Weekly TRR Discussion - Where Can The Buffs Find A Win?

Buffs Questions

1. Watching the game I felt great about the way the Buffs played for the first two quarters. The record still would have shown a "L" but, how would you feel today if the game ended after the first half?

Parker: I would feel great if the game ended after the first half because it would have been a competitive loss. I really thought the Buffs would be able to get up for this game considering the road ahead, but now a one win season looks like a very legitimate possibility.

Ash: I'd feel pretty good, but even then we'd be saying that the Buffs played only one half... those 14 points came in the last dozen minutes of the second quarter... but yeah. A 3 point loss would feel 'less bad' than a 35 point one.

Jon: Pretty good I imagine. The Buffaloes really haven't even been competitive in a Pac-12 loss since the Cal and WSU games early in the 2011 season so it would be a good sign of progress. They ended that first half on a really good note and it would have been encouraging.

Denny: Going into halftime I felt something. It was vague. I couldn't really put my finger on it. You know like that sense when you just barely catch a wiff of a farmiliar scent and it takes you back to a time past. I was being taken back to when we were IN it, to when I could reach peaks and valleys every play. I was excited to be watching University of Colorado football. Then I was slapped cold and hard by reality. OPENING KICKOFF after the half goes for 100 yards, and the rout is on. So if the game ended at half I would have been blissfully happy, stuck in that feeling of déjà vu, instead I just sit in what is the reality after déjà vu.

2. @USC, @Oregon, vs.Stanford. I want to ask a few question tied with this gauntlet (three positives, three negatives).

Positives: (1.) Which of these teams gives us the best chance of an upset? (2.) What can the Buffs show you in any of these games that will give you hope for the future? (3.) Which of these teams would you like to see the young Buffs become most like?

Parker: Stanford is the best chance of an upset because we are playing at home and they have been struggling lately compared to USC and Oregon. I don't think the Buffs will show us anything in these three games that will give us hope for the future and I wouldn't mind the Buffaloes ending up like the Oregon Ducks. Yes, Oregon runs a spread, but they are the most entertaining team to watch in football, without question and the speed they have on the field is unstoppable.

Ash: 1. Since before the season, I've seen Stanford as being the possible win through this gauntlet. Granted... I saw it as being the pinnacle game on our way to a bowl game, but I still think they're the best chance at a 'W' in the rest of October.

2. I want to see us pull a fast one on any of these teams. A kickoff return...a well-layered pass play...something where we just whomp 'em. Even if it's for one play. because if we can get one over on them, then eventually we can get a whole game over on somebody that we 'shouldn't'

3. I'd like for us to become like USC or Oregon... top-flight skill players on the conduit to the NFL. I foresee us becoming like Stanford was... good linemen, good TE's, and a big back. You know... how CU was 10 years ago.

Jon: (1.) DEFINITELY Stanford, their lack of offense all of a sudden makes that game look significantly more winnable than it did before the season began (2.) The scoreboard not withstanding, improvements from the offense and secondary. The secondary has improved every single week, but USC and Oregon will be a huge step up in competition. (3.) Trick answer. Stanford, but Stanford last year. We may not have an Andrew Luck waiting in the wings, but I love that smashmouth style offense.

Denny: 1) I guess Stanford is our best CHANCE at an upset, but how AWESOME would it be to upset either of the other two. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. How many times has that motto fit our opponents in the last handful of year, and they came out victorious; Montana State, CSU (every year), Sac State. Well this week that is US. We can be that surprise, lets ruin someone else's week. I am sick of having my week ruined.

2) Show heart. Show a mean streak. These guys (the players) have struggled so much, it would be totally understandable to see a team going through what they are going through just flay give up. I don't think we have seen that from these guys. Look at Will Pericack. The guy goes out there play after play, follows his assignments and plays HARD. He would be doing exactly what he is doing week in and week out whether we were 1-5 or 5-1. I want to see that from everyone. Oh and Wood, I just want to see someone else behond center, we are staring HARD at 3 losses, and maybe BIG losses. Could it be much worse with someone else behind center?

3) I would like the buffs to be a mix of all the best parts of these three teams. You know, like, take all the best players from each team and put them on CU and that is what I want to see. Hahahahahahahahaha.

Negatives: (1.) Which of these teams will put up the most points against our young struggling defense? (2.) Does anyone in the country actually EXPECT a win in the next three weeks? (3.) Will you be watching?

