clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Wednesday CU Buff Bites - Football Players Fired Up

The football team is fired up and ready to play another game.  You know who else is fired up? The Women's Golf team, who won a tournament on Tuesday. 

Colorado_medium2010 Colorado Football: Game 3 - Hawai'i - CUBuffs.com - Are you looking for stats? Rosters? Random sports trivia related to the upcoming game?  It's here.

Stat of the Week: Third-and-short wasn't exactly CU's forte in 2009, as the Buffs were just 8-of-12 on 3rd-&-1 last fall; fast-forward to 2010, and Colorado is as good as any team in the nation through two games: the Buffaloes have converted to the tune of 6-of-6 on 3rd-&-1. TB Rodney Stewart has been the go-to guy on third and short, and behind an improving line in short yardage situations, he is personally 6-of-6 on 3rd-&-1 (5-of-5) or 2 (1-of-1). Through two games, in 3rd or 4th down and short situations (1 or 2 yards to go), CU is a healthy 8-of-9, whereas the opponent is 1-of-7.


Colorado_mediumCU looks to rebound after loss - The Longmont Times-Call

Walking off the field on Saturday left the University of Colorado football team embarrassed. By Tuesday, the Buffs were angry. And ready to play another game.

"The confidence isn’t down," senior receiver Scotty McKnight said. "It’s almost a little more fire. We know that game shouldn’t have gone the way it did. "We have confidence and we know that we can be a very, very good football team."

"Obviously, it goes without saying, it was an extremely tough day on Saturday," Hawkins said. "Not what we wanted or what the fans wanted or what the players wanted. And certainly not what we expected by any means."

Colorado_mediumTuesday Evening Dan Hawkins Press Conference - CUBuffs.com - Most of the articles today have quotes from this press conference and the one with Scotty, but here's some of the other things Hawkins had to say.

"It was a tough day, and certainly not what we expected and not what we wanted as a football team..."

One of those series, we had 17 snaps and had no points.  That's penalties and everything, 17 plays and we didn't score, that's tough.

Clearly there's a little mojo when you win and a little sorrow when you lose, but ultimately you have to work through that.

[On whether minor tweaks or major changes are needed] - The efficiency numbers aren't that different between this game and against CSU, but I told the guys, the times when we weren't efficient, it was pretty dramatic, and led to dramatic results.  The hand-off to the corner who returns it 80 yards for a touchdown and the volleyball play at the end of the first half that led to a touchdown...  Those are all fixable.  As you find out the personality of your team, that helps you settle in, as well.

[On Hansen's injury] - I know it was a rough day for Tyler, but so long as the docs and the trainers said he was ok, we wanted to keep him in and finish the day.

[On Hansen's left-handed pass] - He's so competitive, and he so wanted to make a play.  We tell our guys, 'Do your job, do your job, do what you're supposed to do.  Hey, you can't win it by yourself, all those other 10 guys have to do what they're supposed to do.'  At that time it's not about, yelling and screaming, it's more about calming him down and reminding him of that.  We just wanted him to work through it.

At times, the O-line did do well, you look at all the 3rd and shorts that we converted; being able to run when they knew we were going to run, [that's an improvement on last year].

There's a time and a place for yelling and screaming, and there's a time and a place for teaching.  For the most part what we were trying to do Saturday was get our guys re-focused.  We got good kids, and they want it.

Colorado_mediumBrooks: Buffs' Offense Dances To Irregular Beat - CUBuffs.com

"The hard thing about it, (being out of synch) was in a lot of spots," the Buffaloes' offensive coordinator said. "If it was one particular area, you'd wrap your arms around it and fix it. As coaches, at every position, we've got to take our own group and try to repair. It was absolutely no representation of where we are as a football team." Nonetheless, the Buffs are where they are after a 45-point loss (52-7) to Cal - last in the Big 12 Conference in every major offensive category and still searching for the ON button before high-powered Hawai'i arrives. "We've got the potential to be a great offense," senior receiver and co-captain Scotty McKnight said. "But we just didn't show up Saturday."

From the 'if you care' file: Reggie Bush is giving his Heisman trophy back.

  Tyler Hansen vows 'never again' ...after the jump.

Colorado_mediumWomen’s Golf Wins Ptarmigan - CUBuffs.com - Junior Emily Talley matched a school record and finished second individually and the University of Colorado women's golf team won the fifth tournament in its history Tuesday, coming out on top at the 2010 Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic here at the Ptarmigan Country Club.

Colorado_mediumConventional Wisdom - CU At the Game - Stuart Whitehair won't be outdone by B.G. Brooks, and has his own conversation with Conventional Wisdom

Colorado_mediumMomentum is good and bad for Buffs - Big 12 Blog - ESPN - David Ubben knows about momentum, and talks about his momentum, and Colorado.

Colorado_mediumAlfred Williams built legacy at Colorado - Buffzone

When I finally got a chance to see Coach Mac, it was really good. But what really changed everything was when I came down to Boulder for a visit."

Williams, who grew up in a tough Houston neighborhood, had never been on an airplane until deciding to look outside the Lone Star State and give CU a chance. "It was just so different than the areas that many of us were raised in," Williams said. "On my flight the smoking section was one row behind me. You forget they used to allow smoking on planes. It was my first time leaving the state of Texas and the smoke gave me a terrible headache. It was pretty driving down (Highway 36), but I was having a bad experience. And then it snowed like crap the first day.

Colorado_mediumThe Colorado Daily – Hawaii " CU At the Game - A CU Football blog by Stuart Whitehair

Hansen sends message to Buff fans "Buff Nation, I promise you this type of thing will never happen again,"

Colorado_mediumCU Buffs' QB Tyler Hansen vows never again - Buffzone

Tyler Hansen says he isn`t trying to be Tim Tebow. He`s trying to be the quarterback of the Colorado football team.  Hansen said he has faith in his offensive line and believes the group will eventually right itself and begin performing at a higher level. Hansen also needs to play better. He missed some open receivers on Saturday and opted to try to stay in the pocket and pass several times when his instincts told him to try to make a play with his feet. He admitted he tried to do too much at times.

McKnight on the O-Line - "They played kind of pissed off today in practice because they`re sick of, you know, there would be guys in the locker room or people on the outside saying its their fault," captain Scotty McKnight said. "It`s never solely on one position, but I think that did get under their skin a little bit. And they want to let Tyler feel comfortable in the pocket and let the team know that they`re going to do their job."

Colorado_mediumWoelk: Buffs insist one game won`t ruin season - Buffzone

It`s why this weekend`s game has the air of a crossroads. Play well and get a win, and the Buffs will have two weeks to prepare for a visit from Georgia. They can -- despite dire predictions from a frustrated fan base -- get this season at least headed back in the right direction.

"We need it," McKnight said. "We need to go out and play a good game. We need to go out and win." No doubt, a solid performance this weekend would heal some of the wounds inflicted last weekend. "It`s like this -- when you have a bad day at work, do you quit?" McKnight asked. "We don`t. One bad day doesn`t make a season." And one good day would definitely put some spark back in this one.

Go Buffs.

See a good article that I missed? Let me know!