:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/6068416/141510582.jpg)
Recapping your Colorado Buffaloes' Athletics and Offseason Football, News, Links, and Stories
The knee injury reduced Richardson's effectiveness for the latter part of the year, but he had rededicated himself after returning from Christmas break and had reestablished his role as a team leader. In an interview before spring practice began, he said he wanted his coaches and teammates to know he was "100 percent here, I'm all in; there are no question marks and it's going to show. I don't want to be seen in a dark light; I want to be seen in a bright light."
Embree and Malcolm Blacken, CU's director of speed, strength and conditioning, couldn't see him in any other way. Richardson blew away his competition during Coaches' Week, telling staffers, "I feel like I'm a monster; this is what I was made to do. I know how hungry I am and where I want to be in life; it all determines my work ethic. I'm doing it every day with a smile on my face."
Replacing Richardson won't be easy. Embree even indicated it was impossible: "You don't replace him. What we have to do is find out what other people can do and ask them to do those things. Then find a way to as effective as you can be and continue to move the ball. You've got to be creative. There's a lot of different things you have to do. The great thing about football it is a team game at the end of the day. So other people will have to pick up the slack. That's what we'll do."
"That's a big role to fill because 'P-Rich' is just a special, special player," sophomore receiver Tyler McCulloch said. "It doesn't necessarily create pressure but there's just a lot more urgency to have everyone step up. Everyone is going to want to step up individually, but as a unit, as a whole, we all need to step up."
Added redshirt freshman receiver Nelson Spruce: "It's going to be a collective thing. We all have different specialties and are different receivers. I think we've been coming together; as long as we continue we should be able to keep producing."
Questions now loom for Colorado receivers - Pac-12 Blog - ESPN - Ted Miller breaks down the depth chart at wide receiver after Paul Richardson's injury.
Last year's leading receiver, running back Rodney Stewart, is gone. The leading receiver who actually played receiver, Toney Clemons is gone. Richardson was third, he's gone. Tight end Ryan Deehan, gone. Wide receiver Logan Gray, gone.
Starting to get the picture? And hanging over all of this is, of course, a question mark at quarterback. Texas transfer Connor Wood is getting all of the work with the first team, though that will change when Nick Hirschman returns from a broken foot in the fall.
So with Richardson out who are these guys going to be throwing to?
Keenan Canty probably has the most speed of anyone in the group. He caught 14 balls for 161 yards last season. Tyler McCulloch has pretty good size at 6-5, 210, but he's not as fast as Canty. McCulloch had 10 catches for 96 yards and a score last season. Nelson Spruce is coming off a redshirt year and there are a handful of walk-ons that could get into the mix.
University of Colorado men's basketball head coach Tad Boyle and his staff announced Wednesday the signing 6-foot-3, 195-pound point guard Eli Stalzer to a National Letter of Intent to play basketball and continue his education at CU for the 2012-13 season. Stalzer is the sixth incoming freshman on the 2012-13 roster and joins Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, Calif.) teammate Xavier Johnson, who signed with the Buffaloes last November.
"Eli is a player our staff kept coming back to in our elevation process," Boyle said. "He is the epitome of what we consider a 'complete player' to be. His ability to pass, dribble and shoot, as well as his ability to defend multiple positions will allow him to be a valuable player for the Buffs."
Stalzer and Johnson will be the first CU student-athletes hailing from the same high school as incoming freshmen since the 1980-81 season when former CU greats Jay Humphries and Vince Kelley came to CU from Inglewood High School in Los Angeles (Humphries is CU's all-time assist leader, 14th on the all-time scoring list; Kelley is 19th in scoring).
Baylor cheats big time, yes. But what other 'Green-and-Yellow' team is full of foul, nasty people? You'll only need one guess...
