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Buffs have learned lesson from Montana State loss
CU able to prepare differently for Eastern Wash. than Montana St.
There might be no better gauge by which to judge how far the Colorado football program has come in two years then watching how it performs this Saturday.
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Two years and four days after an historic loss to Montana State to start coach Dan Hawkins' tenure in Boulder, the Buffs will be back at Folsom Field with another Football Championship Subdivision team staring at them from the west sideline.
The Eastern Washington Eagles visit town this week with a top-10 national ranking in what used to be called Division I-AA. Coach Dan Hawkins has already talked to his team about the lessons that could and should be learned from the Montana State loss and others like it around the nation over the past two years.
"We've brought it up, though you don't have to do it too much," he said. "Although in my mind I wasn't taking anyone lightly I know that. But that provides some recent history.
"I think the landscape of college football is so different than it used to be. Every weekend you say, "Wow, how about that game,' or 'Wow, look at that score,' and that's pretty commonplace these days, just because of proliferation and development of players in a lot of really good programs."
Hawkins never has been one to doubt the talent level at FCS schools. In fact, he surveys the Super Bowl rosters every year counting up the number of non-Bowl Championship Series players on each roster and the number of players who didn't play major college football. He said both teams usually feature about 10 players from FCS programs.
"It's always amazing to me when you go and look at the rosters and you're going, 'Wow, wow, wow, wow,' " Hawkins said.
With so many days gone by and so many former teammates off tackling new endeavors, current Buffs who participated in the Montana State debacle or were at least part of the program in 2006,have a bit more honest assessment of what led to the loss than the reasons given then.
Defensive tackle George Hypolite shakes his head and smiles as he looks back on the first game of his sophomore season. The Buffs lost 19-10 that day, kicking off a 2-10 season in which scoring points was a challenge each week with only a very basic passing game because of limitations at quarterback.
"It's almost surreal when you look back and you think about it," Hypolite said. "You're like, 'No, that's not the end of the fourth quarter. There is some other quarter. No, this is not real.' And then seeing it on ESPN and thinking, 'What is going on here?'
"The thing that really sticks out to me is the preparation. We didn't prepare to beat them. We prepared just to play. We weren't ready for the those guys to walk in and hit us in the mouth. But unlike us, they prepared to hit us in the mouth. They prepared like it was their Super Bowl, and they walked right in here and hit us in the mouth and kept going."
It was a tumultuous time in the program. The previous season had ended with the firing of Gary Barnett following another historic defeat to Texas which beat the Buffs 70-3 in the 2005 Big 12 Conference championship game.
Barnett's assistants coached the team in the Champs Sports Bowl before Hawkins took over. Changes weren't instituted in the strength and conditioning program until late in the spring when coach Jeff Pitman left Boise State behind to rejoin Hawkins in Boulder.
The Buffs were still clearly lacking in toughness at that point and some players simply assumed victory, failing to give Montana State the respect it deserved. The respect any opponent deserves.
"I think now everybody treats people with respect, but coming in I think a lot people were a little over-confident while still questioning themselves," said quarterback Cody Hawkins, who was on the sideline that day in the first game of his redshirt season. "They thought we were going to go in and pound a bunch of people without really putting in the work and knowing exactly how they were going to go about that."
Hawkins thinks the Buffs benefit this time around from playing the FCS team in the second game because they were able to see that Eastern Washington gave Texas Tech, a fellow Big 12 Conference team, a tough game in Week 1.
Hypolite doesn't necessarily agree. He said the current team is much more mature and doesn't need such examples to know it can be beaten if it doesn't give the opponent respect. He said the 2006 team might have benefited had it been able to watch Montana State play a fellow BCS program.
"I would definitely say that the culture of this team has changed," Hypolite said. 'We're just a group of guys who bring our hard hat to work every day, and we care more about University of Colorado football than the decal on any helmet.
"We care about the Buffalo and we care about supporting the former Buffs that were here, the Buffs to come and putting a good product on the field every Saturday."
Posted by sfbuff on September 3, 2008 at 12:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Come on Buffs, 3 votes in the USA Today poll. One game at a time. We'll get there.
