I thought I would throw this together for all of you so you know where the Buffs stand as of right now at each position. This will probably be something that will help all of us assess depth and needs as we go into the recruiting season. If I missed something or someone, let me know as this was a pretty excruciating process going through the bios of these players trying to get if they were redshirts or not. I am still working on the defensive chart but hope to have that up later. Two notes of interest in the offensive chart is the fact that I did not advance Ryan Miller and Max Tuioti-Mariner a year as Dan Hawkins expects to get them both medical redshirts. I have really been able to confirm whether Maryland transfer Evan Eastburn is a walk on or on scholarship so I put him down as a scholarship guy until I figure it out.

Some commentary after the jump...tell us what you think the Buffs need to address in the next 43 days of recruiting. The Buffs are looking to sign 11 - 13 more players.

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As you can see from our countdown timer on the left side of the site, signing day is 43 days away. It is truly a great day to be a sports fan as it brings new hope and the possibility of so and so player really being the next big thing. That being said, I decided to put together a chart based off of rivals.com information for ratings for all the Big 12 teams to see how the Buffs and other schools were stacking up. Of course, ratings are one man's opinion and by no means the final say but their is most definitely a reason why the USC's and Florida's of the world are at the top of the list in ratings and usually in a BCS bowl. Anyway, it is something fun to look at as we are nearing the February 4th signing day.

Right now, the Buffs have eight commits with 3* DT Nosa Egaue still a very very soft verbal and 4* WR Andre Simmons still needing to prove that he is eligible academically to attend the University of Colorado. Yes, their is still 43 days and a lot can happen over that time and a lot did happen over that time last year. Coaches can get fired, coaches can change jobs, schools can cool on a kid and the Buffs could sweep them up. But the Buffs are in a middle of a pretty big dry spell since November 16th which was the last day a recruit committed. One month and six days of really stagnant news on the recruiting front while the Buffs have watched their top two priorities, 4* WR Diante Jackson and 4* DT Edward Nuckols, either take more time to think about it and entertain other schools. The fact that Nuckols has Florida calling on him scares the ever living crap out of me. Could Florida really single handily ruin the Buffs defensive line recruiting by taking big Ed and Kasa? They certainly have the power to do so.

But I am not freaking out, nor should you. Freak out time starts Feb 4th at 10 pm. Until then, anything is possible. I mean Rodney Stewart signed on the day last year to no one's knowledge and look what he turned out to be. The Buffs still feel they have a chance at 4* WR Bryce McNeal and have their name in the hat with a few other big dogs. Do I see them landing a ton of 4*? Not really because the wins aren't there but one of the few things Hawkins and Co. have not been a disappointment in is their ability to recruit supposed highly rated players. What they did last year was pretty phenomenal. This year, don't expect a top 15 - 20 class but if Hawkins can get the "Big 2" and guys like S Stan McKay, DE Iatu Tepa, WR Terderma Ussery, one of the two Union High School guys (S Terrell Williams and TE Tracy Moore), DE Colton Nash, maybe a big DL JUCO to support the middle and hold onto Eguae and Simmons, the Buffs might find themselves in the top 30 - 35 which would be adequate. Next year is all about the development of the last two classes that Hawkins has recruited and building enough wins to recruit BIG TIME in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Defensive line and wide receiver are still a major concern. One must hope that something serious happens to the DL this offseason and one of the unknowns on the roster really blows up because right now, other than possibly Nuckols, I don't see any of the potentials or commits not red-shirting. I think Goree, Obi Cunningham, Herrod and maybe Pericak or Shields can be solid but the pass rush will probably need to come from a linebacker like Brad Jones provided and we all know that wasn't nearly good enough or committed to enough last year. At wide receiver, every Buff fan should write on their Christmas list that Simmons qualifies, Simas stay eligible and Diante Jackson signs and is ready to play. Simmons, Josh Smith and Simas are really the "X" factors, though. If the Buffs could get the trio on track and up to speed, those three guys coupled with McKnight would be a big upgrade. In a perfect world, you would love to redshirt Jackson (if we get him) and get him acclimated, as CU fans now know, highly rated recruits aren't always an immediate slam dunk. A ton of "ifs" in the last couple sentences but in 2009, the Buffs need some luck, in fact, they deserve a lot of luck after went they went through last year.

