This. Even if Gilliam was out of position, he's a true freshman. On a normal Pac-12 roster he redshirts, but in CU's he's probably the best defensive player we have. Unfortunately this is what Baer has to work with right now.
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Is Baer part of the problem?
- Thread starter boydbuff
- Start date
This. Even if Gilliam was out of position, he's a true freshman. On a normal Pac-12 roster he redshirts, but in CU's he's probably the best defensive player we have. Unfortunately this is what Baer has to work with right now.
SECOBuffsFan
Active Member
Statistically the exact same defense. (Giving up only 3.2 less yards/game than last year. 117th in 2012, 115th in 2013)
Eye test....fundamentally...much better technique wise and not out schemed as much as last year. I thought the 2012 defense was a joke in the way they lined up, they way they played their techniques and the way they read their responsibilities. This year that part has been cleaned up a ton. We are in way better positions this year and are losing individual match-ups both in shedding blocks and tackling.
Must get better athletes. Must start to account for the QB in the running game better. That is where the coaching is faulty.
Eye test....fundamentally...much better technique wise and not out schemed as much as last year. I thought the 2012 defense was a joke in the way they lined up, they way they played their techniques and the way they read their responsibilities. This year that part has been cleaned up a ton. We are in way better positions this year and are losing individual match-ups both in shedding blocks and tackling.
Must get better athletes. Must start to account for the QB in the running game better. That is where the coaching is faulty.
That little ****er of a man has destroyed this once proud football program. BB gets an assist for allowing him to keep living off of the teat that is CU
Baer has a three-year contract so he is not going anywhere, but expecting some incremental improvement with the scoring defense is reasonable. Giving up 50 points a game against PAC-12 teams doesn't even give us a shot to be competitive. Hell, forcing a punt in a game is a reasonable expectation too.
Are the players great? Obviously not. But 2014 will mark the first time in a while that the depth chart will feature mostly upperclassmen (and potentially some JUCOs). If Baer can't turn that into a defense that gives up 35 in some games, what's the point?
Are the players great? Obviously not. But 2014 will mark the first time in a while that the depth chart will feature mostly upperclassmen (and potentially some JUCOs). If Baer can't turn that into a defense that gives up 35 in some games, what's the point?
lvbuff
Well-Known Member
boydbuff
Club Member
If this stream has 5 pages of responses with debate on both sides of the question I think the AB community disagrees with you.
In general we have heard the following arguments:
"Pro" Baer
1.) Long track record of crappy recruiting left Baer with a bare cupboard
2.) Expecting a rapid or even partial turnaround in last year's worse defense in the nation would be unreasonable in the first year of a new regime
or
"Against"
1.) Baer has enough to work with despite the flaws on the roster that he should have been able to get some improvement over last year
2.) He certainly bares some of the blame for the pathetic performance on the field especially the UW game
3.) His prior record before coming to CU and his long tenure as a DC suggests that he is not prepared for the innovations in todays offenses especially in the Pac
FlatironsBuff
Well-Known Member
I remember everyone talking about how all the PAC 12 teams are so much better this year..yet we are giving up less yards and keeping the other teams starters in and playing much longer. It sucks as that that is progress, but it actually is progress.
True. I was just hoping CU had enough talent to sneak 1-2 P12 W's and not get blown out on a weekly basis. So far the 22 point loss to UCLA is the best performance yet. That, my friends, is a blowout loss. Maybe CU gets that ever elusive P12 W against the only other P12 team that looks as bad as CU this week. After that, I fully expect U$C and UU to pick up where the rest of the P12 left off.....
Getting blown out by Utah would be a really, really tough way to end the season considering how well we've played against them the past 2 years.
It would, but UU beat the trees, and played All-strippers well this week. They are a team that is doing a good job. They are competitive. CU has only found a way to be everyone's whipping boy. Right now, I think UU wins by14+ points.
A sub BCS program with a decent foundation that is building upon that. Hmmmm
SJSU got worse the first year this staff was there, and then they got better two years in a row. Keep that in mind (I'm having a hard time doing so).
DavisBuff
Club Member
One other reason it is too early to judge Bear is, the current roster is not well suited to play the style of defense his staff wants to play. Even if we recruit the same talent level, 2 and 3 star guys, if they have a better skill set for McIntyre/Baer's system the defense should improve. When McInytre and Baer get their players into the system even if we are not getting 4 and 5 star players we should be better. We get killed by spread offenses. The staff needs time to improve the team speed, even if they give up some size. Look at the types of linebackers they are recruiting. Get better, start to win more and we start to get better talent and better talent that is selected by this staff to play for this staff's system.
