Click after the jump to see the first, second and honorable mention teams along with some  commentary...in my opinion, Josh Smith got screwed.

Continue reading this post »

Nebraska QB Joe Ganz wants to do what the Buffs did to him last year:

"It's an absolute redemption game for me, for the seniors, for everyone who was a part of it last year," Ganz told the Lincoln Journal-Star. "That's one thing on our mind ... to see how they'll like it, sitting at home, watching everyone else play, like we did last year. That's one thing on our mind. ... We have to come out and play our best football because we want to do everything we can to keep them out of a bowl like we did last year."

Bo Pelini wants Joe Ganz to shut up:

"I wish Joe would just worry about Joe," he said.

I think coach Pelini should have used this line on Nebraska OL Matt Slauson who went off yesterday and gives the Buffs plenty of bulletin board material.

As a somewhat native of Colorado, I have an extreme distaste for them," Slauson said Tuesday. "I wouldn't mind keeping them out of a bowl just like they did to us last year and just like they did to us in '04."

 "I have an extreme distaste for them. They recruit guys there for one reason, and that's to beat Nebraska. If you take that away from them, they have nothing."

"They're in the Big 12 and when you think Big 12 schools you think Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska," Slauson said. "(The Buffs) seem irrelevant. Boy, that's bulletin-board material."

Thanks bud. Yep, those Nebraska Cornhuskers are full of class.

It looks like Buffs starting senior safety Ryan Walters will not play (very doubtful) Friday after suffering a knee and ankle injury on the first play of the Oklahoma State game. That means two freshmen will be patrolling the safety positions: Anthony Perkins and Patrick Mahnke. The good thing for the Buffs is that Perkins has seen a lot of playing time and Mahnke played the whole game last week for Walters.

Neil Woelk of the Daily Camera says don't worry CU fans, the Buffs know the Nebraska game is important. But he also says this game is not as important as it once was as the Buffs used the game as a measuring stick and frankly, the Huskers aren't that good:

But in all honesty, beating Nebraska these days doesn't carry the same status that it did even six or seven years ago. It is in no way, shape or form a measuring stick of playing against the best.

Rather, the last few years it's become a way for Colorado to salvage a season -- and that's not what CU should be pursuing as an "end all."

The Huskers may indeed be an upper-tier team again someday. This year, though, they have just one victory -- against Kansas -- that would be considered a "quality" win. Otherwise, they're a team also trying to catch the big boys in the Big 12.

Nebraska wide receiver coach Ted Gilmore met with University of Wyoming officials yesterday to interview for their head coaching vacancy.

Tim Griffin of ESPN highlights all of the rivalry games this week in the Big 12.

The Buffs men's basketball team beat the Lafayette Leopards last night in Boulder 73 - 59 after, once again, running away with it in the second half. The Buffs are sure lucky to have sophomore G Cory Higgins on the team right now. Higgins had 24 points last night as he led all scorers. Three other CU players were in double digits last night: freshman Nate Tomlinson (10), freshman Austin Dufault (11) and junior Dwight Thorne (14). The Buffs shot another strong percentage last night (52.1%) while their opponent only connected on 35.1%. The Buffs did a good job of guarding the Lafayette three-point shooters as the Leopards only made 5 of 21 attempts. Still, Colorado was out-rebounded by a 35 - 30 margin which continues to be the Buffs Achilles heel. The Buffs also turned the ball over 19 times which is something Bzdelik wants his team to improve on.

The next game for the Buffs is on the road against Stanford.

The 2008 Big 12 All-Academic Teams were announced yesterday. Five Buffs made the first team and one made the second team:

First Team (3.20+ GPA)

Name, School Class Major Hometown
Jake Behrens, Colorado So. Accounting Omaha, Neb.
George Hypolite, Colorado Sr. Ethnic Studies & Women's Studies Los Angeles, Calif.
Travis Sandersfeld, Colorado Fr. Business Limon, Colo.
Devin Shanahan, Colorado Jr. Economics Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Nate Solder, Colorado So. Biology Buena Vista, Colo.

