Our Buffaloes kick off a new football season in just a couple weeks with a Friday night home game.
Let's go!!!
All the haters out there are predicting doom. You know who you are -- media members, CU fans, fans of other teams, casual observers, oddsmakers. All haters! But I'm here to keep it real by blowing some serious sunshine up your asses.
And to keep it extra real, I've asked my good friend Iron Mike to weigh in with his own hot takes on all the keys to this season.
Say "Hi" to your fans, Mike.
Cool. Great to have you here, Mike. This is a really big deal for AllBuffs and the diehard Buffs fans. Really appreciate it.
The first topic I want to cover is Karl Dorrell, how he's grossly underrated, and why he's going to crush it in 2022.
All the haters are going to point to a guy who was on no program's radar for a HC job, hadn't been a HC since he got fired at UCLA in 2007, hadn't been in the college game since then except for an unfortunate 2014 as Vanderbilt's OC, followed up a 4-2 abbreviated Covid year with a 4-8 2021, and seemed to be hired on the criteria of, "Hey, remember Karl? I think he's in town to build his retirement home. No way he'd bail for a different job if we hired him."
But what the haters don't see is that KD went 35-27 in his 5 years at UCLA, including a 10-win season in Year 3. This is his Year 3 at CU. He's navigated through a team that was seeing its 3rd HC in 3 years, a short window to hire a staff and install systems, and then all the disruptions with Covid that messed with practices and in-person recruiting. It's not until this year that he has a coaching staff all hired by him, the offensive and defensive systems he wants, and the team culture established. 2022 is when KD begins turning this program around, but given the circumstances it's probably 2023 to look toward when you consider circumstances delayed the rebuild. Remember, it wasn't until Year 4 when Bill McCartney started winning but it looks like KD is a bit ahead of schedule.
Mike?
OK, then. Moving on. Let's take a look at the defense that's going to lead our 2022 Buffs to glory.
Chris Wilson's in his 2nd season as DC and now has the players he needs to convert from a 3-4 to his preferred 4-3 base defense.
On the DL, he's got a 4-man rotation of upperclassmen at Tackle along with 3 freshmen adding more depth. Sami and Rodman are returning starters who can eat up blockers and move the LOS. Seniors Jackson & Jordan add some senior beef and will work in without dropoff to keep this unit fresh and aggressive. Behind them, we've got 3 freshmen led by Austin (redshirted last year) pushing the 2-deep to perform. I'm sure some haters are going to try to point out that Mustafa is gone after being our best penetrator on the DL for 2 years and that he regressed with Wilson coaching him, but that's just ignorant.
At DE/OLB (OLB because we'll still be able to mix things up with some 3-4 to confuse offenses), he's got 4 seniors along with a couple sophomores and 5 freshmen who will be pushing the top group for playing time. Lang is a pure DE poised for his breakout season before playing on Sundays in 2023. Guy Thomas rushing from the other side is a former 4* who was second on the team in sacks last year despite missing half the season with a foot injury. 2022 will see him bringing the heat Jimmie Gilbert style. Gustav and a grad transfer in Main (Incarnate Ward), give this group a lot of flexibility and depth along with 5 underclassmen. Haters gonna talk about losing Wells and that being pretty much our only outside pressure the past 2 seasons, but they're being negative just to be negative.
This is easily the best Front 4 (starters + depth) since 2016.
With the ILBs, we've got a couple grad transfers with Barnes (Oklahoma) and Chandler-Semedo (West Virginia) joining Perry for the 3 seniors along with a couple heralded sophomores in Ham and Hurtado. But the returning underclassman to watch might be freshman Mister Williams, a solid 250 lbs who can motor. Also, look out for freshman Eoghan Kerry. Don't listen to those haters who are going to roll out the tired argument about how the defense has been an embarrassment to the game of football the past 2 years when Landman wasn't on the field.
This is probably a better Front 7 (starters + depth) than 2016.
Which brings us to the secondary. At the Safety spot, Lewis has played about 1,000 snaps and will quarterback this defense. The likely battery mate is Woods, who flashed last year especially as a special teams ace. Joining them are Mack (JUCO transfer), who was fourth in the JC ranks last year in interceptions, along with Stryker in the Junior class and Taylor a RS-Frosh. The newcomer turning heads seems to be Dixson and might force his way onto the field. Also, don't sleep on Lyle as a Senior walk-on who will likely earn a scholarship this camp and be in the mix. There is high quality depth at Safety with some potential stars pushing the starters. I don't even want to hear from the haters on this one about Perry transferring to TCU from a group that was a liability last year.
