Opening camp: Colorado

[RSSBot]

Schedule: Practice starts today

What’s new: Not the coach. Dan Hawkins will try to turn the Buffaloes in the right direction in Year 5, with four losing seasons and just one bowl game behind him.

Key battle: Quarterback. Tyler Hansen looked like he had taken full control of the job late last season, but Hawkins opened the competition in the spring and insists he'll do the same this fall. Hansen is the safe bet to start, but Hawkins' comments make it obvious that he's no guarantee to beat out Cody Hawkins.

New on the scene: Receiver Travon Patterson. A 5-foot-9, 175-pound transfer from USC, Patterson caught 10 passes for 96 yards in 33 games at Southern Cal. He should be a factor in the passing game alongside Scotty McKnight.

Breaking out: Receiver Toney Clemons. An obvious choice, perhaps, but a necessary one. Clemons, the preseason Newcomer of the Year, transferred to Colorado from Michigan and made a big impact this spring on his teammates, who made him the first overall pick of the draft for teams before the spring game.

Don’t forget about: Colorado's talent on the offensive line. They have two of the best linemen in the conference in guard Ryan Miller and tackle Nate Solder. But the rest of the line around them must jell for the unit to see success after giving up a Big 12-high 43 sacks in 2009, 11 more than any team in the Big 12.

All eyes on: Coach Hawkins. Seated upon perhaps the hottest seat in America, Hawkins has never needed a winning season more. The Buffaloes' difficult nonconference schedule, with games against Georgia and Cal, won't help him do it, but that doesn't change the need.

Quoting: "I asked them yesterday, I said, What's been the biggest difference between last year and this year? It has been -- it's been just a few little things. They're rolling. Their club's on fire, and they're doing a great job. For us, that's been the whole concept. Let's look at this thing from an objective standpoint of what's really affected the wins and losses. Can we clean this up? Can we be responsible for this? So for our team, that's been the whole focus. So it hasn't always been so much a rallying as it has been pointing things out and learning and getting better." -- Colorado coach Dan Hawkins, on the comparisons between his team and the Texas Rangers

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[Daaah]

I thought it was 'gel,' not 'jell.'

 

[buffsyko]

I thought it was 'gel,' not 'jell.'

Stop yelling and start gelling....

 

[Mick Ronson]

are you gelling?

gelling like Magellan.

 

[sackman]

Quoting: "I asked them yesterday, I said, What's been the biggest difference between last year and this year? It has been -- it's been just a few little things. They're rolling. Their club's on fire, and they're doing a great job. For us, that's been the whole concept. Let's look at this thing from an objective standpoint of what's really affected the wins and losses. Can we clean this up? Can we be responsible for this? So for our team, that's been the whole focus. So it hasn't always been so much a rallying as it has been pointing things out and learning and getting better." -- Colorado coach Dan Hawkins, on the comparisons between his team and the Texas Rangers

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Does he say this sh*t to give me an aneurism? Honestly? Just a few little things, Dan? Are you kidding me?

 

[Buffnik]

Does he say this sh*t to give me an aneurism? Honestly? Just a few little things, Dan? Are you kidding me?

Sack,

Try to look at it from a different perspective and maybe it won't drive you crazy. :lol:

Hawk doesn't give a flying **** about how the media or the fans are going to interpret his public comments. He is staying on point with a very good motivational message for his team. All he wants them to hear and what he will keep re-inforcing is that they are a talented team, a team that has been on the cusp of winning. That they can cut the film and stat sheets apart to see what the difference has been between winning and losing and it shows some very encouraging stuff... that if the 2010 Buffs can just fix a few "little things" that have been identified, that 3-9 record from 2009 flips in 2010.

Is that such a bad message?

 

[sackman]

Sack,

Try to look at it from a different perspective and maybe it won't drive you crazy. :lol:

Hawk doesn't give a flying **** about how the media or the fans are going to interpret his public comments. He is staying on point with a very good motivational message for his team. All he wants them to hear and what he will keep re-inforcing is that they are a talented team, a team that has been on the cusp of winning. That they can cut the film and stat sheets apart to see what the difference has been between winning and losing and it shows some very encouraging stuff... that if the 2010 Buffs can just fix a few "little things" that have been identified, that 3-9 record from 2009 flips in 2010.

Is that such a bad message?

