Wednesday CU Buff Bites - Buffaloes Still Want to Fight

Recapping Colorado Buffaloes, Pac-12 and College Football News, Links, and Stories

CU Buffs seniors want to finish 3-0 - Buffzone

If the Buffs can find a way to beat high-scoring Arizona led by future NFL quarterback Nick Foles, they will avoid becoming the first CU team to go winless at home in the history of Folsom Field.

Only three previous CU teams have failed to win a home game in a season and it hasn't happened since 1920 when home games were played at Gamble Field. That season the Buffs managed to earn two ties in three home games. The other two occasions came in the first two years the program existed in 1890 and 1891.

"We want to leave these underclassmen a three-game winning streak," starting quarterback Tyler Hansen said. "That's what we want to do. We want to show them how to win and leave them on a winning note. We kind of have that road losing streak. That's a big deal with us. We want to end that for sure, but we want to definitely send coach Embree, his staff and all the young guys into next year with a three game winning streak."

THORBURN: Letters to seniors show selfless side of Buffs - Buffzone

The Colorado head coach asked some of his players to write old-fashioned, hand-written letters to the 28 seniors on the team about what they mean to the program. "It was interesting to see how some of the guys felt about their teammates," Embree said. "There's a lot of guys that care deeply about each other and about their teammates. I was surprised at how selfless a lot of these guys were."

Toney Clemons received a letter from Tyler McCulloch. Actually, it was more of a thank-you note to the senior wide receiver for helping the freshman deal with the pressures of playing at this level instead of being upset about being listed as co-starters together.

"It was a good touch. It was something new. I wish I had a chance to say it to the guys I came up with that were above me when I came into college," Clemons said. "Because it makes an impact on the person. I'm glad coach Embree took the time out to have those guys write us letters and show us that they're in it for us as well, and that we're not alone as a class."

Tyler Hansen received a letter from Doug Rippy. They arrived on campus together as part of the 2008 recruiting class, but the senior quarterback was never allowed to redshirt like the junior linebacker did.

"He wrote me a long letter, about three pages long," Hansen said. "And it was pretty special."  

Ok ok ok... enough with this touchy-feely crap.  Next: Is the Pac-12 is taking over all the internets? Story at five after the jump...

Brooks: Hansen Reflects On His Short, Strange Trip - CUBuffs.com

On Tuesday, when was asked if he would change those decisions to pull his redshirt, he answered without hesitation, "I would not. I think at the time, my true freshman year, I wanted to get in there, I wanted to play. I was itching to get on the field. I was totally fine with that.

"My second year . . . that was the hardest decision I probably had to make. We were 1-3 at the time. It was tough, real tough. I talked to a bunch of people about it before I made the final decision. It pretty much came down to not being guaranteed play ever again; you might get hurt tomorrow and never play football again. That's why I came here - to play football. When you have an opportunity to play, get on the field, you've got to take it. Now, I don't regret that decision at all and my family doesn't regret it."

The lone thing he does regret is not being able to spend another season with head coach Jon Embree, Scherer, Bieniemy and the other CU staffers. "I wish I could spend some more time here with those guys," Hansen said. "They have some great football knowledge and they're some great guys. They're doing all the right things here. That's the only thing - I wish I had more time with them."

Unprecedented Agreement For Pac-12 > Pac12 

With unprecedented collaboration, the Pac-12 has reached an agreement with Learfield Sports and IMG College to aggregate and control specific school rights, including all local audio-visual and website rights, and key sponsorship categories, putting the Conference in position to create an integrated multi-media marketing platform and the first-ever collegiate website portal, it was announced today.

Or, in Plain English: Pac-12 Network will control ... everything - Pac-12 Blog - ESPN

 This Week In Schadenfreude: Bama Scott Tenorman, In The Flesh - SBNation.com - 'Bama gives us a literal Scott Tenorman. Radiohead does not think you're cool, and neither does your girlfriend. 

CU Buffs notebook: Parker Orms, Paul Vigo return to face Arizona's Nick Foles - Buffzone

Jon Embree and the Colorado staff have studied Stanford's Andrew Luck and USC's Matt Barkley recently. The film of Arizona quarterback Nick Foles was just as unsettling. "One thing that jumps out at me is how accurate he is throwing the deep ball," Embree said. "He throws the deep ball real well." "It's a great matchup, right?" Embree said. "We have to be better at mixing coverages and just be better at playing it. Sometimes it's just finding the ball, sometimes it's our technique at the line of scrimmage."

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

Injury update Several Buffs continue to mend, while several others remain question marks.

- Freshman safety Kyle Washington had not been cleared from his concussion Monday but will be tested Tuesday and hasn’t been ruled out of Saturday’s game.

- Senior wide receiver Kyle Cefalo said he plans to play this week.

- Freshman linebacker Brady Daigh, who broke his wrist in the game against USC. will play with a cast. Daigh will have surgery after the season.

- Senior free safety Ray Polk remains questionable.

- Senior strong safety Anthony Perkins is hoping to be able to play in his final home game, but he still has a long way to go recovering from an ankle injury.

For those keeping score at home, the above list contains three safeties. With Polk and Perkins, starters for much of the season, unable to go against USC, freshman Kyle Washington and sophomore Terrel Smith were the starters. Of those four, only Smith is certain to be available against the No. 4 passing offense in the nation …

Brooks: Embree Wants His Seniors To Find A Way - CUBuffs.com 

"These seniors have been through a lot," Embree said. "It's been a difficult four or five years for them. I wanted them to go out with some success. I wanted them to have an opportunity to win some big games and have them mean something.

If we'd won tonight, it would have been great, beating USC. But you win one of those games and (ESPN) Gameday is here and it puts you closer to the Pac-12 division . . . being in those kinds of situations. I was hoping to have those for this senior class.

"They've done everything I've asked them to do. They've turned things around academically from when I first got here. They've turned things around in their habits, and I just wanted them to have an opportunity to see that hard work be rewarded."

Go Buffs