** 2018 Opponent Previews: Colorado (Game 2) **

[Saunders]

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CollegeFootballNews: And the hard part about it? The 5-7 season was the program’s second-best since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.

 

But there’s a window open right now that’s going to slam shut very, very soon.

With one winning season since 2005’s strange run to the Big 12 Championship Game, it’s been a long, long time since the former national championship-level superpower has been more than just a team on a schedule.

This year’s version has a whole lot of flaws and concerns, but if it’s ever going to make a push, this has to be it.

UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State might all need a little bit under their respective new head coaches to get going, USC doesn’t quite appear to be the USC of the last two seasons, and Utah is a home game for the Buffs. All five of those programs are going to be looking at 2018 as a stepping-stone season.

Colorado can’t.

https://collegefootballnews.com/2018/04/colorado-buffaloes-college-football-preview-2018

 

– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players, Key Game, Fun Stats
– What Will Happen & Win Total Prediction

 

 

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SBNation: Was Colorado’s good year a mirage?

The shine can wear off pretty quickly. In the first week of December 2016, there wasn’t a better story in college football than Mike MacIntyre’s Colorado Buffaloes. In his fourth year in Boulder, MacIntyre had pulled off a rise that would have made Bill McCartney proud. The engineer of CU’s mid-1980s rise, McCartney had won seven games across his first three seasons before winning seven in his fourth and never looking back. 

 

MacIntyre’s feat was similar: 10 wins over the first three seasons, 10 in the fourth. Colorado surged from 98th to 18th in S&P+ thanks to a solid offense and an aggressive defense. They were projected to fall thanks to turnover, but once you’ve broken through, you never want to think previous depths are possible again.

 

They’re very much possible.

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/5/17/17322524/colorado-football-2018-preview-schedule-roster

 

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The Athletic: Colorado football trying to recapture magic of 2016

It’s kind of hard to believe that one year ago Colorado was coming off a Pac-12 South title, having gone 8-1 in conference play in the regular season, with the lone loss coming to USC by four points. In 2017, Colorado followed up that division title by finishing 2-7 in conference play, its sixth last-place finish in seven seasons as a member of the conference. Five of the Buffaloes’ seven Pac-12 losses came to teams they had beaten the previous season. They went from playing a top-25 team in the Alamo Bowl in 2016 to a three-loss November that prevented them from going to a bowl game, the ninth time in 10 years that they’ve stayed home for the postseason.

https://theathletic.com/383959/2018/06/13/colorado-football-season-preview-depth-chart-schedule-2

 

 

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Athlon: 2018 Buffaloes Preview and Prediction

After winning the Pac-12 South in 2016, the Colorado Buffaloes slipped to 5-7 in a rebuilding season last fall. Both sides of the ball were to blame for the decline, but Colorado has to get its defense back on track after giving up 6.1 yards per play in 2017 (up from 4.9 in 2016). The Buffaloes return six starters, but question marks remain about this unit's ability to stop the run, and they must find a replacement for standout cornerback Isaiah Oliver. Quarterback Steven Montez returns after an up-and-down 2017 season to anchor the offense. However, his supporting cast will be revamped, as the Buffaloes lost prolific running back Phillip Lindsay and three key receivers. A favorable home slate -- featuring five Pac-12 games -- could be enough for Colorado to return to the postseason. 

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/colorado-football-2018-buffaloes-preview-and-prediction

 

 

 

More to come....

[Gage County]

The Colorado had 3 studs in the secondary two years ago. They went in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds in the draft. The Puffs did not reload.

[Caliborn72]

They actually might have a first round corner in this year’s draft that we won’t have to deal with haha. But their head coach is a secondary guy and I expect that won’t be the weakness. Like the article states, it’s the front 7 that we will bully around.

 

Montez gives me the same nervousness that Herbert did last year with Oregon. Where we will obviously face more prolific offenses and skill players, and the QB of those teams will scare me by extension. But if all things are equal, Montez is the type of QB who could end up spoiling our day. He makes plays with his legs and makes some incredible throws. Thankfully, he’s also the kind of QB who could give the game away and the Buffs OLine is softer than ours has been. Diaco’s defense would have been torched by him but our aggressive defense should stifle him.

 

I watched their spring game and their WRs are better than their previous ones. They are bigger, stronger, and faster. Their RB will be deeply missed though and I think we win this game by 9+ in what will be one of the best atmospheres of the season. And I think it will end up looking like a pretty good win by season’s end.

[RedDenver]

CU had a good season when Jim Leavett was the DC. And they're back to sucking now that he left.

Edited April 12, 2018 by RedDenver
typo

[teachercd]

They had that crazy year like two years ago where everything seemed to bounce right for them...now...now so much

[darkhorse85]

I find it funny how a poster with the screen name of Gage County has their location as Washtenaw County. Maybe it's because I grew up in Gage County.

 

I didn't have anything to add to this thread besides that.  Can't wait to travel back to Boulder next year. Lovely city. The people?  Meh.

 

Edited April 12, 2018 by darkhorse85

[Gage County]

18 minutes ago, darkhorse85 said:

I find it funny how a poster with the screen name of Gage County has their location as Washtenaw County.

 

Probably the most interesting thing about me...

[darkhorse85]

Hey, you made it out of Gage county though! 

[Day by Day]

2 hours ago, darkhorse85 said:

Hey, you made it out of Gage county though! 

 

Life's always better once you're out of Gage county. 

[RedDenver]

4 hours ago, darkhorse85 said:

I find it funny how a poster with the screen name of Gage County has their location as Washtenaw County. Maybe it's because I grew up in Gage County.

 

I didn't have anything to add to this thread besides that.  Can't wait to travel back to Boulder next year. Lovely city. The people?  Meh.

 

HEY! Not all the people here suck.

[Mavric]

12 hours ago, Saunders said:

CollegeFootballNews: And the hard part about it? The 5-7 season was the program’s second-best since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.

 

 

[Caliborn72]

Impact player to watch for.

[Caliborn72]

They went out and grabbed a grad transfer RB from Virginia Tech. Looks like he killed it as a freshman under Beamer, but had struggled the last two years under Fuente in an offense that utilized several RBs.

 

 

 

Makes sense that they nabbed a transfer with the loss of their star RB.

[suh_fan93]

Think it's really cool to see the Huskers and Buffs going at it again.

 

 

[Saunders]

Added the SBNation preview!