That was one of the most depressing sports weekends I can remember in a long time. A couple of embarrassing losses by our football teams, now the Nuggs are on a 3 game skid.....
But take it easy there Buff fans.
As bad as the Missouri loss was for CU, we have to look at the big picture here. We are 5-5 right now. We have two winnable games left on the schedule, and only need to win one of those two to be bowl eligible. Now, after the disaster that was last season, if I had told you that the Buffs had to win one of their last two games against Iowa St. (2-8 record) and Nebraska (4-6 record, lost 5 straight) to go to a bowl game, you would have been ecstatic. I fully remember everyone saying that they would be very happy if the Buffs got to a bowl game at all this season.
So let's all just settle down about the 55-10 loss. Yeah, it sucked. It was embarrassing and brutal to watch. But remember where we were at this time last season. Remember 2-10? Remember being mocked by CSU, Nebraska, and even Montana St. fans?
Sure, watching Chase Daniels launch deep ball after deep ball on Saturday was surprisingly reminiscent of watching me play NCAA Football '07. In that game I have the QB mentality of the Sex Cannon, Rex Grossman. "I know that dudes are open in the flat, but fuck that shit I'm going long!" It was eery the way he repeatedly completed passes over 30 yards with ease, it was like watching my own thumbs.
Sure, watching our boys try to tackle Mizzou TE Chase Coffman was like watching several chihuahuas trying to take down a charging rhino (Missouri has to lead the nation in the "players named Chase" category by the way. They have three).
But let's take a deep breath.
I know that the OU win raised the expectation bar, but remember this team is young. They are going to be up and down. CU is set to shatter the record for freshman starts in a season of 42. They are currently at 41 freshman starts. There have only been 3 other times in CU history that freshman have started 40 or more games, 1987, 1991, and 1998. Do the math. Three years after 1987.... 1990, National Championship, 3 first team All-Americans (Eric Bienemy, Joe Garten, Alfred Williams). Three years after 1991.... 1994, finished 11-1 and #3 in the polls. 20 out of 22 starters ended up in the NFL. Rashaan Salaam wins the Heisman. Three first team All-Americans (Michael Westbrook, Chris Hudson, Salaam). Three years after 1998.... 2001, Big 12 Champions. Three first team All-Americans (Daniel Graham, Andre Gurode, Roman Hollowell KR).
I bet that just gave you a little tingle of excitement in your underbits, didn't it.
Here are some facts to marinate on while your claiming that Cody Hawkins is no good:
- Cody has already set or tied 9 CU records (5 Freshman and 4 School records).
- Cody is on pace to throw for over 2,600 yards. Only four QB's in CU history have thrown for more than 2,500 yards in a season.
- Cody's 15 TD passes this year are tied for the 5th most in CU history. with two games and a possible Bowl left to play.
- Cody's 15 INT's are tied for 2nd most in school history. He's a freshman.
As for the rest of the youngsters, CU has 5 players with a legitimate shot at the Freshman All-American Team. Cody, Kai Maiva, Ryan Miller, Josh Smith and Scotty McKnight.
So let's give the fellas on the field a little time to develop. If history is any judge, we'll be pretty damn good for the next few years.
Some other thoughts to give you hope for the next two games:
- The next two games are both morning start times. This season, CU is 5-0 in day games and 0-5 at night. That's what you get for scheduling games after the Freshman curfew.
- Iowa State is 2-8. I know they have played well lately.... but they are 2-8. They aren't that good.
- Nebraska has lost 5 straight games, and has arguably the worst defense in the nation.
- We only have to win one of those two games to be bowl eligible.
 - Recruiting is going very well, and rumors are running wild that Darrell Scott gave a silent commit to the Buffs after the Missouri game. For those of you who don't know, Darrell Scott is the #1 rated high school RB in the nation, and #4 overall recruit and he was in town to watch that disaster of a game on Saturday. Personally, I'm going to wait until I see a direct quote from him before I celebrate. But if he does actually end up at CU, you can be sure that Brainz and I will do one of those jumping hip bump things that are all the rage in football nowadays.
- Another recruiting tidbit... the Buffs received a commitment from Texas HS safety Stephen Hicks (ranked #43 at his position in the nation by Rivals.com) this week. He was in town for the Missouri game too. Although, he has said he still may visit other schools so I guess he's not completely committed. At this point, consider him as committed to the Buffs as Bill is to Hillary.
That said, if the 55-10 loss to Missouri ends up getting us Darrell Scott and Stephen Hicks as a result, than I'd say the anal raping was well worth it in this case.
I guess what I'm saying is that we all need to calm down and remember that we are in the process of building this program back up. It may take a couple of seasons, but if it's done the right way, when we get back on top we should stay there for a long time.
Oh yeah, and if we lose the next two games forget everything I just wrote. We'll start up a www.firedanhawkins.com site or something.
One last thing; Congrats to Jordan Dizon on being named a Finalist for the Butkus award this season. He joins Matt Russell, Alfred WIlliams, and Ted Johnson as the only Buffs to be named finalists for the award. Williams and Russell went on to win it.
By the way, I swiped this picture from someone at rivals.com. If you read this I hope you don't mind. It was too awesome not to steal. |
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