Here is where the Buffs stand compared to others in the Big 12 as of December 22nd, 2008.

I have to admit, Josh Smith was one of the more polarizing Buffs players I can ever remember. If you are a reader of the site, I am a pretty big Josh Smith fan because he single handily gave the Buffs a chance at winning games and in some cases, was the spark the Buffs needed to be victorious. On the flip side of the story, many remember Josh Smith's "almost safety" against Texas, some drops, and the poor decision at FSU that led to a safety and a field goal. That was Josh Smith; all risk or all reward. Nothing in the middle. But no matter what side of the fence you are on, Josh Smith was one of the only play makers that the Buffs had this year and at times, was a pure joy to watch. Smith found his way into the Colorado record books for All Purpose Yards in a season without being a featured part of the Buffs offense. This was the clip from the Boulder Daily Camera after the Nebraska game:

Josh Smith produced the best outing of his young career in terms of all-purpose yardage. He finished the day with 245 all-purpose yards, pushing him to No. 2 on CU's single-season list.

Only former tailback Rashaan Salaam has produced more total yardage in one season than Smith. That came during his run to the 2004 Heisman Trophy, when he racked up 2,349 yards.

Smith finished the 2008 campaign with 1,987 yards, the vast majority of which came from kickoff returns. He also caught 32 passes for 387 yards. Smith passed former running back Eric Bieniemy and Byron "Whizzer" White on Friday.

Whenever you are second on a list of where it involves Bieniemy, Whizzer and Salaam, you have had a good year and Josh Smith, for all of his follies and risk taking, had a great year. The more amazing part was the fact that Josh Smith had two bum shoulders and was receiving shots to be able to play. Smith was honored by the AP writers with Honorable Mention for finishing ninth in the nation and third in the Big 12 for all purpose yards only behind Jeremy Maclin and DeMarco Murray.  Here is a breakdown of his performances this year:

Next year, we are hoping Josh Smith can help the offense more. Smith wants the  ball more and Coach Kiesau wants to give it to him. This offseason will be crucial to Smith maturing to be able to handle the offense. But for 2008, Josh Smith was electrifying. There is no other way to describe him looking at 16.7 yards/touch. My favorite Josh Smith moments had to be in the Colorado State and Eastern Washington game. Congrats to JFly for a record setting season.

Best of 2008 List
10) The Victory Against CSU at Mile High
9) The Iowa State Second Half
8) Buff Linebacker Shaun Mohler
7) The 3 - 0 Start
6) Josh Smith's All Purpose Performance

Worst of 2008 List
10) The Off the Field Issues
9) The Defensive Line Scheme/Play
8) Home Crowd Blues
7) Losing to Texas A&M

The game against the Aggies November 1st was a back breaker in more ways than one for the 2008 team and the overall season outcome. This game had it all and sort of summarized the season in 60 minutes. There were injuries, red zone turnovers, missed field goals, a lack of halftime adjustments, busted assignments and in the end, a head scratching loss. The fact that the Buffs pretty much handled A&M three fourths of the game only to blow the third quarter and throw away golden opportunities, was enough to make any fan go crazy. The exclamation point on the loss, though, was that Texas A&M and Iowa State were the two wins CU needed to be bowl eligible and, in terms of wins, not regress from the 2007 campaign. If the Buffs cashed in on that November 1st day, we are previewing a bowl game today and not reliving this frustrating loss!

The game was not on TV so we were living through the voices of Mark Johnson and Larry Zimmer, who do a good job covering the Buffs. To hear them talk about the game in the second half was exactly what every fan was thinking: "what is happening with this team?"