Posted by mgmtgrad on September 3, 2008 at 2:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree sfbuff, one game at a time. After this weeks game there are plenty of games to look forward to, but the Buffs need to be very focus this week... or it's all just a flash in the pan.
If they focus every week on the next game only, then there will be a great improvement. But the days of assuming a win are gone.
Last season's upsets that happen around the nation almost every week proves how important it is to focus on one game at a time and take no other team for granted.
Marcus J
Posted by NJBuff on September 3, 2008 at 4:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This game scares me. Very much.
Let's go Buffs!
Posted by BUFFSFANEAST on September 3, 2008 at 6:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
IM SOMEWAT SCARE TOO NJBUFF THEY REALLY NEED TO GET PRESSURE ON THIS QB IF NOT HE HAS TWO TALL WRS HE CAN HIT . LETS GO BUFFS
Posted by archalon on September 3, 2008 at 7:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Why dont you update the suspension situation with some real reporting, Dingo
Posted by SnowBuff on September 3, 2008 at 7:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I aint scurrred. The 2006 team does not even come close to comparing to this team...
Posted by rodrigo on September 3, 2008 at 7:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Damn, is that Brian White getting intro'd to the Folsom turf by the Grizzly d? If so, the anti-Hawkins mob should show up anytime now...
Posted by bouldabuff on September 3, 2008 at 8:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Does anyone know who the real statistical standouts on defense were from the CSU game? I haven't been able to find accurate defensive statistics online.
It looked to me that Nicholas and Herrod had big games on the d-line. Smart looked great. I was very pleased with Shaun Mohler's play.
I really don't think EWU is a trap game - for as much hype as we are giving them they still have less talent and less depth than CSU. It seems to me that Texas Tech overlooked them - CU will not.
Posted by BuffNut99 on September 3, 2008 at 9:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Rodrigo, you're thinking of James Cox... the worst QB I've ever seen in Black and Gold.
Other bad QBs: Eric Greenberg, Bernard Jackson, Duke Tobin...
Posted by dabuffs50 on September 3, 2008 at 9:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh man, Greenberg was bad....
Posted by extrapoint on September 3, 2008 at 9:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
was it originally a basketball cliche?
you cant stop the spread, you can only hope to contain it.
Even though both Tech and EW practice against the same O they faced when they played each other, it probably played to EW's favor a little more even though they didnt have the horses to win.
I feel fairly sure the Buffs will come out with a win. The question is how close it will be.
Will Hawkins forgo the no-huddle in order to eat up more time? or continue it for more experience and fine tuning?
Posted by cubuff85 on September 3, 2008 at 9:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
BuffNut99 you are a classic to pull out Duke Tobin...
Posted by gary on September 3, 2008 at 10:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I was at CU when he was there and I use to tell my buddies that we would lose all our games unless Tobin got in the game ... he was the holder on PATs and field goals.
Posted by rodrigo on September 3, 2008 at 11:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ah, my bad. White was gone by then. Painful, painful memories...
Randy Essington... bad record, bad uniforms, BAD coach. Bad, bad, bad.
Posted by Saheeb on September 3, 2008 at 11:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Bouldabuff: Here's a link to ALL the stats at Cubuffs.com. Page 4 has the defensive stats, including individual tackles, etc. http://www.cubuffs.com/pdf7/138146.pd....
Anyone know if the Eastern Wash game will be "televised" via streaming video via cubuffs.com or another CU web site? If I recall correctly, it was possible to watch the Montana State debacle two years ago that way and the quality of the video/viewing wasn't half bad.
Posted by Saheeb on September 3, 2008 at 11:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What I particularly liked about the CSU win was that I can't recall any/many dropped balls by receivers nor a bad ball thrown by Cody (minus the one that was tipped). I don't remember moaning "why did he throw that!?" or bemoaning dropped passes. Seemed like the receivers caught the ball for the most part and that Cody's only real bad throw was the overthrow to the wide open Steve Melton in the end zone. All of the above is encouraging. We've endured so many dropped balls the past two seasons I hope game 1 of this year is a harbinger for how our receives will catch and Cody will throw. Last year he had numerous passes dropped, but he also had several key drops of INTs (final drive against both Oklahoma and CSU we benefitted from dropped interceptions in the end zone...!).
