Photo courtesy of Shane Grace/Ka Leo.
In this week’s Coin Toss, football beat writers Sean Kelly and Justin Guerriero debate whether the Buffs still have a chance to reach the postseason after their 28-20 loss to Hawaii last weekend.
Sean: The weeks leading up to football season are my favorite time of year. Though there are no games to watch, fans have something far more entertaining, and ultimately heartbreaking, to keep them occupied: hope. Coaches and players talk about their team’s lofty goals, and for those few glorious weeks at the end of the summer, fans get the chance to live out their wildest sports fantasies. At the beginning of every season I truly believe that the Philadelphia Eagles are going to win the Super Bowl, that Notre Dame is going to win the national championship (this is actually going to happen this year), and that the Buffs are going to make a bowl game. Unfortunately, these delusions are swiftly smashed by reality after the opening kickoff or, in the Buffs’ case, the opening punt.
This season is over. Coach Mike MacIntyre made it clear that Colorado had one goal this year, and that was to make a bowl game. From what I heard, it seemed like anything but a bowl game is a failure this year. Now, there is no way the Buffs are making a bowl. Everyone knows that they needed to be 4-0 going into the Oregon game to have a chance to pull what even then would have been a miracle. Now it’s a sheer impossibility. To make a bowl, and save the season, Colorado is going to have to win their three remaining non-conference games, beat Washington State and Oregon State, then somehow find two wins against the likes of Stanford, UCLA, both Arizona teams, Utah or Oregon. To me, this is flat-out impossible.
Justin: Sean, I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I don’t have doubts about this season, but if I’m playing Devil’s Advocate, then I’m telling you now — don’t abandon ship just yet. There has been a massive amount of hype from players and coaches in the Buffaloes’ locker room for 2015, and I have to agree with you — losing to Hawaii was not a good opening move for the Buffs. But the season is still young! I have to believe that all the confidence I witnessed coming from the football team is not gone. Every single player and coach believes that the 2015 Buffaloes will make a bowl game.
Before I say any more, I would also like to state for the record that Norm Chow’s Rainbow Warriors will surprise a lot of people this year. New offensive coordinator Don Bailey came in to revitalize Hawaii’s offense, which has had problems finding a consistent quarterback. The Rainbow Warriors used three quarterbacks in last year’s Buffs win at Folsom Field. While Bailey was offensive coordinator at Idaho State, the Bengals averaged 348.1 passing yards per game, which was number one in the FCS. As the season progresses, I think fans will feel less bitter about losing to Hawaii. Getting back to the issue at hand, it’s entirely possible for the Buffs to rebound and make a bowl game. This is the best chance they’ve stood against the Pac-12 since MacIntyre took over before the 2013 season.
Sean: You might be right about Hawaii. Max Wittek is a decent quarterback, and the Rainbow Warriors could surprise a few people as a decent team in the Mountain West, which is a decent conference. See a theme here? Regardless of how much Hawaii has improved, I think its ultimate ceiling is being a decent team in a middling conference. Unfortunately, the Buffs are in the Pac-12, where making a bowl game means beating teams that would be insulted by the word “decent”. If the Buffs can’t beat Hawaii, they don’t stand a chance in the Pac-12.
It’s not the fact that the Buffs lost that has me so down. It’s the way they lost. All the mistakes that were supposed to be addressed this offseason were on display in a game that was a horrific re-run of last year. Last year the Buffs got killed by the big play game after game. What happened last week? The Buffs gave up a 79-yard touchdown. Last year Colorado got killed by turnovers. What happened last week? Three turnovers lost. One was on a vintage Colorado play where Shay Fields tried to field a punt that he had no business being in the same area code as, but even worse than that was Liufau’s interception. Every Buff fan in the country went into that game praying for two things: for a win, and for Liufau to finally fix his interception problem. Those prayers weren’t answered, and I wouldn’t bother waiting with bated breath, because apparently Liufau hasn’t.
The last thing that I really believed Colorado would fixe was how it handled late-game situations. The last drive put that delusion to bed. The Buffs were so slow getting to the line. Regardless of whatever nonsense went down with the refs on the last play, for me that drive was confirmation that the Buffs aren’t ready to take it to the next level. A Pac-12 team destined for a bowl game finds a way to score on that drive. They play with urgency, and they don’t need to rely on Liufau’s legs and converted fourth downs to march downfield.
Finally, I have to talk about the most terrifying aspect of last week. Last year, the defensive line was atrocious. This year it’s the offensive line. Liufau was hurried, hit or sacked on what felt like every play against Hawaii. It’s not like the Rainbow Warriors had some crazy rush going on, either. At times they were getting pressure with just three or four guys. If Colorado can’t protect its quarterback against Hawaii, Pac-12 teams are going to have a field day. If the offensive line keeps playing the way they did, I’d be shocked if Liufau is able to make it out of the Arizona game alive, let alone stay healthy for the rest of the season.
So to all Colorado fans — I’m sorry. The offseason is over. It’s time to come back down to earth and remember that this is the Buffs we’re talking about. We’re not making a bowl and, once again, the season is over.
Justin: Come on, Sean! Where’s your unfaltering school pride? I won’t deny it for a second — Colorado played a bad game against Hawaii. However, there were some positives that I noticed. First of all, the Buffs ran the ball very well. Michael Adkins II ran for 90 yards on 22 carries and scored two touchdowns. Liufau himself racked up an additional 81 yards on 18 carries. Although Christian Powell had a game that I’m sure he’d like to forget about, the Buffs routinely got four yards per carry.
Conversely, Colorado’s defense played very well against the run last week. It limited Hawaii’s rushing attack to only 2.9 yards per carry. All I am trying to say is that, although the Buffs made mistakes and ultimately lost, the game wasn’t a complete disaster. It’s not enough for me to totally rule them out of making a bowl game.
You’re right about the offensive line — they played poorly in week one. But I’m not moving to DefCon 2 over their performance, because it was only half-bad. I was impressed with how the line led the way for the Buffs’ running attack. Like I said, the team averaged 4.1 yards per carry. I’m happy with that. I know they weren’t very good at giving Liufau ample time to throw the ball, but have some mercy, Sean, it’s only been a week! I believe that this Saturday against UMass, we are going to see a fired-up Buffaloes team ready to win its first home game. The players in that locker room know, more than anyone, that there is not much room for what coach MacIntyre described as “bonehead mistakes”. So Sean, and all you Buffs fans out there, I say to you that the season is not over. There is still hope for a bowl berth.
Colorado will continue their march to a (potential) bowl game on Saturday when they host the University of Massachusetts at Folsom Field, with kickoff at 12 p.m. and television coverage on the Pac-12 Network.
Contact CU Independent football beat writer Justin Guerriero at justin.guerriero@colorado.edu and follow him on Twitter @TheHungry_Hippo
Contact CU Independent football beat writer Sean Kelly at seankelly123@gmail.com