Then there's Cornerback. I'm just gonna stop the haters right here. Both starters transferred, blah, blah, blah. Gonzalez (Oregon) and Blackmon (USC) are considered top 10 transfer gets in the conference. Whatever. The coach who developed them, Demetrice Martin, also left for Oregon. Not a problem, haters. As always, you're focusing on the wrong things. Bethel (Jr) and Reed (So) are the same age the starters were last year, so our Buffs did not get younger at CB. Two Sophomores with NFL pedigree in Moore and Pittman provide strong depth pushing the starters. Further depth comes from 3 freshman making noise in camp, with Wiggins the guy who could push himself to the top of the depth chart.
Secondary may not be at 2016 levels (starters + depth), but it has an opportunity to be the best one since.
So with a defense that's full of experience, depth and upside potential, we can turn to an offense that is going to shock the world.
There's no way to sugarcoat what happened on offense last season. The OL couldn't block anyone. The QB couldn't get anything downfield. And the playmakers weren't given a chance to make plays because defenses could press and cheat. Now with Sanford at OC, only 40 years old - which is crazy with his resume. From Stanford to Boise State to Notre Dame to his first HC job at only 35, then rebuilding as an OC where he had winning teams at both Utah State and Minnesota before coming to CU for this season. With that, the entire rest of the offensive staff other than Hagan was changed with significant upgrades. The haters are gonna try to sell you on the difficulty of changing systems, departing talent, and that even if there's monumental improvement from 2021 that would only mean that an offense which was so bad it had CU fans cheering for crossing midfield just went from historically sh*tty to regular sh*tty. Don't buy it.
You with me, Mike?
For a position review, we'll start in the backfield. Lewis returns at QB after starting every game last season. Shrout got hurt in camp last year, is 100% healthy this year, and was likely going to be the starter in 2021. Carter returns after getting his feet wet last year and adds great change-of-pace athleticism. Then there are the new additions in RS-Frosh Kopp, a transfer from Houston, and true frosh McCown a guy who is already turning heads as someone who looks like he can play on Sundays like his dad. CU hasn't had quarterback depth like this in over a decade. And the haters can shut the fvck up about how bad QB play was last year.
At RB, haters gonna point to Broussard leaving for Michigan State, Clayton to Tulane and Davis to Southern Utah. They're going to try to say that CU wouldn't have been going after Ramon Jefferson (FCS All-American) if there wasn't a desperate need and that having him flip to Kentucky was a kick to the crotch. Here's what they're missing, though: guys recover from injuries and the true talent in the RB room is going to shine. Alex Fontenot was the RB who carried the Buffs to a punishing run game in 2019 before injuries sidelined him and then slowed him. He's back to his old self on agility and acceleration with more experience and strength. Then, there's Deion Smith who is fully healthy, provides a serious home run threat, and has added the bulk he needed to handle high volume. Behind them are a couple freshmen, with Venn the game breaker to look out for this year. And don't forget about Stacks for short yardage carries and power sets. DO NOT SLEEP on RS-Frosh walk-on Charlie Offerdahl.
Backfield has every chance to be one of the more solid groups in the conference this year.
Mike, you feeling this?
We'll now turn to the receivers: TE and WR. TE is the easy one to talk about. Russell is a pedigree guy who has excellent speed for the position to go with amazing football IQ. Complete TE who makes plays in the passing game and also provides great blocking. Primary backup is RS-Frosh Olsen along with Fauria also in that class providing depth. Newcomer who could break out due to his receiving skills and athleticism (16 ppg in hoops and an 11.01 100M in track) is Austin Smith. Any hater who tries to tell you our TE group is a former walk-on plus 5 freshmen who haven't done a thing yet is not paying attention.
Wide Receiver is where the haters love to whine about losing Rice, Shenault, Stanley and Carpenter to transfer. But if you look at the stats, they didn't do much of anything in 2021 and, really, they had to make room for a group of 4 seniors led by soon-to-be-star Daniel Arias, a top transfer in Sneed (Baylor), and two open field nightmares in Bell and Jackson. But even with all that, the guy who could emerge as the top option is Montana Lemonius-Craig (Sophomore) with fellow Sophs Penry and Robinson providing high quality depth. Joining them are 3 promising true Freshmen with Jordyn Tyson the newcomer who might not be able to be kept off the field despite the depth.
This offense is absolutely full of receiving weapons (starters + depth). Buffs are going to tear apart secondaries.
Amirite, Mike?
Final group is the Offensive Line, plus a shout out to the Specialists. Starting with the Specialists, it's a young group that's about as talented as we've seen at CU. Becker is a clutch Sophomore kicker with a strong leg entering his sophomore year, Bedell (So) gives us an extremely reliable Snapper who is a much better blocker than most at that position, and the true Freshman punter, Logan, absolutely launches the ball. Haters got nothing here except complaints that they didn't hear "ambi-kicker". Suck it.