But it wasn't all bad that day. I did say CU dominated all but the third quarter. Their were some positives. Colorado jumped out to a 10 - 3 lead at half and seemingly stopping the Texas A&M offense, holding them to 14 yards rushing and 62 yards passing. CU had a 219 to 76 yard advantage at half, but only 10 points to show for it. The Buff offense went for 392 total yards which was the second most of the season. That should have been expected as A&M ranked 103rd in the nation on defense at the time. The CU defense was good against the rush except for a 54 yard scamper in that dreaded third quarter. Without that run, A&M had 40 yards on 32 carries and George Hypolite, far and away, played his best game of the year, living in the Texas A&M backfield.

This is still a worst of 2008 moment and for good reason. This game got most of us pretty fired up about the play of Colorado this year. The main reason was the fact that CU dropped an egg. Whether it was a lack of halftime adjustments or sloppy play that led to turnovers, the boiling point was reached. One reader commented saying:

I hate this team so much, I think I can officially say that this is the most frustrating buffs team and coaching staff in my lifetime of being a fan

That day we all felt it. The mistakes the Buffs were making seemed to becoming a habit and the ability to make a big play was answered with turnovers. Just talking about it makes me frustrated. Look at all of these negatives from the post game reaction:

Negatives:

• Zero halftime adjustments and a 21 point third quarter doomed the Buffs. How can the Texas A&M coaching staff motivate, adjust and game plan at halftime better than the Buffs coaching staff? Not just a little bit better but 21 points better!
  
• 3 turnovers, especially the Cody Hawkins interception in the endzone and Hansen's late in the game where horrible turnovers. The Buffs only got one turnover which they capitalized for seven points.
  
• The Buffs should have been up 20 - 3 at halftime but with Cody's interception and another Aric Goodman missed field goal made it only a 10 point game. Throw in a dropped touchdown by Josh Smith and that is a Buffs team who doesn't make plays.
  
• On defense, the Buffs let up big play after big play in the third quarter making a rather weak offense look like juggernauts!
  
• I don't know who to blame for the third quarter but a big portion falls on the Coach Hawkins. Sherman out-coached him in the third quarter and it led to 21 unanswered and a loss.
  
• The Buffs were 0 - 6 on third down in the second half. Again, the Buffs aren't making plays.
• Josh Smith. I love him most of the time but today he was not good. A big fumble that lost the Buffs 14 yards and a dropped touchdown is a bad day of work. He made a couple of nice returns but still had his trouble back there.

Special team continues to be a problem with short punts and missed field goals.

Ugly. The worst part may have been the dirty horse collar tackle by Aggie LB Von Miller on Rodney Stewart that ended the freshman's season and cost the Buffs their leading rusher. Somehow Stewart got left off lists like this and if he was able to keep plugging away the last three games of the year he, without a doubt, would have been named Honorable Mention Big 12 and on the All Freshman Team.

It was a bad day!

Best of 2008 List
10) The Victory Against CSU at Mile High
9) The Iowa State Second Half
8) Buff Linebacker Shaun Mohler
7) The 3 - 0 Start

Worst of 2008 List
10) The Off the Field Issues
9) The Defensive Line Scheme/Play
8) Home Crowd Blues
7) Losing to Texas A&M

VS. 

The game was dubbed the "basement battle": two teams with losing records struggling to find an identity.  The Buffs had seven rather highly touted recruits in town: 3*/4* LB Michael Clay, 4* DT Latu Heimuli, 3* OT/DE Nik Abele, 4* DE Nick Kasa, 4* Bradley McDougald, DB Deji Olatoye and 4* WR Diante Jackson. Saying it was a big recruiting weekend would be an understatement. Most of these guys would be major gets on the national scene. CU had just come off a bad loss against Texas A&M at Kyle Field for what should have been win number five in the all important race to six. The Iowa State game was supposed to be the clinching game for a bowl bid. That got me and a ton of Buff fans worried about the motivation this team would have for Iowa State with seemingly two losses remaining on the schedule (Oklahoma State and Nebraska). Many were wondering what would come that Monday morning if Colorado actually lost to Iowa State, all but guaranteeing a four-win season. The difference between five and four isn't huge at first glance but losing to Iowa State and A&M back to back and only winning one conference game in the down Big 12 North would have been devastating. You thought recruiting was hard now, think about if we lost to Iowa State? Surely WR Diante Jackson wouldn't be considering us now, Olatoye may not have committed, McDougald wouldn't be a high interest guy and you always have to wonder about a guy like Abele who is getting big interest from a lot of programs right now.

for more on the 9th best moment of 2008, see after the jump...