Parker: Oregon will put up the most points; we don't have the speed to match them at all on defense. I really wouldn't be surprised if Oregon up 28-0 at the end of the first quarter. I don't see how anyone in the country can expect anything close to a win in the next three weeks. I will be watching each of the games because the opponents are exciting teams to watch and in any game, an upset is possible, although very unlikely.

Ash: 1.Ugh. Last year it was 48, 45, 42, with Stanford in the lead. Points against I'll say USC. Margin I'll say Oregon... again.

2.I'm hoping for a win against Stanford, but expecting? No, not after the ASU game.

3.I'd love to watch, but I can't. Being in Houston, there's no where except the neighbor's backyard that has Dish Network. But I will be listening.

Jon: (1.) I think that will definitely be Oregon, unless they pull their starters in the second quarter. (2.) I'm telling you, if the Buffs aren't two beat-up, Stanford could be interesting. (3.) Every single week.

Denny: 1) Oregon, geeze this could get ugly. 2) Stanford I guess, but nothing would save this season like an upset of either USC or Oregon. 3) Tough to get it out here in Providence, RI, but I will at the least listen.

3. I know that sometimes it can feel like we have just been through the longest season in the history of Colorado fandom, but the season is only halfway over. What can this staff or this program do, now, to make the rest of this season respectable, or at the very least, survivable?

Parker: I honestly don't know what they can do to make it survivable or respectable at this point.

Ash: Recruit well, and not give up on the season. We can ill afford another Fresno State.

Jon: One more win. Continued improvement on both sides of the ball. Increased participation from the freshman and sophomores (if that is even possible).

Denny: So, I know how unrealistic this is, but NOTHING can redeem this season like a W over either USC or Oregon. I am not expecting this by any stretch, but a guy can dream cant he?

NCAA Questions

4. Whoa, looking at the AP Top-25 you have: Kansas State #4, Notre Dame #5, Oregon State #8... These all seem to be teams that we were right there with, even in some of the last 10 painful seasons. What happened? I am sure I can already assume a few of the answers, but where did these teams go left as we went right? What decision did they make right when we made them wrong?

Parker: We hired Dan Hawkins.

Ash: K-State and ND.... they had a coach and then canned him... Oregon State stuck with their guy through the tough times. I think Notre Dame was a recruiting beneficiary of Michigan's fallout and will be so again with Penn State's fallout. K-State I think can be chalked up to a successful scheme run with super-high discipline. Oregon State? I'm gonna go ahead and say 'deal with the devil.'

Jon: Kansas State is an anomaly because of Snyder-ball and Collin Klein. The other two took their lumps and are have now turned it around thanks to some pretty great defenses.

Bonus: What is the ONE event or activity that you have missed on a Saturday (or Thursday evening) this fall because you were watching the Buffs that you might regret?

Jon: Sleep. The night of the Arizona State game. I had a 5:30 a.m. flight the next day.

Denny: I don't know, I guess I could have curled up with a nice book the night of the Fresno State game. Hell, a solid chick flick would have made the GF happy and would have been better than that nightmare.

Follow-up: what is the one event that you ditched in lieu of a Buffs game that you wouldn't trade for the world?

Ash: That one's easy. My wedding. It was last season. We lost to Wazzu at home, at the last second.

Jon: Whatever was happening when the Buffs got their single win this season.

Denny: I went whale watching instead of the Sac State game, I couldn't have watched being on the east coast anyway. Plus, I was expecting a win going away. Not disappointed in the least to have missed that one. Plus, we saw 4 humpback whales, one of them breached like 20 times. Not even kidding whole truck sized body completely out of the water 20 TIMES!!!

Pick ‘Em:

#Barely-out-of-the-Top25 ASU VS #3Oregon,

#4 (Seriously what the hell) K-State VS #13 (we beat them) WVU,
#2 Florida VS #7 South Carolina
#7 LSU VS #18Texas A&M
#17 Texas Tech VS #23 (I thought they all got arrested this offseason) TCU

Parker:
Oregon- 31 Arizona State-14
West Virginia- 35 Kansas State-28
Florida- 21 South Carolina- 17
LSU- 17 Texas A&M- 10
Texas Tech- 28 TCU- 21

Ash:
Oregon 56, ASU 24 in the longest game ever
WVU 31, K-State 29 in the shortest game ever
UF 18, SC 20
LSU 5, A&M 3
Tech 28, TCU 24

Jon:
Oregon - Arizona St. 38 - 20
Kansas St - West Virginia 31 - 28
South Carolina - Florida 31 - 24
LSU - Texas A&M - 27 - 20
Texas Tech - TCU 24 - 14

Tell us what you think! In the comments! Go Buffs!