Turning to the OL, we're looking at the key to making all of the potential a reality on offense for CU this year. Returning starters at both Tackles with LT Wiley (So) and RT Fillip (Jr). Returning starter at RG with a Roddick (Jr) who is in the best shape of his life and looks like he's going to have a breakout season. LG should see Alabama grad transfer Brown (Jr), who got a start last year and was in the rotation the past couple seasons. Then at C we've got a position battle between Johnson (So) who could also factor in at Guard vs Fenske (So) who transferred from Iowa. Depth includes Eckhart (Fr), a transfer from Arizona, along with Harkey (So), a JUCO transfer, and Lichtenhan (So), a developmental player who will be a first-guy-off-the-bus monster. One newcomer to watch who could rise quickly is C Van Wells (Fr). The newcomer who might be forcing his way onto the field this year is early enrollee Travis Gray (Fr) from Cherokee Trail. Starters have improved, depth has grown, health is better, and another year in Turley's S&C program. Plus, you can't underestimate the upgrade in coaching with DeVan instead of that Cajun blocking sled salesman we had last year along with Sanders running a very OL-friendly offense. Now, haters are going to talk about how bad this unit was last year and it being way too young for not being all that talented plus having several guys who played last year leave. They'll be eating so much crow.
CU will be winning games in the trenches and, with excellent special teams, controlling field position while avoiding empty drives.
Mike, you gotta be with me on this one.
Easy, Mike. It is what it is. Don't believe the haters trying to convince you that the team is probably worse than last year, plays a more difficult schedule, has issues in every position group, has a second-rate HC with castoffs as Coordinators, is an underdog in every game, and might not see a victory in 2022. Try not to hear the haters saying that the only time a HC talks this much about freshmen is when he knows the team is going to suck but he's trying to save his job by getting people excited about the future. It's just noise. You hate hearing noise. You bite ears off, for crissake! So, get on board the Buffalo train. The "Return to Dominance" was inevitable and it's about to arrive. 2022 may not see the Rise all the way to the top, but it's all there to win a conference championship this season. More wins than losses while being competitive every week is something you can bank on.
Prediction: 7-5 (because I want to keep this conservative)
Let's go!!!
All the haters out there are predicting doom. You know who you are -- media members, CU fans, fans of other teams, casual observers, oddsmakers. All haters! But I'm here to keep it real by blowing some serious sunshine up your asses.
And to keep it extra real, I've asked my good friend Iron Mike to weigh in with his own hot takes on all the keys to this season.
Say "Hi" to your fans, Mike.
Cool. Great to have you here, Mike. This is a really big deal for AllBuffs and the diehard Buffs fans. Really appreciate it.
The first topic I want to cover is Karl Dorrell, how he's grossly underrated, and why he's going to crush it in 2022.
All the haters are going to point to a guy who was on no program's radar for a HC job, hadn't been a HC since he got fired at UCLA in 2007, hadn't been in the college game since then except for an unfortunate 2014 as Vanderbilt's OC, followed up a 4-2 abbreviated Covid year with a 4-8 2021, and seemed to be hired on the criteria of, "Hey, remember Karl? I think he's in town to build his retirement home. No way he'd bail for a different job if we hired him."
But what the haters don't see is that KD went 35-27 in his 5 years at UCLA, including a 10-win season in Year 3. This is his Year 3 at CU. He's navigated through a team that was seeing its 3rd HC in 3 years, a short window to hire a staff and install systems, and then all the disruptions with Covid that messed with practices and in-person recruiting. It's not until this year that he has a coaching staff all hired by him, the offensive and defensive systems he wants, and the team culture established. 2022 is when KD begins turning this program around, but given the circumstances it's probably 2023 to look toward when you consider circumstances delayed the rebuild. Remember, it wasn't until Year 4 when Bill McCartney started winning but it looks like KD is a bit ahead of schedule.
Mike?
OK, then. Moving on. Let's take a look at the defense that's going to lead our 2022 Buffs to glory.
Chris Wilson's in his 2nd season as DC and now has the players he needs to convert from a 3-4 to his preferred 4-3 base defense.
On the DL, he's got a 4-man rotation of upperclassmen at Tackle along with 3 freshmen adding more depth. Sami and Rodman are returning starters who can eat up blockers and move the LOS. Seniors Jackson & Jordan add some senior beef and will work in without dropoff to keep this unit fresh and aggressive. Behind them, we've got 3 freshmen led by Austin (redshirted last year) pushing the 2-deep to perform. I'm sure some haters are going to try to point out that Mustafa is gone after being our best penetrator on the DL for 2 years and that he regressed with Wilson coaching him, but that's just ignorant.
