Colorado Buffaloes Opponent Recap: Week 1

• Colorado State Rams (1-0)
  • Don't want to talk about it. Next up is North Dakota State for the Rams. Which means that there's a good chance that the Rams will have lost to an FCS team but beaten us this time next week. I don't like that one bit.

• Sacramento State Hornets (0-1)
  • They lost to New Mexico State 49-19, going down quickly in the first half. They came back to within 9 points in the second half, but then NMSU pulled away. Career highs for QB Garrett Safron in yards, passes and completions, and two wideouts set career highs in catches. Four receivers caught at least 3 passes for the Hornets, so we may see how many players deep our secondary goes in this game. They gave up 468 yards, 367 of them through the air. And they were susceptible to long TD passes. I feel good about this matchup for us, despite how we played this weekend.
• Fresno State Bulldogs (1-0)
  • Tim DeRuyter started off with a bang and a 37-10 victory over Weber State. They managed more than 500 yards of offense, even after losing three wide receivers to suspensions (two of whom won't be available for our game against them). They should feel good, but next week they travel to Eugene to face the Ducks. There's a pretty huge talent disparity between Oregon and Weber State, so neither of these games will necessarily give us any idea of how our matchup with them will go.
    
• Washington State Cougars (0-1)
  • They got beat pretty handily by BYU, 30-6. The Cougars of Brigham Young racked up 426 yards, including a 100 yard, two TD performance by their tight end. The Cougars of Washington State only managed 224 yards, totaling -5 on the ground. Senior QB, Jeff Tuel had a tough day, throwing two Ints and zero TDs. A lot of different guys caught passes for WSU, but none totaled more than 61 yards. It was a very tough day for new HC Mike Leach. They will definitely get better, but who knows if that improvement will come before we face them in week four. Next up is Eastern Washington, so there's a good chance they get back on track this week.
• UCLA Bruins (1-0)
  • They beat up on Rice 49-24. The offense is still figuring things out in the new scheme, but when it was working, it looked pretty good. They've got the ability to pound the ball and make plays all over the field. Rice's defense isn't great, so they may not reach 49 points again this year (yes I remember our games last season against UCLA and against it's new offensive coordinator). I don't know what to think about their defense yet, though. I'm not sure the Owls provided much of a test. Next, the Bruins play the Huskers.
    
• Arizona State Sun Devils (1-0)
  • Beat Northern Arizona University 63-0, racking up nearly 600 yards overall and 7 TDs on the ground. They look like they have indeed reloaded at the skill positions and their QB, Taylor Kelly had a very good day, but we'll see if that continues once they aren't playing cupcakes. Next up, Illinois, which should be a much tougher test, despite the fact that they may not have their QB after an ankle injury.
• USC Trojans (1-0) #1 AP
  • They beat up on Hawaii in Norm Chow's first game at the helm. The scary part? Marquise Lee had a bunch of drops in the midst of going for 190 yards on 10 catches and a 100 yard kick return. Robert Woods had a couple of TDs as well, and their Defense looked pretty feisty. They still don't have great depth, but who knows if they'll need it. Next up for the Trojans are the Syracuse Orangemen.
• Oregon Ducks (1-0) #5 AP
  • 57-34 was the score, but Arkansas State was never as close as that makes it look. It was 50-10 in the 2nd quarter when Coach Chip Kelly began to seriously pull starters. Kenjon Barner will ensure that the Ducks don't miss James, and D. Thomas just keeps getting better. RFr Mariota looks good at QB, and they've got another game to get him comfortable next week against Fresno State at home. The defense was flying around, but we'll see how the DBs look against Carr's passing attack. They're looking to keep their confidence high before their big non-con showdown the week after next: LSU.
    
• Stanford Cardinal (1-0) #21 AP
  • They won't be nearly as potent on Offense this year without Andrew Luck, but Josh Nunes didn't have any turnovers and Stepfan Taylor is still Stepfan Taylor and can grind it out on the ground. They'll need to see some improvement from Nunes if they want to stay near the top of the Pac-12 North this year, so we'll keep an eye on how he does. And their defense didn't look quite as good as it was last year. Definitely something to keep an eye on. Next the Cardinal faces Duke. Stanford fans are nervous, and the inconsistent performances on both sides of the ball could knock them for the top third of the Pac this season.
    
• Arizona Wildcats (1-0)
  • Despite going for 624 yards, it took an overtime scrambling TD pass for Arizona to beat Toledo 24-17. They missed two FGs, including one at the end of the 4th quarter that would've given them the win, and had a few turnovers, which is why they couldn't score many points. And they're going to have a much tougher test against Oklahoma State. We'll see how their defense holds up against the potent Cowboys attack, but the switch to the 3-3-5 did seem to help them out in week 1.
    
• Washington Huskies (1-0)
  • Their defensive changes look like they may already paying off after a 21-12 victory over San Diego State. The offense looks like they may miss Chris Polk at RB, but they've got a number of guys who will try to pick up the slack there. They're going to have to score more points than that and get a significantly improved performance by their offensive line in their next game, though, because they are facing LSU. They're going to need to be more productive on both sides of the ball to keep that one close.
    
• Utah Utes (1-0)
  • 41-0. Not a bad way for the Utes to start the season, even if it was against Northern Colorado and a bunch of ex-Buffaloes. Their defense again looks solid, and John White looks like he's in for another very good year. Jordan Wynn got better as the game went on, but he still didn't look like he was fully healthy from everything. The Utes are still waiting to see if he can last a full season. The defense played well, but wasn't facing a great offense. Utah State next weekend will give them a tougher test, though I do expect the Utah defense to live up to their billing.
    

And the Pac 12 Schools we don't face this year: