Posts Tagged ‘Derek McCoy’

Hawai’i 34, Colorado 17

//posted 9.5.2011

 

September 3, 2011          Hawai’i 34, Colorado 17

As had been the case in 2010, Colorado failed to score in the first half against Hawai’i.

As had been the case in 2010, Colorado stormed back with a strong second half effort.

In 2010, the Buffs fell behind 10-0 at halftime, but dominated in the second half, out-scoring the Hawai’i 31-3 in cruising to a 31-10 victory.

In 2011, the Buffs fell behind 17-0 at halftime, played well at times, and had their chances, but it was not enough, as Colorado lost its first game under Jon Embree, 34-17.

Colorado had a game plan to withstand the onslaught of quarterback Bryant Moniz and the prolific passing game of the Hawai’i Rainbows. Pressure Moniz with an array of blitzes, trying to keep the senior quarterback from making deep throws, while protecting the Buffs’ young secondary.

The game plan was a success early, as the Buffs sacked Moniz three times in the first quarter, and held the 5,000-yard passer to a one-for-seven start through the air.

Unfortunately for the Buffs’ defense, they failed to account for the ability of Bryant Moniz to run with the football.

Moniz shredded the Colorado defense with his…

READ MORE >>

CU Transition Classes

//posted 2.1.2011

Transition Classes

It is axiomatic that a new head coach will have a difficult time with their first recruiting class. After all, the new coach comes in late in the recruiting cycle, usually in December, well after other schools have their incoming class of recruits fairly well formulated. What’s more, in most instances, the new head coach is coming into a situation where the former coaching staff has been let go, with losing records most often the culprit.

Jon Embree became the 24th head coach in Colorado history on December 6th. He took over a program mired in a five year streak of losing records, the second longest streak in Colorado history. Because of the recent record, and because of his late hire, Embree is being given a pass by most of the Buff Nation on the recruiting Class of 2011.

But should that be the case?

For guidance, let’s take a look at the first recuiting classes of the past four Colorado head coaches …

Dan Hawkins – Class of 2006

Unlike Jon Embree, Hawkins inherited a team with a winning record. In fact, Colorado had won the Big 12 North title four of the previous five seasons, including the previous two. By the same…

READ MORE >>

Colorado 44, Kansas State 36

//posted 11.20.2010

November 20th – Boulder          Colorado 44, Kansas State 36

Colorado came back from a 14-3 deficit to build a two score halftime lead, then fought off a series of Kansas State challenges to post a well-earned 44-36 victory over Kansas State. Junior running back Rodney Stewart ran for career-high 195 yards, caught two passes for 49 yards, and threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Toney Clemons in leading the Buffs to their second consecutive victory over a Big 12 opponent for the first time since 2007.

The stars seemed aligned for the Buffs to play well against the Wildcats: the weather was cool (37 degrees), but sunny; the Buffs were on a high from winning their first game in the post-Dan Hawkins era; and it was Senior Day, with the players and fans pumped after a pre-game ceremony honoring the out-going seniors.

So, naturally, the Buffs came out and fell flat.

Arthur Jaffee lost the opening kickoff in the sun, and was swarmed under at the Buffs’ 13-yard line after finally collecting the kick. Three offensive plays netted a minus-five yards for the Colorado offense, and Zach Grossnickle’s short (34 yard) punt was returned by Ty Zimmerman 41 yards to the…

READ MORE >>

Colorado 34, Iowa State 14

//posted 11.14.2010

November 13th – Boulder           Colorado 34, Iowa State 14

In the first game of the post-Dan Hawkins era at the University of Colorado, the Buffs played their most complete game of the 2010 season, defeating Iowa State, 34-14. Long-time assistant coach Brian Cabral won his first game as interim coach, as the Buffs held the Cyclones to just 229 yards of total offense.

The game, as almost every game in the 2010 season, began with Colorado on offense. For only the third time all year, though, the Buffs’ opening drive concluded with points. Two Rodney Stewart runs netted 11 yards and a first down before Cody Hawkins threw his first pass since his father was fired as head coach. The play was a simple one, a bubble screen pass to wide receiver Paul Richardson. The freshman wide receiver, though, evaded tacklers and out-raced Iowa State defenders for a 55 yard gain down to the Cyclone 14 yard line. Three more plays netted seven yards, leaving the Buffs with a fourth-and-three at the ISU seven yard line. After first appearing to be ready to go for a first down, head coach Brian Cabral called a time out, and, after discussion, opted…

READ MORE >>

September 18, 2010 – Boulder          Colorado 31, Hawai’i 13

Alfred Williams couldn’t have done it any better himself.

Perhaps inspired by the halftime ceremonies honoring the Colorado All-American’s induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, the Buffs turned a 10-0 halftime deficit into a 31-13 rout of Hawai’i. Quarterback Tyler Hansen passed for 200 yards and two touchdowns,while Brian Lockridge and Rodney Stewart both rushed for over 100 yards as Colorado erased a poor first half showing with a dominant second half performance in the Buffs’ 2010 home opener.

Before many of the 47,840 in attendance had settled into their seats, the Hawai’i Warriors set about making sure Buff fans did not forget the 52-7 rout handed to the Buffs by Cal seven days earlier. On the second play of the game, Hawai’i quarterback Bryant Moniz hit Kealoha Pilares on a crossing route which turned into an 80 yard gain. Jimmy Smith caught Pilares at the Colorado three yard line, but a Warrior score, and another Colorado debacle, seemed imminent.

Then Hawai’i did Colorado a huge favor.

The Warriors ran the ball.

A week after rushing for only ten yards against Army, the Warriors decided to run the ball against the Buffs. Three…

READ MORE >>

Nebraska 28, Colorado 20

//posted 11.28.2009

 November 27, 2009          Nebraska 28, Colorado 20

For the Colorado Buffaloes, the 2009 season ended the way it began, with a disheartening home loss to a rival. A season which had the potential for “ten wins”, and the expectation of at least seven or eight wins and a bowl game, ended with a 28-20 loss to Nebraska to put an end to a miserable 3-9 season.

Against Nebraska, the offense rolled up 403 yards, a season-high against Nebraska. But, when the game was on the line in the second half, the Colorado offense failed on three consecutive trips to the red zone to produce any points.

Against Nebraska, the defense limited the Cornhuskers to 217 yards of total offense. But, when the game was on the line in the fourth quarter, the Colorado defense gave up a 13-play, 80-yard drive which consumed 6:52 of game time, and resulted in a touchdown which clinched the game for Nebraska.

Against Nebraska, the Buffs had a 100-yard rusher (Rodney Stewart, 110 yards), two 100-yard receivers (Scotty McKnight, 114 yards; Markques Simas, 108 yards), but could not produce a sustained offensive attack.

Against Nebraska, the Buffs again allowed non-offensive touchdowns, giving up a punt…

READ MORE >>

Missouri 36, Colorado 17

//posted 10.31.2009

October 31st – Boulder          Missouri 36, Colorado 17

Missouri sacked Colorado quarterback Tyler Hansen eight times and forced four turnovers, racing out to a 33-0 lead en route to a 36-17 victory. The Buffs out-scored the Tigers 14-0 in the third quarter to make it interesting, but four possessions with the score 33-17 netted two turnovers on downs, an interception, and a punt, as Colorado fell to 2-6, 1-3 on the season. A homecoming crowd of 45,634, the smallest crowd of the season, was on hand to witness a fourth straight win for Missouri in the series.

Missouri had out-scored Colorado 113-10 the past two seasons, and, in the first half of the 2009 game, it appeared as if the scores of 55-10 and 58-0 were mere preludes to the hurt the Tigers were going to put on the Buffs in 2009. The Tigers took the opening kickoff, and smartly marched 80 yards down the field. The Colorado defense did force two third downs – 3rd-and-two at the Missouri 28 yard line, and third-and-nine at the MU 47, giving Buff fans hope (after all, Colorado was ranked 19th in the nation in 3rd-down defense, at 32%; and was even better at…

READ MORE >>

 Colorado v. Missouri – 2003

In 2003, Colorado got off to a fast start, knocking off 23rd-ranked CSU and UCLA to climb to #17 in the polls.

 After that, the wheels fell off. The Buffs lost six of the next seven games, falling to 3-6 overall. Heading into the Missouri game, CU was coming off a tough loss to Texas Tech, 26-21.  For only the 12th time since the start of the 1976 season, a span of 324 games, the Buffs had a two score lead (over nine points) at some point during the game, and lost.  CU had an early 14-0 lead on the Red Raiders, but still managed to lose.

 Of concern to the Buff faithful was the fact that, of those 12 losses after leading by two or more scores, only eight of them occurred in the 25 seasons between 1976 and 2000.  Four now had occurred during the Barnett era, including the second time in 2003 (a 23-14 lead against Baylor becoming a 42-30 loss).

 Lies, damned lies, and statistics.  Numbers can be construed in any number of ways.  Fair enough. But for the 2003 Colorado Buffaloes, one statistic could not be misstated or misinterpreted:

 3-6.…

READ MORE >>

Copyright 2012 cuatthegame.com - Website design and development by BridgeWorks