At DE/OLB (OLB because we'll still be able to mix things up with some 3-4 to confuse offenses), he's got 4 seniors along with a couple sophomores and 5 freshmen who will be pushing the top group for playing time. Lang is a pure DE poised for his breakout season before playing on Sundays in 2023. Guy Thomas rushing from the other side is a former 4* who was second on the team in sacks last year despite missing half the season with a foot injury. 2022 will see him bringing the heat Jimmie Gilbert style. Gustav and a grad transfer in Main (Incarnate Ward), give this group a lot of flexibility and depth along with 5 underclassmen. Haters gonna talk about losing Wells and that being pretty much our only outside pressure the past 2 seasons, but they're being negative just to be negative.
This is easily the best Front 4 (starters + depth) since 2016.
With the ILBs, we've got a couple grad transfers with Barnes (Oklahoma) and Chandler-Semedo (West Virginia) joining Perry for the 3 seniors along with a couple heralded sophomores in Ham and Hurtado. But the returning underclassman to watch might be freshman Mister Williams, a solid 250 lbs who can motor. Also, look out for freshman Eoghan Kerry. Don't listen to those haters who are going to roll out the tired argument about how the defense has been an embarrassment to the game of football the past 2 years when Landman wasn't on the field.
This is probably a better Front 7 (starters + depth) than 2016.
Which brings us to the secondary. At the Safety spot, Lewis has played about 1,000 snaps and will quarterback this defense. The likely battery mate is Woods, who flashed last year especially as a special teams ace. Joining them are Mack (JUCO transfer), who was fourth in the JC ranks last year in interceptions, along with Stryker in the Junior class and Taylor a RS-Frosh. The newcomer turning heads seems to be Dixson and might force his way onto the field. Also, don't sleep on Lyle as a Senior walk-on who will likely earn a scholarship this camp and be in the mix. There is high quality depth at Safety with some potential stars pushing the starters. I don't even want to hear from the haters on this one about Perry transferring to TCU from a group that was a liability last year.
Then there's Cornerback. I'm just gonna stop the haters right here. Both starters transferred, blah, blah, blah. Gonzalez (Oregon) and Blackmon (USC) are considered top 10 transfer gets in the conference. Whatever. The coach who developed them, Demetrice Martin, also left for Oregon. Not a problem, haters. As always, you're focusing on the wrong things. Bethel (Jr) and Reed (So) are the same age the starters were last year, so our Buffs did not get younger at CB. Two Sophomores with NFL pedigree in Moore and Pittman provide strong depth pushing the starters. Further depth comes from 3 freshman making noise in camp, with Wiggins the guy who could push himself to the top of the depth chart.
Secondary may not be at 2016 levels (starters + depth), but it has an opportunity to be the best one since.
So with a defense that's full of experience, depth and upside potential, we can turn to an offense that is going to shock the world.
There's no way to sugarcoat what happened on offense last season. The OL couldn't block anyone. The QB couldn't get anything downfield. And the playmakers weren't given a chance to make plays because defenses could press and cheat. Now with Sanford at OC, only 40 years old - which is crazy with his resume. From Stanford to Boise State to Notre Dame to his first HC job at only 35, then rebuilding as an OC where he had winning teams at both Utah State and Minnesota before coming to CU for this season. With that, the entire rest of the offensive staff other than Hagan was changed with significant upgrades. The haters are gonna try to sell you on the difficulty of changing systems, departing talent, and that even if there's monumental improvement from 2021 that would only mean that an offense which was so bad it had CU fans cheering for crossing midfield just went from historically sh*tty to regular sh*tty. Don't buy it.
You with me, Mike?
For a position review, we'll start in the backfield. Lewis returns at QB after starting every game last season. Shrout got hurt in camp last year, is 100% healthy this year, and was likely going to be the starter in 2021. Carter returns after getting his feet wet last year and adds great change-of-pace athleticism. Then there are the new additions in RS-Frosh Kopp, a transfer from Houston, and true frosh McCown a guy who is already turning heads as someone who looks like he can play on Sundays like his dad. CU hasn't had quarterback depth like this in over a decade. And the haters can shut the fvck up about how bad QB play was last year.
