2018 offensive rank?

[Buffnik]

Answer B.

Sounds like a broken record, but best group of WRs we've had at CU in recent memory and two athletic RBs, with one of them having plenty of P5 experience. Solid interior OL, with question marks at the Tackle position. Has Montez matured and will Roper be a good influence on him to get his game to the next level and more consistent? A few early growing pains for Chev and playcalling, but he's been successful in short order at just about everything he's done in his coaching career, so I'm confident in his ability to adapt quickly to this as well.

Offensive ranking in the top 30, but scoring offense makes a massive jump into the top 30 as well.

Btw, @Buffnik , are you sure your link and your stats are correct? I think your link is to 2015... ESPN's 2017 team stats show CU's total offense ranked 47th from last year and pts/game at 80th.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/statistics/team/_/stat/total/sort/totalPointsPerGame

I fixed it. Actually, the stats were on January of the year so it's the next year you have to go to. My "2015" was actually the 2014 team. 2017 is actually listed as 2018 and we finished 48th, about the same as our 2016 season at #47.

 

[Darth Snow]

Why are you so sure he won't be a better play caller/game planner than Lindgren? Is it really that big of a stretch to think that Lindgren just isn't as good of a coach as Chev and even a first time play caller could be better than he is/was?

I'm not the one putting unreasonable expectations on a coach, positive or negative. I'm just wondering what the basis is for everyone's confidence. In his time here, Lindgren proved to be a below average P12 coordinator. Or, at least, a guy who could not overcome the limitations of the talent on the team or the limitations placed on him by his HC. That low bar is the best point of evidence for expecting improvement at the OC position this year. The second point is the experience around Chev on this staff, which should help. But there are a lot of red flags as well, including:

1) Chev has never been an OC at anything close to this level (his only experience is a few years ago at juco, and I don't even know if he lit the world on fire there... which suggests he didn't, because CU would be trumpeting that to the rooftops if he had). To restate this: There is no past performance that you can use to predict Chev's performance here. He's a recruiter, and a good one. He has less experience and at a lower level than the last position coach/recruiter we elevated to his position. That didn't turn out well. It turned out, instead, way worse than Lindgren.

2) Chev has talent, experience, or mentality issues at every position but WR.

3) HCMM's coaching identity seems to be the polar opposite of Chev's. He's going to squash Chev hard at times. How the staff and team handle this inevitable friction are unknowns.

4) our defense was shredded last year. Even if it improves, it's unlikely it will continually put the offense in good positions. That's a lot of pressure on the offense to produce.

5) The OC takes the lion's share of the blame for all of the above issues. It's all going to come crashing down on him quick when things go wrong. And this is big boy football - things will go wrong at some point. Maybe for several games in a row. Or more. Will he panic? Will he adapt? Will he hold the offense together or play the blame game like his wide receiver group did last year? This is another unknown. EB is a good example of a guy who didn't do well at this part of his job.

There are going to be growing pains, even if Chev is a genius and the replacements for last year's lost players are no worse, or even better. I think that's unlikely, especially early, as that group includes a bunch of WR's who are getting cups of coffee in the NFL, and the best RB we've had in a decade. Team chemistry could improve, but we don't know that.

TO recap: Chev is a big question mark, and those assuming he's going to blow Lindgren out of the water immediately are basing their opinions on nothing more than hope. I hope he answers all of my concerns, but it's folly to assume he has all the answers, especially immediately.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

I'm not the one putting unreasonable expectations on a coach, positive or negative. I'm just wondering what the basis is for everyone's confidence. In his time here, Lindgren proved to be a below average P12 coordinator. Or, at least, a guy who could not overcome the limitations of the talent on the team or the limitations placed on him by his HC. That low bar is the best point of evidence for expecting improvement at the OC position this year. The second point is the experience around Chev on this staff, which should help. But there are a lot of red flags as well, including:

1) Chev has never been an OC at anything close to this level (his only experience is a few years ago at juco, and I don't even know if he lit the world on fire there... which suggests he didn't, because CU would be trumpeting that to the rooftops if he had). To restate this: There is no past performance that you can use to predict Chev's performance here. He's a recruiter, and a good one. He has less experience and at a lower level than the last position coach/recruiter we elevated to his position. That didn't turn out well. It turned out, instead, way worse than Lindgren.

2) Chev has talent, experience, or mentality issues at every position but WR.

3) HCMM's coaching identity seems to be the polar opposite of Chev's. He's going to squash Chev hard at times. How the staff and team handle this inevitable friction are unknowns.

4) our defense was shredded last year. Even if it improves, it's unlikely it will continually put the offense in good positions. That's a lot of pressure on the offense to produce.

5) The OC takes the lion's share of the blame for all of the above issues. It's all going to come crashing down on him quick when things go wrong. And this is big boy football - things will go wrong at some point. Maybe for several games in a row. Or more. Will he panic? Will he adapt? Will he hold the offense together or play the blame game like his wide receiver group did last year? This is another unknown. EB is a good example of a guy who didn't do well at this part of his job.