Posted by bouldabuff on September 3, 2008 at 11:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey man - Greenberg was my HS quarterback - go easy on the guy.
Posted by bouldabuff on September 3, 2008 at 11:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks Saheeb for the link
Posted by ilikeseeyou on September 3, 2008 at 12:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Come on rodrigo, those painful memories are pretty foggy, eh? Not White, and NOT the Grizzlies, Montana State are the BOBCATS! Give them some respect, they did beat us.
If we were actually playing the Montana Grizzlies that day (a much better team than MSU that year) we probably would of lost by 30!
Posted by nepabuff on September 3, 2008 at 12:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I thought the Buffs played spotty at best against a team that had less depth or talent.
Posted by NCHusker on September 3, 2008 at 12:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
10 - 19 (9/6/06), it can and will happen again.
Posted by Ralphie2 on September 3, 2008 at 12:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
EWU is no joke. They almost beat Texas Tech last week and there's no doubt they will be improved this week. We have a scary schedule this year.
Posted by rodrigo on September 3, 2008 at 12:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Like I said. Painful, painful memories that I'm still blocking. I do, however, have a picture-perfect recollection of more recent events, like last November 23. NC might remember that one as well.
Posted by nepabuff on September 3, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Looked to me like CSU hung right in with the buffs in the first half, then with the lack of depth couldn't finish the 2d half.
Also, even with 5 sacks, it looked like the CSU QB had all day to throw the ball. He should have thrown those away instead of taking the sack.
Got to improve by WVU or it's going to be a long season.
Posted by nolanjp on September 3, 2008 at 2:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
NCHusker: Why do you surf CU blogs all day? 62-36
Posted by phatmack on September 3, 2008 at 3:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
NCHusker:
Blow it out your corn hole hater! Seriously... Why are you even here? Are you just so excited and pumped up from your STUNNING victory over big bad Western Michigan that you had to come rub it in our faces?? Feelin' like your blackshirts (Oh wait...) are back and better than ever? Or were you unable to get Lil Bo Peep's mailing address and thus couldn't get your cute little red mini skirt signed? I'm guessing that's the only reason you're here annoying us...
Well guess what... we've already been tested. We've already played a real game! We got those first game jitters out against a (reasonably) worthy adversary. EWU may put up a fight but they're gonna need more that to win.
Now how about your team? You're gonna have to wait for what... 4 more weeks before you find out just how weak your team really is?? Have fun with that...
Go pound sand and enjoy a little light reading from someone that cares way too much about your fabled Husker's impending failures: http://ajthoughts.blogspot.com/
Oh yah... and nolanjp reminded me: "SCOREBOARD!"
Posted by extrapoint on September 3, 2008 at 4:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
wow thanks for turning me on to aj
NCHusker is most likey tall. He picked on me first.
Posted by nolanjp on September 3, 2008 at 4:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
NCHusker is a typical Nebraska fan. I was watching the Missouri/Illinois game and the Nebraska game was on at the same time. All of these Nebraska fans think that their problems are solved due to the fact that they beat WMU. WMU matched Nebraska's play in the second half no doubt. Most of them are great fans, but you would think Nebraska fans would be a little more intelligent. If Koy Detmer was the head coach at Nebraska I might start to get worried about them.
Posted by extrapoint on September 3, 2008 at 5:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have always berated Watson for the mindless and predictable play calling while he was here. The pusskers, however dont seem to have a whole lot of trouble with him. Maybe Barnett was the last word on that?
Posted by dabuffs50 on September 3, 2008 at 5:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And CSU whines about scheduling with us... Look at what they pulled to get out of a slaughter:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/noteboo...
Posted by oz_in_cali on September 3, 2008 at 5:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Don't forget Weisenger. Not sure if I spelled that right. And what about Baby Bledsoe? He's gotta be a strong candidate for the bottom 3 CU QBs.
