After tonight, it is pretty clear that the Buffs have the talent needed at many positions. Hats off to the defense. You shut down the number one scoring offense all night. You played extremely well and deserve a lot of credit. If they keep this level of play up, there are many winnable games out there.
That being said, the special teams played well for the first half but to give up 14 points on blocked punt and a kickoff return in a close game is inexcusable. The offense, inexcusable as well. Yes, Colorado was 33 point underdogs but clearly showed that they have the talent to stick with the Longhorns.
Texas made a few more adjustments at halftime than the Buffs which is the story of our season. The Buffs were not able to challenge the Texas' defense down field and it caught up to them in the 3rd quarter. It worked, sort of, for a half but you could see that Texas was sitting on the Buffs' offense in the second half and Colorado couldn't get the ball up field in the passing game.
The turning point was the redzone interception for a Texas' defensive touchdown. As a quarterback, you have to know better than that. Plain and simple, you have to know the situation and effectively pre-snap read who will be covering the flat route. That was an inexcusable pass. I hate to criticize a student-athlete but that is the ball game. Colorado puts seven points up there and it is 21 - 17 with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Even if the ball needs to be thrown away and Colorado settles for three points, it is a tie ball game at 17. Instead, Texas followed up the blocked point with an interception return to take a 24 - 14 lead.
Seven minutes later, Jordan Shipley returns a punt for a touchdown and the Buffs found themselves in a big hole. Until Fozzy Whittaker's 12 yard score with 6 minutes left in the game, the Colorado defense had given up only ten points to an offensive unit that averaged just under 50 points a contest. That is impressive. Even more impressive was the Colorado defense was able to force two turnovers deep inside Texas territory, giving the offense a great opportunity to be successful.
But the special teams gave up 14 points, throw on the 92 yard interception return for a touchdown and the Buffs allowed 21 non-offensive Texas points at crucial times in the game.
At first, I was excited that QB Tyler Hansen was in the game but thinking about it later, it was a waste. You inserted Tyler Hansen at a horrible time in the game. He most likely wasn't prepped during the week to be the starter and if he was, he should have been inserted at halftime. Instead, you make Tyler Hansen look bad because he has to play from behind late in the fourth quarter. It was a poor move by the staff. Tyler Hansen had better be the starting quarterback next week.
Again, great defensive effort. Like I said at the intermission:
Like I posted in the first half thread, love the opportunity, love the chance. Now is Dan Hawkins time to step up and be the motivator. Texas got some momentum back before half there but if Dan Hawkins wants to be our coach for the future, this halftime speech and his staffs' adjustments will dictate that. Mack Brown will make his adjustments, can Dan Hawkins match it? Can Dan Hawkins make his team believe at halftime that they can win this game like the Texas coaches will for their players? It is judgment time...30 minutes to prove yourself right now...answer the bell Hawkins and answer the bell Buffs!
The bell was not answered when it was there for the taking. No one can argue that. No moral victories, this game was winnable.