Second Team (3.00 to 3.19 GPA)

Name, School Class Major Hometown
Patrick Devenny, Colorado Jr. Marketing Roseville, Calif.

Graham Harrell has a 4.0 GPA. I didn't know that. Other notables who made the first team include Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray, Todd Reesing, Chase Daniel, Joe Ganz and Colt McCoy.

Those of you looking for something to do Friday night after the Buffs game should head up to Keystone for a free show by awesome local band Devotchka.  Should be a good time.   Next week is Girl Talk and if you haven't seen him before you need not miss it. - Woodrow

Devotchka - The Last Beat of My Heart

I like Coach Hawk but this a crap answer regarding Josh Smith's playing time for this week's media luncheon:

On if it is a Priority to Get WR Josh Smith More Touches

"Yeah, but again, you reach a point where a guy is your punt returner and your kick returner, your deep threat; at some point you have to be judicious about allowing him to be fresh and know what he's doing, to keep him going as well."

Jeremy Maclin and Dez Bryant both play on special teams and are the featured wide receivers for there team. If "freshness" is a problem, don't play him on special teams but someone else back there. The Buffs need offensive help.

The Columbia Tribune breaks down the game this weekend by unit and who has the advantage. Of course, Mizzou gets the nod in every category. I wouldn't sleep on the Buffs defense against the run this weekend. I think the Buffs may have the advantage there.

Mizzourah, a Missouri blog, feels that Jeremy Maclin will be back next year after being overshadowed in part by Daniel, Washington and Coffman this year, especially in prime time games. With Colt McCoy declaring that he will be back next year, it looks like the Big 12 will be just as hard next year.

Tim Griffin of ESPN thinks Mizzou in a blow out this weekend. Who doesn't think Missouri in a blow out? No one is keeping the Buffs within 20. It could be a depressing weekend. But hey at least the Broncos don't play and make it a double whammy. The key for the Buffs is to deal a few blows early this Saturday and make Mizzou respond. I still think Mizzou is a team on edge right now and a couple things go the Buffs way early, Daniel might get erratic.

CU QB commit Jordan Wynn has his Oceanside ranked #1 in San Diego, #10 in the West and #56 in the nation. Wynn was highlighted last week as one of rivals top sleepers as a kid with a great arm and tons of leadership qualities.

ESPN has released a video of CU commit DT Nosa Eguae from Texas. For all of those who don't have a rivals or scout account, this might be your first time seeing him.

In honor of tonight's Kings of Leon concert here in Denver is an old school track that is one of my favorites.

Kings of Leon - Day Old Blues

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?

Continue reading this post »

It has been a busy week on The Ralphie Report so far...Woodrow and I have put up a lot of information from recruiting to round tables to an exciting podcast that we did with Burnt Orange Nation. But now it is time to get down to business. All the work has been put in during the week. The film has been studied, the game plans set, the schemes understood. Most people aren't giving the Buffs a chance and the popular opinion among Texas blogs is that this Colorado team is a joke, a mediocre team who will be lucky to go to a bowl game this year. Personally,  I like the Buffs position right now. Its like Coach Hawkins said yesterday "So if you want to spend time handing out game balls 'cause you beat West Virginia or having a funeral 'cause you lost to Florida State, that's wrong. You just keep re-pooling, re-tooling, working it out." One bad game against FSU doesn't make a season and I fully expect this Buffs' team to respond against Texas in a strong manner. In either a win or loss result, I believe this team will take a step forward. One thing is for sure, Hawkins has a way to get his team motivated and ready for these types of games (look at Georgia & Texas Tech in his first year and Texas Tech & Oklahoma in his second). Now the keys to the game and The Ralphie Report's prediction! I think the keys of the game sections is the best of the year so far!