There are going to be growing pains, even if Chev is a genius and the replacements for last year's lost players are no worse, or even better. I think that's unlikely, especially early, as that group includes a bunch of WR's who are getting cups of coffee in the NFL, and the best RB we've had in a decade. Team chemistry could improve, but we don't know that.

TO recap: Chev is a big question mark, and those assuming he's going to blow Lindgren out of the water immediately are basing their opinions on nothing more than hope. I hope he answers all of my concerns, but it's folly to assume he has all the answers, especially immediately.

Good post and I think all of those questions are fair.

 

[Not Sure]

I don’t think the problems we had last year had much to do with play calling.

Our defense was turrible. That put the offense in a bad spot in many games - Arizona is a notable example, as is ASU - both games we could have won easily had the defense not shat itself.

 

[BuffNut99]

EB is still hoarse from 2012.

 

[CUFan]

I put top 25 (because I am really hoping we are going to have a breakout year). Now that may be expecting too much, but if we are going to be running a TTU style offense, then we better be putting up a lot of points, and efficiently.

 

[lvbuff]

I'm excited to watch the Buffs sling it all over the field at a rapid pace especially with a TE and a RB with good hands. Perhaps there will be quite a few mismatches that benefit the offense.

 

[Bread]

Why are you so sure he won't be a better play caller/game planner than Lindgren? Is it really that big of a stretch to think that Lindgren just isn't as good of a coach as Chev and even a first time play caller could be better than he is/was?

Same question can be posed to you. Why are you so sure that he will be a better play caller/game planner than Lindgren? Is it that big of a stretch to think that the guy who coached the most regressed unit last year with regards to returning production/talent might not be the godsend many people here seem to think he is?

Edit: Snow's post was much more comprehensive and well-stated than mine, but would still like to hear your response to my questions above.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

Same question can be posed to you. Why are you so sure that he will be a better play caller/game planner than Lindgren? Is it that big of a stretch to think that the guy who coached the most regressed unit last year with regards to returning production/talent might not be the godsend many people here seem to think he is?

Edit: Snow's post was much more comprehensive and well-stated than mine, but would still like to hear your response to my questions above.

It's not that I think Chev is going to light the conference on fire with his play calling or anything, but more that I just don't believe he's going to have this "fall from grace" because he's never called plays before. My thoughts on the offense making big strides in the scoring department is based more on the personnel than a change at OC. I think Chev is walking into a good situation for his first real OC job, though.

 

[Shldr2Shldr]

How about just saying, "I am expecting an overall improvement from the offense. If nothing else because Chev is an unknown and Lindgren tended to get very predictable and, when he had a lead, ultra conservative."

 

[Duff Man]

I don’t think the problems we had last year had much to do with play calling.

Our defense was turrible. That put the offense in a bad spot in many games - Arizona is a notable example, as is ASU - both games we could have won easily had the defense not shat itself.

ASU was actually mostly on the offense doing absolutely nothing to help a tired defense in the second half. Fourth quarter was horrific offense.

 

[Buffs35]

I don’t think the problems we had last year had much to do with play calling.

Our defense was turrible. That put the offense in a bad spot in many games - Arizona is a notable example, as is ASU - both games we could have won easily had the defense not shat itself.

I can partially agree with this, but I think you could also say the up tempo offense wore out the defense when the Buffs constantly went 3 and out, taking just moments off the game clock. There were so many games last year that we could have kept it close if we committed to running the damn ball and not hiking it within seconds of the last play. I know it's their philosophy, but when you don't execute you just look like an ass and leave the undersized and thin defense exposed.

 

[Buffs35]

ASU was actually mostly on the offense doing absolutely nothing to help a tired defense in the second half. Fourth quarter was horrific offense.

Beat me to it.

 

[Not Sure]

We had a ten point lead in the fourth quarter and wound up losing by 11 points (or numbers in that general area). I have a hard time thinking that was the fault of the offense.

 

[Duff Man]

We had a ten point lead in the fourth quarter and wound up losing by 11 points (or numbers in that general area). I have a hard time thinking that was the fault of the offense.

Go back and look at the drives in the second half. Super short drives and really inefficient.

 

[MtnBuff]

Yep. Here are the offensive other offensive ranks that really matter:

Scoring offense: #64
3rd down conversion %: #67
Red zone offense: #24-tie
Turnovers Lost: #53-tie

When your RZ was Top 25 and your yardage was #37, the scoring being down all the way to #64 points to a serious lack of explosive plays. The 2018 offense needs to find a way to hit more home runs.

The error that people make is thinking that home runs, the big scoring plays are about having a bunch of explosive guys handling the ball. We were last year the perfect example of why that isn't true with a home run capable RB like Lindsay and a group of WRs capable of making big plays including Fields who was a model for a big play guy.

When you look at teams who have a lot of big plays what you usually see is teams with offensive lines that are capable of dominating. Teams that can pass protect for long enough for the big patterns to develop downfield and the QB to relax, take the time for the pattern to open, and to step into his throw thus putting the ball where the WR can take it in stride. You get lines that don't just create holes for a RB but who open gaps giving the back room to turn up field and have space to beat the remaining defenders turning an 8-12 yard gain into a 25+ yard gain

This year we again will have a RB capable of breaking big plays and beating the final defender one on one, we will have WRs who can get downfield to catch the ball and run with it, and we have a QB with the arm to easily make the throws to open spaces. Question is will those guys have the time and space to do it or will the offense be forced to tighten up and shorten up to make the plays in the time and space the line allows.