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We have officially waited two whole days to let the season settle before we started breaking it down. Today, we are kicking off our best and worst moments of 2008. Yes, as you can tell from the 10th best moment of 2008, the negatives of 2008 were much easier to come up with than the positives. But there were some positives to 2008, you just have to look much harder.

Next year, if I am acknowledging a victory over CSU as the 10th best moment of 2008, we can expect a huge change in the program. The win over Colorado State next year better be out of the top 20. But in 2008 season, August 31st was still a good day. It was the first game that The Ralphie Report was around for so it was also monumental in that sense. We were immediately validated as yours truly picked the correct final score of the game 38 - 17! The Colorado State game also gave us some false hope. The Buffs scored 38 points, the most of the season. They also had 367 yards, good for third most on the season. Josh Smith showed us a preview of what was to come this year: a prolific 93 yard kick off return and a muffed kick. Seriously, though, Josh Smith averaged 53.3 yards/return that game and 160 yards total. Early in the year, Smith was unstoppable and probably was the difference in the first three games of the year with big returns against CSU and Eastern Washington & the touchdown grab against West Virginia in the 17 - 14 win.

Freshman RB Darrell Scott also got us excited. 11 carries, 54 yards and a touchdown. He gave us a glimpse, like I said in the post game review: "We will always remember the 14 yard run with multiple broke tackles as the day we knew he was going to be special." I don't think anyone is ready to crown Scott after this year but he also had some spectacular runs against Eastern Washington, Texas A&M and Iowa State. Consistency and health will fix a lot of problems for the Buffs next year. 

Even Cody Hawkins looked good in the first game of the year. He had his usual one tipped pass that went for an interception but Hawkins still threw a touchdown on 20 - 29 passing for 214 yards.

The story of the game was the defense. In 2007 and years before, Rams TE Kory Sperry was dominant against the Buffs, scoring three touchdowns in the '07 game. In 2008, the Buffs' defense made sure that Sperry wasn't going to beat them. He was visibly frustrated and ended the game with an unimpressive 2 receptions for 11 yards The Colorado defense also picked off two Billy Farris passes on their way to victory. The most impressive part of the performance was the defense technically didn't allow any long touchdown drives. The only touchdown allowed was after the tipped screen pass/interception that gave the Rams the ball deep inside the Buffs territory. The other was a kickoff return for a touchdown immediately after Josh Smith did his thing. Colorado also got to Farris six times which was their high sack total for the year. 

But, in my post game review titled Love the No Huddle? Not So Much, I pointed out a few things that I wanted to see improved. At that time, I attributed the offensive no huddle issues to the first game of the year and how things would improve as the team got through Eastern Washington. About three months later and 2 - 4 injured offensive players, it looks like the Buffs regressed. In fact, we all would sign up for the offensive performance of week one over week 8 or 10. Here is what I said the Buffs needed to improve on after the Colorado State game:

The Buffs had 367 yards of offense 153 of which were on the ground. So you are asking what is wrong with that? Nothing, but our rushing game consisted of two plays last night, dive right, dive left or Cody fumbled snap. The Buffs fumbled or mishandled snaps 4 times last night that really sputtered the offense. The times when the Buffs were deep in their own territory, they didn't have a power set that allowed them to get tough yards. Maybe they were trying to be vanilla in the first game but we have to get better at a few things.