At RB, haters gonna point to Broussard leaving for Michigan State, Clayton to Tulane and Davis to Southern Utah. They're going to try to say that CU wouldn't have been going after Ramon Jefferson (FCS All-American) if there wasn't a desperate need and that having him flip to Kentucky was a kick to the crotch. Here's what they're missing, though: guys recover from injuries and the true talent in the RB room is going to shine. Alex Fontenot was the RB who carried the Buffs to a punishing run game in 2019 before injuries sidelined him and then slowed him. He's back to his old self on agility and acceleration with more experience and strength. Then, there's Deion Smith who is fully healthy, provides a serious home run threat, and has added the bulk he needed to handle high volume. Behind them are a couple freshmen, with Venn the game breaker to look out for this year. And don't forget about Stacks for short yardage carries and power sets. DO NOT SLEEP on RS-Frosh walk-on Charlie Offerdahl.
Backfield has every chance to be one of the more solid groups in the conference this year.
Mike, you feeling this?
We'll now turn to the receivers: TE and WR. TE is the easy one to talk about. Russell is a pedigree guy who has excellent speed for the position to go with amazing football IQ. Complete TE who makes plays in the passing game and also provides great blocking. Primary backup is RS-Frosh Olsen along with Fauria also in that class providing depth. Newcomer who could break out due to his receiving skills and athleticism (16 ppg in hoops and an 11.01 100M in track) is Austin Smith. Any hater who tries to tell you our TE group is a former walk-on plus 5 freshmen who haven't done a thing yet is not paying attention.
Wide Receiver is where the haters love to whine about losing Rice, Shenault, Stanley and Carpenter to transfer. But if you look at the stats, they didn't do much of anything in 2021 and, really, they had to make room for a group of 4 seniors led by soon-to-be-star Daniel Arias, a top transfer in Sneed (Baylor), and two open field nightmares in Bell and Jackson. But even with all that, the guy who could emerge as the top option is Montana Lemonius-Craig (Sophomore) with fellow Sophs Penry and Robinson providing high quality depth. Joining them are 3 promising true Freshmen with Jordyn Tyson the newcomer who might not be able to be kept off the field despite the depth.
This offense is absolutely full of receiving weapons (starters + depth). Buffs are going to tear apart secondaries.
Amirite, Mike?
Final group is the Offensive Line, plus a shout out to the Specialists. Starting with the Specialists, it's a young group that's about as talented as we've seen at CU. Becker is a clutch Sophomore kicker with a strong leg entering his sophomore year, Bedell (So) gives us an extremely reliable Snapper who is a much better blocker than most at that position, and the true Freshman punter, Logan, absolutely launches the ball. Haters got nothing here except complaints that they didn't hear "ambi-kicker". Suck it.
Turning to the OL, we're looking at the key to making all of the potential a reality on offense for CU this year. Returning starters at both Tackles with LT Wiley (So) and RT Fillip (Jr). Returning starter at RG with a Roddick (Jr) who is in the best shape of his life and looks like he's going to have a breakout season. LG should see Alabama grad transfer Brown (Jr), who got a start last year and was in the rotation the past couple seasons. Then at C we've got a position battle between Johnson (So) who could also factor in at Guard vs Fenske (So) who transferred from Iowa. Depth includes Eckhart (Fr), a transfer from Arizona, along with Harkey (So), a JUCO transfer, and Lichtenhan (So), a developmental player who will be a first-guy-off-the-bus monster. One newcomer to watch who could rise quickly is C Van Wells (Fr). The newcomer who might be forcing his way onto the field this year is early enrollee Travis Gray (Fr) from Cherokee Trail. Starters have improved, depth has grown, health is better, and another year in Turley's S&C program. Plus, you can't underestimate the upgrade in coaching with DeVan instead of that Cajun blocking sled salesman we had last year along with Sanders running a very OL-friendly offense. Now, haters are going to talk about how bad this unit was last year and it being way too young for not being all that talented plus having several guys who played last year leave. They'll be eating so much crow.
CU will be winning games in the trenches and, with excellent special teams, controlling field position while avoiding empty drives.
Mike, you gotta be with me on this one.
Easy, Mike. It is what it is. Don't believe the haters trying to convince you that the team is probably worse than last year, plays a more difficult schedule, has issues in every position group, has a second-rate HC with castoffs as Coordinators, is an underdog in every game, and might not see a victory in 2022. Try not to hear the haters saying that the only time a HC talks this much about freshmen is when he knows the team is going to suck but he's trying to save his job by getting people excited about the future. It's just noise. You hate hearing noise. You bite ears off, for crissake! So, get on board the Buffalo train. The "Return to Dominance" was inevitable and it's about to arrive. 2022 may not see the Rise all the way to the top, but it's all there to win a conference championship this season. More wins than losses while being competitive every week is something you can bank on.
Prediction: 7-5 (because I want to keep this conservative)
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