2025 Outlook (Bye Week mental masturbation)

[cnbuff410]

I'm struggling to see why people think UA is a good team. They are not and have not shown anything

Which game after that do you think is harder than these two? Unless Cam Rising comes back, I don't see any other game harder than those two.

 

[Medford M.]

Which game after that do you think is harder than these two? Unless Cam Rising comes back, I don't see any other game harder than those two.

I've seen and continue to see Arizona as a game we should win. They are worse than last year, and we should have beaten them last year.

Oklahoma State is still much better than them. I'd be more worried about Texas Tech, and Utah as well.

 

[Jello Bear]

I'm struggling to see why people think UA is a good team. They are not and have not shown anything

Beating Utah at Eccles has my attention and my respect. Even with a backup QB, that team has talent and it's a feat we weren't able to do since 2011

 

[Robert Sorell]

Having a good season over 8 wins, and not having our coaching staff completely picked over would be great. Also, not ending the season with multiple losses...

If the defense continues to progress continues and BL stays, seasons 2-3 in the same defensive scheme could have CU turning the corner for a long run. Same with Shurmer, if he is consistent and building something the continuity of that staff would help too. The offense will be different with a new QB. I think they can change one coordinator fine, but not another season with 2 new coordinators and multiple new assistants.

I'm not all the worried about Prime recruiting DBs to come here even with Hunter, Hodge, KSC, and Shilo leaving. It seems we get an influx of interest and talent at this position group. Breedlove is the #1N for Purdue. I did not think O. Cooper or Milner-Jones were bad players (they had some good moments), however they were just portaled/recruited over. I can't place the name, but the S who transferred from Utah Tech started and graduated last year was pretty good too.

Livingston doesn't have a commitment to a scheme or system. He's gong to evaluate his talent and play to those strengths.

 

[GRM]

I'm struggling to see why people think UA is a good team. They are not and have not shown anything

I agree with you. I can see UoA going either way. Their OOC games were not good opponents, and they did not play great. KSU ran it up on them 10 days ago dominating in all three phases. I'm shocked they got off the canvas and beat UU (serious QB issues), but they beat UU on the road, which has not occurred very often in the past 10 years.

QB Fifita (True-Soph) is a short but a talented qb (he was great last year), however his stats are a bit down so far this year. With any QB, I feel when a good D staffs get enough film on a certain qb, they can pick-up tendencies and find to stuff to exploit. Certainly, Fifita is a gamer (I think a So-Cal [Servite] legend of sorts), however he is not really a runner. This can help CU if the Dline does its part and also brings pressure. That said, WR McMillan is a total beast. No offense to TH or the other CU receivers, but barring injuries or the team falling apart McMillan will probably be the 1 of 2 on the B12 1st team, and maybe a top 15 in the NFL draft, if eligible. McMillan has great mix of large size, speed, routes and hands. Fifita can find him, like SS does with TH, same sort of chemistry.

No matter how KSU goes, I like CU's match up against UoA since they can bracket McMillan (of S over the top) and hopefully make the others beat them. Their running game has been better than CUs, but very spotty too--so that may be a wash come game time. If the Dline and LBs contain the running game, CU could make things tough on UoA throwing to win. I hope this is where the improved CU D/depth comes into play.

Overall, the really media liked UoA since they won so many consecutive games coming into the season (Lincoln Riley could be fired already if USC did not beat UoA in overtime) then UoA ran the board. They had the nation's longest Div1 win streak until beat by KSU. I do think the media discounted Fisch bolting to Washington with basically all their staff and a bunch of quality players + UoA losing more players to other teams in the TP. Brennen is a good coach (from MWC), but they did not backfilll the losses with a ton of experienced Div1 transfers and did not equal the # of guys lost either. I sort of see their TP pickups similar (not as extreme as Prime) to last year's CU TP haul, but with less players to fill the roster. With Brennen coming in later with a MWC staff, I think it was tough for them to have real traction in the portal, as they had to ger their staff in place, evalute the guys that returned, evaluate the portal and then make moves. That said, a bunch of good players outright rejected Fisch leaving, collectively staying which has to boost their morale. I like playing them week 7 if they are somewhat banged up and do not have CU's depth.

