Looked a lot better than what I saw over the past half decade.

[MtnBuff]

I'm a little frustrated by some of the comments about Hansen. He's not a world beater; but, he's pretty good, especially when you give him any reasonable amount of time. FYI: three guys in the QB's face after three seconds is not a reasonable amount of time. The O-Line played miserably. They got zero push off of the LOS in the run game and was getting Hansen in trouble in the passing game. Did he hold the ball too long? Yeah, he did so to avoid getting drilled and fumbling in the other team's territory. When there was a true pocket or they ran him on some boots, he was very accurate. The two TDs to P Rich were the kinds of sick throws that we need from him more often.

The D did better than expected, especially given how inexperienced we are at corner. We brought pressure and tackled better as the game went along. The young corners made plays because of the pressure that was coming from all around. I didn't like that we went away from the double a-gap blitzes. Hawaii had no answers for this pressure and we slowed down Moniz's ability to scramble with them as well. Ultimately, Sandersfeld dropping what would've been a pick-six was a big blow to our momentum. Kicking an FG after a big turn-over and a huge gain to get in the RZ was not enough.

In the end, the game was a heartbreak because I thought the O-Line just got punished. Seeing three defenders behind the LOS on a pitch or on a standard off guard run play made for a long day. Then, they gave up and let Hansen get thrown around like a rag doll for more sacks. If they hold up better, the result would've been very different.

PS: Hawaii's o-line were holding like a motherf***er. Hartigan would've gotten even more pressure if they didn't have two-three guys holding him with no recourse.

I think if you read my posts you will see that I pretty much agree with you on Hansen. People are expecting him to play like a senior three year starter. In fact he is a senior but he is also a guy who never got a chance to take the job and make it his without looking over his shoulder every play or being pulled for two minute offense, pulled for goal line, pulled because Hawk felt like lil' Hawk just needed one more chance to be a superstar.

Hansen is not a world beater and I don't think he ever will be but give him some protection and some support from a ground game and I think he can be good enough to win games.

I think the response to Hansen reflects the overall response to the Buffs. People just want to put the last five years behind us and believe again. Problem is that we are still dealing with effects of what happened the past five years both in recruiting and in coaching. We got a new coach, we didn't get a whole new program. I think given the chance Tyler can be an important part of the transition to a new program with better results than we have seen in the past. I just think that we shouldn't expect miracles from him or the rest of the team, this will be a process.

 

[manhattanbuff]

I think if you read my posts you will see that I pretty much agree with you on Hansen. People are expecting him to play like a senior three year starter. In fact he is a senior but he is also a guy who never got a chance to take the job and make it his without looking over his shoulder every play or being pulled for two minute offense, pulled for goal line, pulled because Hawk felt like lil' Hawk just needed one more chance to be a superstar.

Hansen is not a world beater and I don't think he ever will be but give him some protection and some support from a ground game and I think he can be good enough to win games.

I think the response to Hansen reflects the overall response to the Buffs. People just want to put the last five years behind us and believe again. Problem is that we are still dealing with effects of what happened the past five years both in recruiting and in coaching. We got a new coach, we didn't get a whole new program. I think given the chance Tyler can be an important part of the transition to a new program with better results than we have seen in the past. I just think that we shouldn't expect miracles from him or the rest of the team, this will be a process.

When we were searching for a new coaching staff, remember was Mac said about these next couple of years: they will be lean. He was very astute in looking at our program and its level of talent relative to what our staff will expect.

For the first time in years, we have professionals directing the ship. The crew running the ship is largely beaten-down and not very good in many places. We will get better. The O-Line MUST get better in order for us to avoid embarrassment. Once they start blocking people, we'll start seeing Tony Jones and Josh Ford in addition to Speedy.

We are running a brand new scheme on D: a 3-4 base with a lot of looks. The changes we're making are dramatic. It's going to take time. Expect to see a much better product this weekend and again going forward.

 

[MtnBuff]

Far and away the toughest change for the team to make will be mental. To believe they can win and to have the toughness and focus to turn belief into results.

I think we have the right coaches to do it and I believe we have some of the players to make the change, just not enough. It will be a process, not an instant change.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

I think if you read my posts you will see that I pretty much agree with you on Hansen. People are expecting him to play like a senior three year starter. In fact he is a senior but he is also a guy who never got a chance to take the job and make it his without looking over his shoulder every play or being pulled for two minute offense, pulled for goal line, pulled because Hawk felt like lil' Hawk just needed one more chance to be a superstar.