Posted by buff4life on September 3, 2008 at 6:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
yeah, nchusker is like most delusional bitter husker fans but only the real "dumb" ones point out a 10-19 loss to a team that put 65 on them the following season...and ever since 62-36 they have to find all kinds of silly reasons to bash the program that put them on "life support" in 2001 and they have had a faint pulse since with memorable games like giving up 77 to tech and 70+ to kansas...we will hear more from them the next 2 weeks after "powerhouses" san jose state and new mexico state have busker fans chanting, WE ARE BACK BABY!! THE POWER OF RED!!!....and then by middle of the big 12 season they disappear for the rest of the year and start the same nonsense the following season..predictable, sad and pathetic...football as they have known it is over in nebraska, start to focus more on that baseball team. go big red!!!!lol
Posted by halluxvalgus on September 3, 2008 at 8 p.m. (Suggest removal)
off topic- Shaquelle Evans (4 star WR) just announced his top 5 on ESPN2- CU, USC, UCLA, Notre Dame, Michigan. Official visit next month
Posted by houston_buff on September 3, 2008 at 8:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Spoke with my fans in the Boulder Valley and most tixs went to Craigs list in the event the buffs choke this game as they look ahead. The problem with putting a scrub (althought competitive school) on the schedule when the weather is perfect actually harms the program. What if 25K show for the game Saturday? We might as well pull in AF or Oregon or Iowa that will bring some of their riff raff and help sell this out. What if we lose? So what- we still get a bid if we win our side of the league. If we want to play the patsies-there aint any. How does that taste Michigan?
Posted by halluxvalgus on September 3, 2008 at 8:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
CU tried to find a better opponent. We were forced to take on a 1-AA program when there were no other options to fill the 12 game schedule.
Posted by houston_buff on September 3, 2008 at 9:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sounds like the AD speaking through his doll. Aint buying it.
Posted by greeleybuff on September 3, 2008 at 9:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
c.u. all at the game saturday buffs fans!! Be there!
Posted by halluxvalgus on September 3, 2008 at 9:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
yep, that's it, idiot. I couldn't care less what you "buy." That's the fact. If you'd been paying attention for the past few years, you'd know that too, but thanks for playing. The exit is on your right.
Posted by houston_buff on September 3, 2008 at 9:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ease up on the paint fumes hall. I have been doing buff games since way before you were making your pants smell. Those dates could have been filled but the Fresno experiment soured those ideas. You want to call me out-that is fine but bring some better reads or quit your cocktails before you bring it.
Posted by halluxvalgus on September 3, 2008 at 10:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
as opposed to the garbage speculation that you've got to offer? Please. CU has to play the toughest schedule they can muster, because otherwise, no one will go. Everyone knows that. Bohn's admitted that. He's also talked about why he had to pick up EWU this year. You must have missed it. But keep it up, your nonsense commense sound great! Something about cocktails! And pants! YAY- SCREW PANTS! People who like pants are obviously the "AD speaking through his doll."
Posted by rodrigo on September 4, 2008 at 8:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Houston,
You might want to check the Neill piece about tix, too.
Posted by BuffNut99 on September 4, 2008 at 12:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Almost forgot about Jeremy Weisinger - he was supposed to be all-world, and we never knew ye... Adam Bledsoe was terrible.
While we're at it, anyone remember Ayyumb Abdul-Rahmaan?
Posted by Dizonrocks on September 4, 2008 at 1:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Word is, EWU would beat CSU in a head-to-head match-up, so the Buffs are very aware of the skill level the Eagles will bring to Folsom and are preparing accordingly...also, way too early to mention West Virginia, it's all about this Saturday, as it should be...off topic, but is there a bigger joke than UCLA #23 in the AP? I realize it's a meaningless Poll these days, nevertheless, it's ridiculous to see them ranked in this way...
Posted by extrapoint on September 4, 2008 at 6:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The bigger joke is Tennessee.
As my pappy used to say.....
their QB couldnt hit a bull in the a** with a base fiddle.
Posted by Dizonrocks on September 4, 2008 at 11:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah, if Tennessee is supposed to be the 18th best team in the land, well, it just further blows up the preseason rankings...how many SEC teams that venture west have won lately? USC trounced Arkansas, Tennessee lost to Cal last season...wonder how Georgia will perform in Tempe...
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