For their starters, they are formidable and have some other great players. Tacario Davis will be All B-12 (1st or 2nd team), and a few of their DLine and OL will be in the mix too, maybe for B-12 and/or a sniff at the NFL. It is always tough to win on the road and presuming CU beats KSU, it will be UoA biggest home game, so UoA should be up, and CU will have to bring the intensity, consistency and make plays. I think this is a game for CU's taking.

 

[GRM]

Which game after that do you think is harder than these two? Unless Cam Rising comes back, I don't see any other game harder than those two.

I think UU is always a tough nut to crack. They will play physical, have a good defense, they will have depth (maybe not at QB) and are extremely well coached. We have to see what UU's look like when we face them. Although we have had early season wins both this year and last, outside of UCF, perhaps CU's best overall effort may have been @UU last year. We surprised some teams early last season. We played UU physical in a game where we could have been steamrolled. With new or unseen QBs, I have been to too many CU games where a mystery QB somehow puts on a Superman cape.

 

[Bread]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1841498294674989518

 

[Darth Snow]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1841498294674989518

Wtf

 

[Buffnik]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1841498294674989518

I appreciate the confidence, but I don't think Bama is good enough to get to the championship game.

 

[cnbuff410]

Some of the "Colorado fans" are really annoying and stupid.

 

[ahoelsken]

Here's the link to the roster: https://static.cubuffs.com/custompages/football/2024/roster.pdf

Here's the link to recruiting: https://247sports.com/college/colorado/Season/2025-Football/Commits/

What we expect back:

QB: backups (need a top prep and a good transfer). We haven't seen anything that instills confidence if the 2025 starter is anyone currently on the roster.

RB: Hayden & Augustave are sophomores and Welch is a freshman. This looks like a team strength next year.

WR: losing a ton (Travis, Horn, Wester, Sheppard), but there's talent waiting for its turn with O Miller, D Miller, Timmons, Mikell and several talented other guys who haven't gotten an opportunity. Probably need an impact transfer here, but it's a solid group of playmakers even without that.

TE: Smalls returns, which makes me pretty comfortable. He's getting better each week and is a plus blocker for the position right now while getting some involvement in the pass game. Recruiting commitment here already and a transfer with 2+ years of eligibility would be very useful.

OL: Seaton, Benson, Houston & Zilinskas all come back along with some developing depth and what looks to be shaping up as an excellent recruiting class. 5* prep is possible. Adding a good transfer could make this one of the best OLs in the Big 12.

Right now, I think we're set up to be a physical running team that won't have to rely on a QB covering deficiencies to be an effective offense. We'll be a very different team on O, but potentially a lot more consistent and balanced.

S: losing Shilo & CSC, which is a huge hit. Stoutmire and some developing depth come back and we've got good recruiting here. One really good transfer would make this a very good position group.

CB: you can't replace Travis and Hodge is also a huge loss. McKinney might be an all-conference level guy coming back. After that, it's developing underclassmen with talent but not much proven. I'd expect a transfer or two here.

ILB: NHG & Bentley both gone. Not sure if we've got any guys behind who would be plus starters next year, so this has got to be priority #2 after QB.

DT: Cokes & Nwanko are major losses, but there's a lot coming back with McNeill, Barnes, Thomas, etc. Recruiting and portal important here, but has the makings of a very good group.

DE: losing Green & Hayes, but I think we've got a lot of reason to be excited about Okunlola, McCoy, Wade, Walker & Davis-Swain. Keep recruiting, but should feel confident about this group.

I think the defense could be pretty special with a few transfer additions as long as they can get ILB figured out. The biggest key is probably not getting Livingston poached away.

Kicker: Mata might have turned a corner and he has 1 more year.

Punter: need one.

Returners: need them.

This is a work in process. With the composition of the 2025 team, we are going to need to win special teams. This has got to be a priority.

...................................

In short, I think that we'll be much deeper and that we'll be better at just about all positions. But you don't simply replace guys like Travis and Shedeur. We'll need everything else to be significantly better to be as good without those guys. There's definitely a realistic path, though.

Three OOC home games helps next year too!

 

[Townie]

Some of the "Colorado fans" are really annoying and stupid.

Why?

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

Wtf

 

[Burrito]

Why?

I don't know why you're annoying and stupid you just are

 

[Townie]

I don't know why you're annoying and stupid you just are