How long are people going to keep on making excuses for Hansen? Some kids never get the opportunity to play QB until their SR year and they take advantage and perform well. Hansen has had plenty of time to get the exp needed to know what he has with this team.

Sure Hawkins screwed the pooch on how he handled this situation, but are we going to bring this up every time Hansen has a bad game?

 

[JimmyBuff]

OL needs to block better for Hansen to have a chance. EB might need to roll him out some more.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

OL needs to block better for Hansen to have a chance. EB might need to roll him out some more.

Absolutely, but a SR QB should know when to throw the ball away as well. SOME of those plays he tried to do too much and ended up costing us.

 

[MtnBuff]

How long are people going to keep on making excuses for Hansen? Some kids never get the opportunity to play QB until their SR year and they take advantage and perform well. Hansen has had plenty of time to get the exp needed to know what he has with this team.

Sure Hawkins screwed the pooch on how he handled this situation, but are we going to bring this up every time Hansen has a bad game?

Not saying that Hansen did well or will be great. At the same time he has been around for three years but the quality of the coaching he has gotten over the three years is questionable at best. When you have a coach who wants you to fail it's hard to move forward. Hansen isn't a great QB and he didn't have a great or even good game but he is the best we have right now and I would like to see him get a chance to play to his ability.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

Not saying that Hansen did well or will be great. At the same time he has been around for three years but the quality of the coaching he has gotten over the three years is questionable at best. When you have a coach who wants you to fail it's hard to move forward. Hansen isn't a great QB and he didn't have a great or even good game but he is the best we have right now and I would like to see him get a chance to play to his ability.

Can't argue with you on that. He got a pretty rotten deal here at CU.

 

[Unleash Hell]

O-line is to blame

 

[BuffLuke80]

To me, it looks like Tyler's head is swimming. He's thinking too damn much. Id like to see us move the pocket a little more this week to help him get settled in. I still dont think he's getting enough depth on his drops either. I watched the game twice so far and I counted at least 2 times he never even finished his drop before his feet were all over the place. That was with hardly any pressure. Our qb coach has been around the block a few million times so that'll get fixed as we go.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

To me, it looks like Tyler's head is swimming. He's thinking too damn much. Id like to see us move the pocket a little more this week to help him get settled in. I still dont think he's getting enough depth on his drops either. I watched the game twice so far and I counted at least 2 times he never even finished his drop before his feet were all over the place. That was with hardly any pressure. Our qb coach has been around the block a few million times so that'll get fixed as we go.

Yep. This is why I won't go as far to count Tyler out. I think he has the right people around him now, he just needs to settle down.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

O-line is to blame

Don't forget to blame Hawkins. :lol:

 

[dio]

Hansen looked overwhelemed. I would have liked EB to take some pressure off of him in the second half by simplifying the action for Tyler. He is a guy who makes plays on the move. When the Warrior dline was teeing off, EB should have had short one read then run plays in to keep the d honest.

 

[Darian3Hagan]

Embo needs to get the Plummer playbook from Shanahan.

 

[CUFan]

Hansen looked overwhelemed. I would have liked EB to take some pressure off of him in the second half by simplifying the action for Tyler. He is a guy who makes plays on the move. When the Warrior dline was teeing off, EB should have had short one read then run plays in to keep the d honest.

I agree with this concept and would like to see it more in the future. However, we didn't stretch the field much in that game. I think he may have gotten Hansen killed with this strategy as it sure seemed like Hawaii's defense was all over the line of scrimmage.

 

[BuffNut99]

First football-related post since the loss. Some thoughts:

-This team has alot of immediate upside if they can get some confidence going. Senior leadership should not be underrated if we can get some momentum.
-The O-Line was a real problem, but we've seen O-Line become dominant over the course of a season before. In 2001, we did not start out road-grading people, we ended up that way.
-We got more pressure on the QB than we have in any game in SEVERAL years. It was not a fluke, not a product of our opponent, it was a product of our on-field talent and scheming. We will win games that we wouldn't/couldn't/shouldn't because of our pass rush.

On a side, not sure if was mentioned before, but did any one else do any lip reading when Embo was yelling at Kennedy in the (I believe) 2nd Q? Looked to me like he threatened to fire Kennedy on the spot.

 

[azbuff]

I would be interested in any insight into the Kennedy convo as well. The only positives I take from the game are the new defensive scheme, Prich and the punter. Other than that, I feel like I was just cut off from drinking vodka spiked Kool-Aid for the last six months. Helluva hangover.