First off, plain and simple, Cody needs to be able to get under center and let Scott or Sumler or Stewart running student body left with pulling guards to keep the defense honest. It is a must. They have to add that hybrid because sitting back and running the option running game with a non-running option quarterback doesn't open a lot of things up and against a good, strong defensive line. Second, I know it is a no huddle but the Buffs need to slow it down. Remember it is not a true no huddle, it is a contained no huddle with reads and formation changes at the line. A lot of times, Cody snapped the ball before players were ready or set resulting in penalties.  Third and this is probably something that will come over time, but there was not a strong rhythm to the offense. There wasn't that one dominating drive without any penalties or miss snaps that got you feeling great about the offense. There was glimpses though.

A lot of those issues applied against Nebraska.

Still, that hot day August 31st was a good day for Buffs fans. They properly escorted the Rams out of Denver with a loss, the offense showed promise, the defensive scheme was strong, Aric Goodman made all 5 of his extra point attempts & a field goal, we saw a little something from Darrell Scott and Josh Smith & Scotty McKnight looked like a dangerous combination. It was a good way to start the season.

The Worst of 2008 #10 is coming up next...

It was flashback mode yesterday. Missouri vs. Kansas. Missouri had one last chance after getting outplayed by Kansas. That last chance: a 54 yard field goal. Guess what happened? Kansas brought pressure and blocked it! I can't believe how many times in the last few days I have said "A 57 YARD FIELD GOAL, 57 YARDS!...unbelievable."It is more a chuckled tone now but not going to lie, still stings. Oh well, time to move on

The men's basketball team went to Stanford last night and showed some promise in defeat. The difference: The Buffs got out to a slow start and they didn't have an answer in the paint. Josh Owens scored a career-high 21 points to help Stanford beat Colorado 76-62. Lawrence Hill added 16 points and Anthony Goods had 15 points. CU still shot 50% from the floor and only lost the rebounding battle by 4 (all on the offensive end) but CU missed nine of its first 13 shots and didn't get a bucket for over six minutes. Stanford jumped out to a 17 point lead and the Buffs couldn't close the gap to more than seven points. The Buffs leading everything man, Cory Higgins, had an off night going 4 - 12 from the field with only nine points. True freshman Nate Tomlinson and junior Dwight Thorne picked up the slack, though, both scoring 18 points. Colorado also shot only 20% from downtown and turned the ball over 15 times. Overall, I would say if the Buffs didn't get off to a slow start, they were right in this game. The Buffs still have a lot of problems in the interior but they have been shooting lights out and over 50% this year while playing a ton of underclassmen.

Here is the ESPN Boxscore

As much as we hate the excuse, next year we might still hear the words "we are young" from Dan Hawkins. The Daily Camera does a quick synopsis of what we could still see next year: youth. And like most of us feel, quarterback is a still a big question mark and the #1 issue. The question is can Hawkins use that excuse any more?

Congrats to WR/KR Josh Smith for finishing the year with 1,987 all purpose yards, #2 all-time in CU history only behind Rashaan Salaam.

Remember Matt Slauson, the offensive lineman for Nebraska that couldn't keep his mouth shut with all that irrelevant talk. Well he is back at it.

"I couldn't believe it," Slauson said. "I was like, ’All those words I said, I'm just eating them now, and this is Colorado. Everybody hates Colorado -- people in Colorado hate Colorado.'"

People in Nebraska hate Nebraska too, big guy. To bad no one knows what you are talking about. For never hearing about this guy before this week, he does a lot of talking.

It was a good high school day yesterday  for CU Buff recruits and commits. Colorado prep and CU commit Parker Orms had an unbelievable day in the Colorado 4A State Championship including a 56-yard touchdown run with 19 seconds left to give the Farmers a 35-31 win in the Class 4A State Championship football game in Invesco Field. Orms gained 280 yards rushing on 38 carries and scored all five touchdowns.

Buff recruit WR Diante Jackson also had a knack for the heroics. I don't think it helps the Buffs too much that Oregon blew out Oregon State last night.

Las Lomas quarterback Lucas Gorton threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Diante Jackson with 31 seconds remaining to give the Knights a 21-17 North Coast Section Division II playoff win over Rancho Cotate on Saturday night.

Woody Paige of the Denver Post was impressed with the Buffs effort against Nebraska considering the circumstances.