It's a bad message because it's flat out wrong. It's a lie. This team is a long, long ways from being 9-3. They have a lot more to work on than just a few "little things". Anybody who has seen this team play the last four years knows this. They were something like 113th out of 116 teams in D-1 in rushing offense. Their turnover differential was -6. They got sacked an un-Godly number of times. They were the most penalized team in the conference. Their rushing defense was abysmal. Oh, and their special teams are more like special ed. These are not "little things". They are very, very big things. Hawk's inability or unwillingness to accept this simple fact is probably what burns my ass more than anything else. He's living in a dream world. A world where all is happy and wonderful and all it takes to win is just getting up in the morning and being a good person.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

What the coach tells the media is extremely important. Maybe even more so that W's and L's.

Serious stuff.

 

[Buffnik]

It's a bad message because it's flat out wrong. It's a lie. This team is a long, long ways from being 9-3. They have a lot more to work on than just a few "little things". Anybody who has seen this team play the last four years knows this. They were something like 113th out of 116 teams in D-1 in rushing offense. Their turnover differential was -6. They got sacked an un-Godly number of times. They were the most penalized team in the conference. Their rushing defense was abysmal. Oh, and their special teams are more like special ed. These are not "little things". They are very, very big things. Hawk's inability or unwillingness to accept this simple fact is probably what burns my ass more than anything else. He's living in a dream world. A world where all is happy and wonderful and all it takes to win is just getting up in the morning and being a good person.

And how, exactly, do you turn that into a motivational message?

"Coaching sucked, schemes sucked, play sucked, discipline sucked... we need to completely overhaul everything we are doing. Go Buffs!"

That may be what a lot of fans wanted to hear, but it's a message that would not have done a thing for this year's team.

For the record, here is where CU ranked on the team and certain individual stats for 2009 among the 120 FBS teams:

Offense
Rushing - 113
Passing - 45
Total - 104
Scoring - 92
Interceptions - 114
Fumbles - 94
Turnovers - 115
Pass Efficiency - 111
Tackles for Loss - 92
Sacks - 117
1st Down Offense - 82
3rd Down Conversion % - 89
4th Down Conversion % - 62
Red Zone - 87
Time of Possession - 59

Defense
Rushing - 80
Passing - 34
Total - 57
Scoring - 88
Interceptions - 87
Fumbles - 7
Turnovers - 32
Pass Efficiency - 69
Tackles for Loss - 71
Sacks - 41
1st Down Defense - 38
3rd Down Conversion % - 21
4th Down Conversion % - 38
Red Zone - 7

Special Teams
Net Punting - 113
Punt Returns - 117
Punt Return Defense - 87
Kickoff Returns - 21
Kickoff Return Defense - 27
Punting Avg (DiLallo) - 86 of 98 qualifying punters
FG Kicking % (Goodman) - 91/100 qualifying kickers
Punt Returns (Espinoza) - 64/64 qualifying returners
Kickoff Returns (no CU qualifying player) - Scott/Lock split returns and had about the same average with Scott a bit better

Team
Turnover Margin - 97
Penalties - 118
Penalty Yards - 116

Here's what I would point to as the "little things":

Offense: Run the ball, reduce turnovers, be efficient passing the ball

Defense: Stop the run, force interceptions, reduce big plays

Special Teams: More height & better coverage on punts, make more FGs, turn punt returns into a weapon

Team: Cut down on non-aggression penalties (I can live with horse collars, late hits, hitting QB in the head, etc.), win the turnover battle

To me, these are actually "big things", but I understand trying to minimize the perception of how daunting they are by calling them "little things". Remember, the audience is the team not the public. Minimizing the perception we have is offensive. Minimizing the perception the team has is motivationally sound. And as far as I can tell, the things I would stress are the exact things I've been hearing in interviews, practice reports and through the grapevine that this team is focused on improving.

 

[sackman]

And how, exactly, do you turn that into a motivational message?

How about this: "Guys, we were bad last year. In fact, we sucked. We were bad in a lot of areas. But here's the deal, we're going to work on those areas until we're really, really good. I need you to put forward your best effort, because I'm going to put forward my best effort, too. Nobody out there believes we're any good, and it's up to us to prove them wrong".

If I'm a player and I hear this garbage about "a few little things", I become convinced this guy hasn't the first freaking clue what he's talking about. It's de-motivational.