Colorado State suspends three players accused in beating – USATODAY.com
Colorado State coach Jim McElwain said Monday he believed it was necessary to take immediate action against three football players linked to a weekend "beating" incident but that any additional disciplinary measures will not be taken until police complete their investigation. McElwain suspended linebacker Mike Orakpo and defensive ends Nordly Capi and Colton Paulhaus indefinitely Saturday, soon after learning of their reported involvement in the beating of four Colorado State freshmen students.
"Know this, that the harshest form that we could do is to indefinitely suspend until all the facts are out there," McElwain told reporters at a news conference Monday just before putting his team through a practice. "…This is unacceptable in this program, it's unacceptable to this university, and until we get all the facts, we're totally cooperating in every way, shape or form that we can, so we get what really is out."
Haley said Fort Collins police asked him not to specifically identify the attackers in public while the criminal investigation is ongoing. Police spokesperson Rita Davis confirmed Monday afternoon that the investigation into the incident is continuing and no charges have been filed, and no arrests have been made.
If you think that CSU and their Athletic Department won't do everything they can to prevent charges from being filed and return players to the field without public accusations, then you don't understand small-town football.
Pac-12 Football Recruiting: Where the West is Won - Pacific Takes - A good look at the Pac-12's most fertile recruiting grounds and where the Buffs excel.
Lacking the urban sprawl of the East Coast, the industrial toughness of the Midwest and the sweet southern comfort of well, the South, the West Coast recruiting grounds consist of a small number of hot spots where Pac-12 coaches duke it out for the top talent and try to fend off scavengers from east of the Rockies.
Fittingly, there are primarily 12 recruiting areas that supply the vast majority of the talent within the conference with some being much more valuable than others and I wanted to take a look at how the 12 key Pac-12 recruiting grounds stack up against each other in value, and which three schools do the best job of recruiting each area.
The University of Colorado men's golf team held off several pursuers while leaping ahead of two others here Tuesday in finishing second in the 10th Annual Wyoming Cowboy Classic.
Kansas State, tied for the lead after two rounds and ahead of the Buffaloes by seven, won the event with a 14-under par 826 team score, staving off CU which closed to within two strokes in tallying a 12-under 828. Two-round co-leader San Diego (833), Texas Tech (834) and Colorado State (834) rounded out the top five. Just 10 strokes separated fourth and 13th place, or 10 positions, heading into the final 18 holes, and in the end, only 10 strokes was the difference between first and eighth.
Colorado was in fourth entering the final round with those nine teams breathing down its neck and was second after 18 holes, when it recorded a school-record 270 (10-under) on the 7,133-yard, par-70 Talking Stick North Golf Club course.
The rise back into second enabled the Buffs to post its third top-two finishes this season, the fifth time that has occurred in major tournaments in program history. The Buffs opened the season with a pair of wins, so now this year joins similar accomplishments in 1979-80 (one win, two seconds), 1980-81 (one, three), 1983-84 (one, two) and 2008-09 (one, four).
Who needs a bubble? - Boulder Daily Camera
The Buffs did not make use of the practice bubble Tuesday, despite snow and cold rain falling in Boulder throughout the day. Embree said it was good for the team to practice in less-than-ideal conditions because they won't always play in great weather. "The defense was really good today, got some turnovers," Embree said. "It's good for our offense to learn about handling the football when it's wet, quarterbacks throwing it and receivers staying on their feet."
Run, Ralphie, run: U.S. 36 could be renamed the Buffalo Highway - Boulder Daily Camera
Some people call it U.S. 36, others the Boulder Turnpike, but if four lawmakers have their way the stretch of road between Denver and Boulder will be called the Buffalo Highway. Boulder is home to the University of Colorado, which in 1934 selected the buffalo as its mascot. A Senate committee tomorrow will consider a resolution to rename the road, and to allow the Colorado Department of Transportation to accept gifts, grants, and donations for the initial "Buffalo Highway" signs. Among the sponsors is Rep. Kevin Priola, R-Henderson, who is co-director of the Ralphie program, which runs a buffalo down the field at home games. He was one of the runners when he attended CU in the 1990s.
Go Buffs! On Buffalo Highway!