sorry for the negativity.
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