 

[patebuff]

Offense should be great if giving 110%!!

Simple math is hard!

 

[manhattanbuff]

I can partially agree with this, but I think you could also say the up tempo offense wore out the defense when the Buffs constantly went 3 and out, taking just moments off the game clock. There were so many games last year that we could have kept it close if we committed to running the damn ball and not hiking it within seconds of the last play. I know it's their philosophy, but when you don't execute you just look like an ass and leave the undersized and thin defense exposed.

We ran the ball plenty. We had an RB who led the nation in Rush Attempts. He was the only back who had over 300 rushes last season! Running attempts were not our issue. Having a very inconsistent pass blocking OL along with a QB who was often out of sync with his WR corps were our offensive downfalls last season.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

We ran the ball plenty. We had an RB who led the nation in Rush Attempts. He was the only back who had over 300 rushes last season! Running attempts were not our issue. Having a very inconsistent pass blocking OL along with a QB who was often out of sync with his WR corps were our offensive downfalls last season.

That and predictable play calling.

 

[4BienemyTDs]

I think Chiv will turn out to be a much better play caller than BL and his recruits at WR play lights out for him. If we had great WR play last year we could’ve won 1-3 more games. Missing Taz is the big unknown...how deeply will his absence affect the team.

I say we have roughly the same yds per game but score a lot more

We had potentially better WR play sitting on the bench and guess what, they will all be out on the field this year!!!

RZ plays need to be more creative, with more motion and we need to give these stud WR some jump balls.

Look at the WR height:
Brown = 6-1
Shenault = 6-1
Winfree = 6-3
Ento = 6-3

Put Nixon in fly motion, and whoever has a good one on one matchup needs a nice jump ball.

Also, it would be nice to see what Darrion Jones 6-6 could also do inside the 10 yard line?

 

[hawg1]

We had potentially better WR play sitting on the bench and guess what, they will all be out on the field this year!!!

RZ plays need to be more creative, with more motion and we need to give these stud WR some jump balls.

Look at the WR height:
Brown = 6-1
Shenault = 6-1
Winfree = 6-3
Ento = 6-3

Put Nixon in fly motion, and whoever has a good one on one matchup needs a nice jump ball.

Also, it would be nice to see what Darrion Jones 6-6 could also do inside the 10 yard line?

I’d rather see Bounds.

 

[Buffnik]

We had potentially better WR play sitting on the bench and guess what, they will all be out on the field this year!!!

RZ plays need to be more creative, with more motion and we need to give these stud WR some jump balls.

Look at the WR height:
Brown = 6-1
Shenault = 6-1
Winfree = 6-3
Ento = 6-3

Put Nixon in fly motion, and whoever has a good one on one matchup needs a nice jump ball.

Also, it would be nice to see what Darrion Jones 6-6 could also do inside the 10 yard line?

I think that size along with JayMac always seeming to find wide open holes in the defense should help Montez’s completion % even if his accuracy isn’t any better.

 

[vinniew_11]

I think that size along with JayMac always seeming to find wide open holes in the defense should help Montez’s completion % even if his accuracy isn’t any better.

I don’t think Jay is playing this year. Foot injury.

 

[patebuff]

I am afraid Chev will get pass happy and has this "up tempo" stigma ingrained in him. I have no problem with what he is wanting to do, but you absolutely have to be able to dictate pace with your offense and slow it down if needed. The concerns are valid, especially with an offense that still has lots of holes and unknowns, especially on the oline.

 

[cu3x]

This probably should be elsewhere, but I just like the way this kid looks (and he may have great potential):

http://www.buffzone.com/ci_31859367/palmer-ridge-ol-de-hoping-impress-buffs-others

 

[CULifer]

I think it is a stretch to expect a massive upgrade.

Don't fall into the other ditch, then.
See your likes above.

 

[Buffnik]

I don’t think Jay is playing this year. Foot injury.

He didn't play in the spring but he is expected to be ready. Got his surgery ahead of spring practices.

 

[CULifer]

We had a ten point lead in the fourth quarter and wound up losing by 11 points (or numbers in that general area). I have a hard time thinking that was the fault of the offense.

It was completely the fault of the offense, execution for sure, but also play calling. The playcalling was worse than my 2 year-old just randomly pressing buttons while playing NCAA FB 2014. Honestly, words can't describe the offensive (pun intended) playcalling in the 2nd half of that game.
I know we hashed that out postgame in a collection of a billion post-game posts, but yeah, it was donkey crap on a stick.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

I’d rather see Bounds.

You wouldn't if Jones learns the playbook.

 

[Buffnik]

I’d rather see Bounds.

I love Bounds as the 2nd TE. Jones is going to be a matchup problem who has to see the field. But the guy who I think has all-conference talent as a complete TE is Poplawski. That dude can be special.