Can Colorado Win it All? - rudyjuly2's Blog

rudyjuly2's Blog

Can Colorado Win it All?

Posted on December 2, 2008 at 10:24 AM.

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Coach Rudy took over a young team six years ago and quickly turned it into a contender in the Big 12. He took the Buffaloes to a remarkable 9-3 regular season in his first year and the Big 12 Championship only to lose. The next four years were remarkably consistent winning 9 or 10 games each year and usually beating his rivals. In his fifth year, the Buffaloes managed to go undefeated in the regular season. Sitting at 12-0 they were looking for their first Big 12 Championship along with a National Title. But in a rematch with Oklahoma they lost the Big 12 title game. Then they lost big to USC in the Rose Bowl to cap a disappointing finish.

Currently Colorado sits at 8-0 and ranked #2 with arguably the most talented team in the country. Having beaten Oklahoma in the toughest game on the schedule, this team has an excellent chance of going undefeated again but the fans are nervous in Boulder. While Coach Rudy has a 16-1 record against his rivals, that doesn�t mean much considering Colorado State and Kansas State are typically easy wins for this powerhouse program. Critics point to his lousy 1-4 bowl record and wonder if he can get this team over the hump.

The team�s success has largely been fueled by the defense and running game. The defense is rated 94 and has solid players at every position on the team with the worst starter an 85. The young running backs are led by nimble Chad Reid who has over 1000 yards on the season and a young thumper in Darren Williams who gets plenty of goal line touches. The offense is overly conservative but they lack any playmakers at wide receiver. The receivers lack both height and speed and this team struggles to come from behind. Very few big plays downfield have been created this season. The offensive line is very good as is senior quarterback Neil Herron although he tends to force too many throws and has a negative TD/INT ratio for his career.

No question Coach Rudy has done a great job of building this program but that has also led to constant rumours of him leaving for greener pastures elsewhere. Each year programs come calling and so far he has stayed. This team should get to the Big 12 Championship game but after that all bets are off. They need to do a better job in the big games and we don�t know if that will happen.

Comments

# 1 rudyjuly2 @ Dec 3

Beat Missouri 28-10 this morning. Their 10 points were almost directly off of turnovers. I threw 3 picks with my starter and had one returned for a TD. He's an impact player with 90 throwing power and 92 accuracy and two of those picks were my bad reads. He's got decent mobility and is a 94 overall. But part of me wants to give my sophomore the job. He's not mobile and is a 90 overall but has a stronger arm (95 throwing power). He can wait until next year but I did bench my starter after three picks and had him finish the game. Thank heavens my defense played well.

I will sim my next game against crappy Iowa State to go to 10-0. Then I have #3 Clemson and Nebraska to end the year. Those should be wins though. Texas A & M actually leads the South division so I might not have to face OU or Texas to get to the title game since they both have one more loss in the conference.