If we don't show improvement after the staff has more players in place then it is fair to talk about their deficiencies.
If we don't show improvement after the staff has more players in place then it is fair to talk about their deficiencies.
As I've said it's clear that were better coached and prepared for game day. But you can't make a kid that's slow fast and you can't make an undersized lineman beat an opponent with 20-30 more pounds on him for 60 minutes. That's not Baers fault.
It's a combination of talent, rookie mistakes and coaching.
I see us as having:
upper WAC level talent (Same as SJSU).
Youth and a new system (not what you saw last year with SJSU).
Playing a really tough offensive lineup week in and week out.
I see progress over last year. Instead of us giving up 3 plays for 80 yards, it is taking 10-12 with even some plays where we stop them for no gain.
The biggest talent void on defense is in the pass rush area. Also, Crawley may be fast, but he is no where close to being a starter anywhere else in the PAC12. He makes 5-10 mistakes a game and I called that in the Spring game when he lost his man and then mugged him, taking away a sure TD thrown by..... Dorman.
I see us as having:
upper WAC level talent (Same as SJSU).
Youth and a new system (not what you saw last year with SJSU).
Playing a really tough offensive lineup week in and week out.
I see progress over last year. Instead of us giving up 3 plays for 80 yards, it is taking 10-12 with even some plays where we stop them for no gain.
The biggest talent void on defense is in the pass rush area. Also, Crawley may be fast, but he is no where close to being a starter anywhere else in the PAC12. He makes 5-10 mistakes a game and I called that in the Spring game when he lost his man and then mugged him, taking away a sure TD thrown by..... Dorman.
Really? Upper WAC. TThe WAC is now a non football conference.
But lets look at some of their former members. Do you think we could Fresno State? Boise State? I frankly don't.
STANDINGS CONFERENCE OVERALL
Mountain West - West W-L PF PA W-L PF PA STRK
Fresno State 6-0 245 152 9-0 399 242 W10
San Diego State 4-1 175 159 5-4 257 291 W2
San Jose State 4-2 198 196 5-4 259 273 L1
UNLV 3-3 184 201 5-5 289 338 L2
Nevada 2-5 199 242 3-7 262 369 L5
Hawaii 0-6 148 231 0-9 203 336 L9
Mountain West - Mountain W-L PF PA W-L PF PA STRK
Utah State 5-1 235 110 6-4 359 194 W3
Boise State 4-1 192 131 6-3 341 227 W1
Colorado State 3-2 182 143 5-5 335 304 W1
Wyoming 2-3 170 205 4-5 302 301 L3
New Mexico 1-4 158 211 3-6 306 333 W1
Air Force 0-6 162 267 2-8 262 381 L1
So we're a middle of the road MW team. Great.
DavisBuff
Club Member
Severson and Olgubode would be examples of 2* recruits that will make our defense better. Their size kept their ranking down, but have enough speed to deal with spread offenses and make plays in the open field. They are both 2* players that are getting playing time as true freshman. Give them a year to get stronger and they will contribute to our improvement. I had not heard a thing about either of them until they committed to CU, they certainly were not the big time recruits that I was hoping for, but I bet they will help us win more games in the coming years. As we win more games we will start getting even better players.
FlatironsBuff
Well-Known Member
This conversation brought up a question in my mind. Due to the tougher opponents we have faced.....I wonder how MM feels he could have done with this CU team, if he had had them his first year at SJSU. He only won one game there his first year, and might win 4 here. That said, he probably played up in ONE competition whereas he was able to play down here. I know he won't say, but I wonder if he feels worse or better about his situation here?
Sometimes I think given the level of play, admin support, facilities and big donor support, we belong in the MWC more than the PAC12.
buffalo30
Well-Known Member
Yes.
Walter White
Member
If freaking Kansas State can do it....
When we take our pants off academically its a lot harder than when KSU does it.
boydbuff
Club Member
Baer taking blame for missed tackles in DP, yes it is Henderson but a more balanced article, so I am linking to it.
http://www.denverpost.com/colleges/ci_24506800/cu-buffs-defensive-coordinator-kent-baer-takes-blame
Interestingly, however, Baer is also publicly accepting our major deficiencies on the roster. I don't think HCMM has as he doesn't like to make excuses:
http://www.denverpost.com/colleges/ci_24506800/cu-buffs-defensive-coordinator-kent-baer-takes-blame
Interestingly, however, Baer is also publicly accepting our major deficiencies on the roster. I don't think HCMM has as he doesn't like to make excuses: