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CUATG Podcast … “T.I.P.S.” for CU at Oregon / Post-Mortem on Cal Debacle / Mitch Rodrigue: Fall Guy, or First Domino to Fall?
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Colorado was humbled and humiliated on the road against Cal, with the 26-7 final not telling the whole story. The Buffs managed all of 104 yards of total offense against the Bears. How historically bad is that total? Only three times in the past 50 years has the CU offense been that inept, with all three of other those losses coming against Top Ten teams … So what’s the excuse for CU’s play against a 1-5 team whose only previous victory came against Sacramento State?
Stuart, Brad and Neil do a quick post-mortem on the Cal game before moving on to the firing of CU offensive line coach Mitch Rodrigue. Will the firing make a bit of difference in CU’s final five games? Is Rodrigue a scapegoat? Or merely just the first of numerous firings to come?
Amidst the chaos in the CU locker room, the Buffs have the ominous task of trying to prepare for a road trip to face No. 7 Oregon. The Buffs are four-touchdown underdogs, and are given little chance of success. Is there any hope for CU against Oregon? Let’s find out …
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Previous podcasts … Episodes from Season 1, along with the winter and spring Episodes from Season 2, can be downloaded here …
- Season 2/Episode 15: “T.I.P.S.” for CU v. Northern Colorado / CU and the Alliance / Pac-12 Predictions
- Season 2/Episode 16: “T.I.P.S.” for CU v. Texas A&M / Review of CU’s 35-7 win over UNC
- Season 2/Episode 17: “T.I.P.S” for CU v. Minnesota / Review of CU’s loss to Texas A&M / Clay Helton Out at USC
- Season 2/Episode 18: “T.I.P.S. for CU at Arizona State / Post-Mortem on the loss to Minnesota
- Season 2/Episode 19: “T.I.P.S.” for CU v. USC / Review of CU at Arizona State
- Season 2/Episode 20: “T.I.P.S.” for CU v. Arizona / Will “Subtle Changes” be Enough?
- Season 2/Episode 21: “T.I.P.S.” for at Cal / A Rave Review? Buffs shutout Wildcats, 34-0
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Below is Episode 22 of Season 2 for the CU at the Game Podcast. You can listen to the podcast simply by clicking on the play button below, or listen it to it here at Buzzsprout, or at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, IHeartRadio … or wherever you find your podcasts!
7 Replies to “CUATG Podcast: Post-Mortem on Cal / Mitch Rodrigue: First Domino to Fall?”
Good comments here about offense, OC, and schemes
What’s up with players saying not everyone is buying in, and even using the term “cancer” about some other players, not good.
Can’t believe the Oline change didn’t happen during bye week, what a wasted opportunity with the loss to Cal.
Got to right the ship and avoid losing good players to portal this offseason, what a mess.
Love my Buffs but there should have been momentum from last year, not 2 steps backwards
I am sure RobO will give a better synopsis of the 3 styles mentioned below.
2017 2018 2019 offense looked, sounded, and was ranked the same in conference games stats. All had 1/3 more passing yards than rushing yards. (Just about the same with # of plays) All 3 produced the same identical 5 and 7 records.
2020 was an anomaly because of Covid. But the offense did change to 1/3 more running plays called. And the running game was hot.
2021 twice as many running plays as passing. Running game didn’t click. Passing game a disaster. (qb struggles no question.)
It certainly would appear the Oline being the issue. Hopefully this little change sorts it out.
Time to get the running game cranked up. Helping the passing game.
Oline is the swing play here.
Go Buffs.
Note: Regardless of whether chev is calling a different offense, (remember he was only the outside receivers coach at Tech) he needs to adapt and figure it out and he is terrible at it. Witness 2 qb sneaks to lose to A&M and the various up the gut calls with no chance throughout the season. He just looks lost or
incompetent. He has those other plays to call but well, maybe he just forgot. He is the OC…………….time to move on. (Clearly chev put the heat on the Oline coach. Next chev focus will be the QB coach) It cannot be his fault period.
He is a Buff for life so there is that.
Wasn’t Chev’s offense a lot more three and four receiver sets, bubble screens, tunnel screens, jet sweeps, fly sweeps (that people complained about), running 50% of his plays through ‘Viska, when he was healthy, etc.? QB rarely under center. Usually no huddle.
Jay’s offense was a bit more power oriented, but that 3rd and long from your own 2, flea flicker was genius – because it worked.
Now, it’s a lot more counter run plays, short crossing routes, quick outs and slants, etc. that is way more west-coast style w/ much more under center than shotgun and/or pistol, etc.
So either Chev completely changed his offensive style, or he’s running an offense that isn’t quite what he’d really prefer running. At least that’s what it looks like to my layman’s eyes. Both are possible. I guess we’ll get more clarity next year? I don’t expect anything but subtle changes my layman’s eyes won’t pick up for the rest of this year.
Go Buffs
What’s super weird about this is that the screen plays have been BY FAR the worst plays in the playbook this year. I think CU has run 10 so far this year, with 7 incompletes, 2 tackled-for-loss, and 1 small gain.
It’s like they don’t practice what Chev wants to do at all? I’m starting to agree with you here.
Yeah, and they’re still not good enough, or maybe consistent enough is the better term, to overcome the missed passes, or drops, or missed blocks on those plays. I can still see in my head a swing pass like that from the spring showgramcase that B-lew laid out there for Broussard I think it was, and had it been a live game, he’d have been decapitated. Now, more than half-way through the season, we’re living I was concerned about our QB spot.
And again, it’s not all on the QB. But a lot of it lies in the lack of execution from that position, as well as others.
Go Buffs
Wow
Even thought I have the same view of the state of the program that was hard to listen to.
Does Chev know he is walking dead or is he in denial? even though his offense is total denial.
Because of that, I hope RG and KD have been taking and making calls for his replacement. Chev needs to go NOW even if KD has to take over the OC duties. God knows he is getting paid enough. A bit more hard work that might save his own job.
The offensive performance cant get any worse but the overall situation can. If chev, along with the entire offense staff, isnt shown the door as soon as possible how many players, even on D, will be trampling each other to get to the portal door….and I wouldnt blame them. Any recruiting cred chev may have gathered in the past has evaporated due to his current and complete failure.
The crazy thing is, this IS Karl’s offense. Chev is calling the plays, sure, but this is Karl’s offense. Look at how he ran things BK and AK (before and after Karl).
Maybe, just maybe w/ an OC that believes in the same type of west coast, pro-style based offense Karl does, it can translate better to the players and their execution, but… dang. It’s hard to see any light at the end of that tunnel now.
And, I’m not of the belief that this style of offense cannot work in college. I think there’s a few examples of it, like Stanford, Michigan, and probably plenty of others. But, for whatever reasons (and the QB is certainly one, but not the only one) it’s definitely not working in Boulder (or anywhere they go, this year).
I had to turn off Karl’s latest, sad, 20 minute presser. I’m going to “circle back” and see if I can watch it now. I’m a glutton for punishment.
And hey, I get to dust off my 99-0 score prediction! But I won’t. That would mean picking against my Buffs, which I cannot do, either. I’ll be torturing myself further Saturday. I’m not sure what would be better, beating UO, making a game of it, and losing late, or getting blown out. Option 1 would ruin the Pac 12s chances at a playoff berth. I think that has to happen. It also, along w/ Option 2, provides the “see, we’re subtle changes away!” a modicum of validity, at least for a minute until the next debacle. And 3? Well, that’s just sad. So, I guess I want to see the team play hard, play better and not quit. Let the chips on the scoreboard fall where they may.
Go Buffs