Buffs Lose Winnable Game... Again - The Buffs coulda, shoulda won on Saturday. Up 10 points at home at the end of the 4th quarter, you should never drop a game. (Bob Bell at TRR had nearly the same phrasing. Swear to God I didn't take that from him) Yet, with the injuries to Tyler Hansen and Jon Major, the Buffs just couldn't put enough talent on the field to keep the Red Raiders at bay. Surprisingly, Cody Hawkins entrance into the game also brought with it a momentary spell of vertical passing. Seriously, it looked like Bob Hodge to Jeremy Bloom on every play. However, that series of deep passes in the 3rd quarter would give way to offensive ineptitude in the 4th. After a promising drive ended on another Aric Goodman field goal miss (great to see him out there, btw), the Buffs went 3-and-out on their final 4 drives. The run game: forgotten. The defense: breathless, and left alone to defend the gates of Folsom. Cody: bravely screaming at freshmen wide receivers to cover up for his own ineptitude. It was a disaster, and one that drives the nail into Dan Hawkins coaching coffin.
(I hate Dan Hawk.... OMG THAT'S THE CUTEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN)
I would've rather been beaten 59-14 over the weekend (I'll get to the Broncos in a bit) than lose a game like this at home. A shameful performance that proves the current coaching staff has no imagination or spark of life left in them, and no care for how the rest of the season plays out. If they have cared, maybe they would've tried adjusting to the 4th quarter defensive schemes Tech was throwing at them. If they cared maybe they would've tried to run the ball to keep the short-handed and exhausted defense off the field. If they cared maybe Aric Goodman wouldn't have been relied on to save the season. The rest of the coaching staff has checked out and is already thinking about their next job, and Hawk is an empty coaching polo as it is. Why are we keeping this guy around for another 45 days again? We might get 1 more win the rest of the way...
(He's got to go, now. From: the BDC)
Season's over *clap* *clap*, *clap*-*clap*-*clap* - The students couldn't even muster a half-hearted "Fire Hawkins" chant at the end of the game. No one cares, and the whole situation is starting to get damn depressing. There are 5 games left on the schedule, and no one gives a damn. Yet, I hear idiots like Neil Woelk telling me that we need to keep Hawk around for 6 more weeks cause it would would do no good to make a change now; that we owe it to the seniors to play it out as is. Horseshit. Not only would the jump start on the public coaching search be beneficial, but I know anecdotally that seniors like Nate Solder have already checked out and are focusing on life after Dan Hawkins. At least Neil, the man who repeatedly compared Hawk to Coach Mac, now admits that Hawk is surely fired.
As to recruiting, what difference does it make between recruiting with a coach who's surely fired and one who's non-existent (essentially the same thing?). Hell, how hard is Hawk really recruiting right now? We already threw away one recruiting class (last year's class when Hawk thought he was fired only to get a last minute reprieve from Oil-man Bruce), shouldn't we at least try and save this one? The thing is done, we need to move on; the sooner the better. (That's not an OU pun, but it's going to sting next Saturday... on national TV too.)
(That's the face of a man who knows his fate. From: The BDC)
Cody, just stop talking - Speaking of the problems with Boulder and the family Hawkins, Cody went and opened his mouth to the media after the game. I never want to criticize the kids who play; they're pouring their hearts on souls out for the paying customers, and deserve nothing but appreciation. (I bash Goodman from the perspective of why does Dan keep subjecting this kid to further humiliation, rather than a personal attack on him as an individual.) However, on Saturday Cody started throwing his teammates under the bus and whining to the media like a little school girl. His petulant temper tantrums on the field after 4th quarter incompletions pissed me off to no end. To make matters worse, he goes into media interviews with his "you're being mean to my daddy" attitude. I don't want to hear how mean the media is, and I don't want to see a senior QB throw his promising freshman receiver under the bus for miss-running a route (especially after he did such a good job earlier int he game). Freshman will make mistakes, the media is going to pile on a losing coach, and those same losing coaches will be fired; it's how this shit works.
Sometimes I feel bad for the kid; his father's success or failure at his job was partially resting on his young shoulders over the past 4 years. It's a heavy burden, and I've given him a lot of passes over the years (excusing him in the on-going feud with Ringo, supporting his a starting QB for far longer than I should've). A part of me even wants to let this weekends indiscretions slide; with his father's job on the line, Cody went 6-19 in the 4th quarter for 25 yards and essentially sealed his father's fate, that can't be easy to live with. However, I just can't excuse petulant attitudes in the face of necessary criticism. If he can't handle it, he shouldn't be on the roster. He needs to be quiet the rest of the season and understand that this is how the world works. Hell, since poppa Hawk is going to walk away with $2 million, the family Hawkins will walk away from this fiasco in decent shape. (speaking of being petulant... that's the last time I'm going to bitch about Cody)
M*A*S*H unit - As for on the field shit, with the injury total piling up (Major and Hansen are done for the season) it's starting to become difficult to field a credible team. With the injury to Hansen the Buffs are one play away from having to burn the redshirt on yet another promising young QB (Hirschman); they're so desperate to keep that redshirt intact that they are openly talking about using WR's Kyle Cefalo and Scotty McKnight as QB's in a pinch. Defensively, with Major out for the season, the Buffs are further short-handed. We'll have to rely on Liloa Nobriga and other young, untested LB's to fill Major's shoes. At least Terrell Smith looked good on Saturday (albeit with the usual spate of freshman mistakes).
(Update 10/25) I forgot to add my thoughts on the Hansen injury. After getting dicked around by the Hawkins family for 2 and a half years (burning his redshirt twice, and pulling him twice), I was happy to see him take over the team. It was his job, and he deserved it. Now he's done for the year. The kid doesn't deserve this. The football gods are spiting the hell out of the good people on this team, and it just aint fair.
The whole state sucks at football - Collectively, the State of Colorado (Broncos and the 3 D-1A schools) lost 183-51 over the weekend. Woof. The Broncos especially, who carry the hopes of everyone in the State, shit the bed. Rival in town, they lost 59-14, showing absolutely no fight. How long before McDaniels is seriously on the hot seat? Since starting his coaching career with 6 wins, the team has gone 4-13.... not good. Bad football all-around; maybe we should become a baseball state? How would that suit everybody?
(The natives are getting restless. From: the post)
Dolphins game - Interesting play in the fins game. With the fins leading late int he ballgame, Ben Roethlisberger dives for the endzone and gets awarded the touchdown. On replay it was shown that he actually fumbled before the endzone, but because the Dolphins didn't immediately recover the ball, the ref couldn't award them the ball. Instead the ball was placed at the half-yard line and the Steelers went on to win. I was actually impressed with the ref; it was a brilliant interpretation of the rule, regardless of the fact that it screwed over my team. I'm just frustrated with the linesman who originally called the play a TD; what was he looking at?
Bears also suck pretty hard - Jay Cutler's favorite target Sunday was DeAngelo Hall. Unfortunately, DeAngelo plays for the Washington Redskins. You would think that after the first 3 picks that Cutler would stop trying to force the ball into Johnny Knox, but nooooooo, he tried it again and got picked for a 4th time. Sigh... another team that I root for drops a winnable game; maybe I'm just a jinx.
("Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three time, shame on you. Fool me four times, shame on the Bears for trading a bajillion draft picks for me. From: the trib)
Happy (lol) Monday!
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