Next season the Buffaloes have to play every game as if it were against Nebraska, especially when they play Nebraska . . . in Boulder . . . and honorable defeats definitely will be replaced by true victories.

We are about 10 hours away from OU vs. Texas Tech and to say I am a little excited would be an under statement. Who knows what will happen in this one. What do you all think the outcome will be? And if OU wins, start the debate...with a win over the Pokes next week do they jump Texas? I will say that OU wins tonight because it's hard to ignore that 59 - 2 record at home. I am saying 42 - 38 OU. Let us know what you think?

Dan Hawkins talks to 104.3 The Fan and Alfred Williams yesterday.

Say what you will about Josh Smith, the all purpose yardage he has been putting up without being involved in the offense at all is staggering. If only he and the coaches got it figured out for him to play wide receiver more, we could be talking about the Buffs all time leader in all purpose yards for a season:

Only four players in 119 years of Colorado football have produced more all-purpose yardage in a season than Smith. Their names are legendary: Rashaan Salaam, Eric Bieniemy, Chris Brown and Byron White.

Through 11 games, Smith has totaled 1,742 yards from receiving, rushing, kickoff and punt returns. He's on pace to finish with exactly 1,900 all-purpose yards, a feat accomplished only by Salaam and White.

This Daily Camera writer asks a question of all Buffs fans: If CU basketball starts winning, will you come to the games? The attendance for Montana State was 2,000. I am pretty sure if the Buffs start winning, the students should give the Buffs 4,000. I can see why a ton of people aren't coming out for teams like Arkansas Pine Bluff and Montana State though.

The Buffs basketball team plays Harvard tonight at home where they hope to rebound from a tough loss against Montana State. I will post a preview today of this Harvard team and what to expect. If thought the attendance was bad against Montana State on a week night, the attendance might not be over a 1,000 tonight with it being a Saturday and Texas Tech vs OU on the tube.

CU commit Clark Evans and his high school team lost in the first round of the high school playoffs last night. After going undefeated for most of the year and in a five way tie for first place in the playoffs, Clark's Los Al team has struggled of late and was capped off with a three interception performance in last nights game. Alright Clark, time to focus and get ready for being the Buffs starting QB next year.

Like I said in The Ralphie Report's first review of the Oklahoma State at Colorado Buffaloes contest Saturday night on ABC (click here for ABC coverage map, game time 6:00pm MT), the Buffs magic number is one and the game with the Pokes should probably be considered their best chance to become bowl eligible. How scary is that? CU is a 17 point underdog and that is their best chance? Considering the Buffs lack of success on the road over the past three years (2 - 15), it has to be. That is a tough prospect to swallow. One more win would do wonders for this program but it is hard to find enough rocks to turn over for how the Buffs pull one out tomorrow. Just looking at a comparison of like teams the Buffs and Cowboys have played this year should give you a clue as to why Colorado is big underdogs this week:

L, 14 - 38	Texas	L, 24 - 28
L, 17 - 24	Texas A&M	W, 56 - 28
W, 28 - 24	Iowa State	W, 59 - 17
L, 0 - 58	Missouri	W, 28 - 23

But if their is any reason to not rule out the Buffs is the fact that Dan Hawkins always seems to get his team to win one game that they shouldn't. See Texas Tech in 2006 and Texas Tech & Oklahoma last year. In all of those games, the Buffs were double digit underdogs. CU has yet to have that big time double digit upset this year. Is Saturday night the game? Here is what they need to do to beat the Pokes:

Protect Hawkins

We saw last week that given the time, Hawkins played out of his mind. Last week aws the first week that you could say the QB consistently had time to throw the ball. The reasons: Hansen and the Buffs was a run first team that wore down the front four in the first half, Iowa State had a bad defensive line and the CU offensive line stepped up in key spots in the second half. This OSU defensive line is the worst in the Big 12 in getting to the quarterback. If the offensive line plays well and gives Hawkins a chance to throw against the 10th ranked pass defense in the Big 12, the Buffs can stick around.

see the rest of the "Keys to the Game" and the prediction after the jump...

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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.