Students voice opinions on CU football

Written by Jillian Arja in Football, Front Page, Sports on Oct 27, 2012 14:36 / comments

Whether it is an issue with coaching, the team or individual players, the University of Colorado football team has had a rough start to the season. The Buffs began their season with games against Colorado State, Sacramento State and Fresno State, losing all three.

With a win against Washington State, the CU hope was regained, but only for a little while. The Buffs would lose the next three games, falling to Arizona State, UCLA, and USC.

Spectators wait for the second half to begin Oct. 11 in Boulder. The Buffs lost to ASU 51-17. (CU Independent File/James Bradbury)

This week, the CU Independent took to the CU Rec Center and the University Memorial Center to gauge CU student opinions on the football program and the season thus far.

A couple students were doubtful that the Buffs would get another conference win.

“It’s been relatively like, we are going to lose this game, we are going to lose this game,” said Chelsea Watson, 21, a studio art and advertising major. “We expect it and it’s probably going to be like that for the rest of the season. I mean, especially after losing to CSU.”

Marissa Schwartz, 20, an MCDB and Spanish major, said the Buffs may have a chance to win their final conference game of the season.

“The only possible win that we get is Utah, and that’s a possibility,” Schwartz said.

Peter Hammersmark, 21, an integrated physiology major, still has hopes for the Buffs, saying that he believes the program just needs time to develop and grow.

“I think they are just young still, and Embree is still getting some of the players developed,” Hammersmark said. “They just need to get older and lift and develop more. They need to give Embree a few more years. Everyone who is playing is freshmen or sophmores, except for a couple seniors we have, so once they get older and get some more experience then we will start winning more games.”

Hopefully those years come fast, because it seems like less and less students are even attending games this season, Watson said.

“[Our school spirit] has been lower this year than last year, because I have noticed that the stadium has been less full this year as it used to be,” Watson said.

As a member of the marching band, Watson said it is easy for her to stay active in the game, even though the student section has died out somewhat.

“It’s actually pretty easy [to keep up the spirit], believe it or not,” Watson said. “Because you just get more into the spirit of the football game.”

The Buffs will play on the road this weekend against No. 2-ranked University of Oregon.

When asked what they believed the outcome of the game would be, most students seemed to be on the same page.

“Im not predicting a win [against Oregon],” Hammersmark said. “I mean they are probably going to lose pretty bad, like last year, but hopefully they can show something.”

Rob Ankarlo, 20, a business administration major, had an even more negative outlook.

“We are going to get our asses kicked,” Ankarlo said. “We will get decimated. No hope.”

The Buffs play Oregon on Saturday at 1 p.m. MST in Eugene. After that, CU will have four more games remaining in the fall season, with the next home game on Nov. 3 against Stanford University.