CU's Defensive Keys to the Game:

1) Texas has scored 73 of their 198 points (37%) in the second quarter this year compared to only giving up 20. On the flip side, Colorado has allowed more points in the second quarter  (40 of the 94 or 43%) than any other quarter this year. What does this mean...the Buffs need to do a better job with the in game adjustments. Watch for the second quarter points. Last week against FSU, the Buffs gave up 12 points while not putting any on the board. The Buffs were down 12 at half time and never could recover. We talk about half time adjustments being important but this week it is about making the correct in game adjustments once Texas understands the schemes CU's defense is throwing at them.

2) Texas has had 31, count'em 31 plays over 20 yards this year. The Buffs must limit the big play. Texas has good wide receivers on the outside with Shipley and Cosby. Colt McCoy is also a threat to break a big run as he has 5 for over 20 yards. Momentum is going to be a big intangible in this game and nothing quiets a crowd or deflates a team early than a big special teams, defense or offensive play.

Continue reading this post »

Hawkins' most recent Press Luncheon before the Texas game has brought some answers to the forefront regarding a few important topics that Buffs' fans having been wanting to hear about for a while now:

On Freshman RB Darrell Scott Being 100% Healthy-"I think he's very close to that. How he rates that, I don't know exactly but I think he's very close to that. We still have a brace on him, our doctors want to play it safe and just get that added insurance there."

Finally some confirmation from coach that Darrell Scott has been nursing a knee injury for most of the season. My question is why have the Buffs been pushing the young freshman sporadically in the game risking further injury for a measly ten carries a game? I still think there is something that we don't know regarding the status of Scott.

On Injuries To the Offensive Line and Injury-ridden Seasons-"I just went through two of them. We're playing with five and seven guys to begin with, so that's the nature of it. Sometimes you get hit that way, but again, that's life. The beauty of this whole thing is that when things don't always go your way, it's not that you like it and it's not as easy as you want, but that's football, that's life. There's a certain amount of wisdom and knowledge and experience that comes through all of that that I think is really quintessential to anybody's existence, just figuring the whole thing out; life's not easy. We've got a lot more guys than we have had the past two years. If this would have happened in ‘06 or ‘07, you'd be playing offensive guard. So we're doing okay and our guys are picking up the pieces."

Hawkins always finds a way to throw some comedy where it is needed but the injuries on the offensive line is no laughing matter. Let's hope the depth, however young it may be, can yield some strong play. Either way, if Miller and Tuioti-Mariner can get a medical hardship red shirt, it would be huge in solidifying this line for the next 3 - 5 years.

Coach Hawkins on Texas:

On Texas In General-"They've got great personnel and great schemes with great players. I think the other side of it too is that they're getting their edge a little bit. Maybe it's helped them where people haven't been looking at them necessarily; they've been looking at other teams and kind of ignoring the Longhorns. Clearly Colt (McCoy) is a Heisman type player and they've got great personnel on their team, so they're clearly one of the better teams in the country right now, there's no question."

On Texas Quarterback Colt McCoy-"I think he's much more assertive. I think he's playing with a lot of confidence; he's been very efficient with the ball. That being said, I think he's probably healthier than he's been in a while. I know he's been beat up in seasons before, so I think that's helped him. His team is playing with a lot of confidence as well, and you can see it in his play; he just looks much more assertive."

On Matching Up Individually Against Texas-"It's hard, it's very hard; there's only so much you can do. You have to mix things up, you have to be able to run the football and be able to have a package that is able keep them off balance to some degree, if you possibly can. At the end of the day it comes down to man-on-man battles, to some degree. That will be part of the realities that we'll face on Saturday."

Here is the entire question and answer session from Coach Hawk's luncheon.

The Ralphie Report ranks the good and the bad (majority) from this Saturday's Colorado Buffaloes vs. Florida State Seminoles game.

Continue reading this post »