Even as 7-point underdogs, Wyoming Cowboys look scary
Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen argues a call during the first quarter of the Cowboys' loss to Texas on Sept. 12 in Laramie, Wyo.
“Be afraid. Be very afraid.”
The reasons lie with Wyoming coach Dave Christensen. Last year he was the offensive coordinator for Missouri, which put up a 58-point shutout on Colorado in 2008. The year before that, he came into Folsom and crushed the Buffs 55-10. Now he has Wyoming ready to play another Big 12 team after hanging in with No. 2 Texas through the first half last week.
It’s a must win as much as the last game was or Colorado could be looking at 0-6 before its next chance for a victory. Here are three things it can do to start salvaging the season:
GET TO THE 20
Believe it or not, the Buffaloes are tied for first nationally in one statistic. No, not losses smartarses. It’s red zone efficiency. They’re 100 percent when inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. The Buffs have the order backward, knowing how to finish but not sure how to start. Sustaining drives is paramount against Wyoming, which appears much more dangerous offensively.
Even more surprising is that CU is six-for-six when inside the 10. Better yet, all of those conversions were touchdowns. If the offense can just visualize each possession as first-and-goal, third downs won’t be such an issue. Maybe even bringing in some plays from goal-line situations would help on critical downs.
SIMMONS, SIMAS AND SCOTT
It’s time to showcase the big players. With the magnifying glass on coach Dan Hawkins, there has been a lot of talk about his recruiting choices. These three players have all been tagged as “the next big thing” offensively at some point, but for one reason or another, their field time has been limited.
Receiver Andre Simmons, who looked as fast as advertised against CSU, was on the field sparingly last week but didn’t have a catch. He’s a nice complement to the possession skills of Scotty McKnight and Jason Espinoza to stretch the field vertically. One has to think his limited snaps are a result of his familiarity with the playbook as he was held out until the last week of practice for academic reasons related to his transfer from community college.
Markques Simas is the other highly touted receiver, except his back story is much more sordid. After spending 2007 redshirting, Simas forgot about his other books in 2008 and was ruled academically ineligible. He made hid other mistake over the summer, violating team rules and being suspended for the first two games of 2009. This week, Simas has done everything short of promising he’ll be on the field, even though he is still listed on the injury report as probable with a sprained knee. It’s been so long since Simas was signed that it’s easy to forget he’s a former four-star recruit.
Running back Darrell Scott has begun to show his talents, with an impressive start at Toledo. He managed to rack up 84 rushing yards without carrying the ball at all in the second half. Coaches say he suffered a knee bruise in that game but should be ready for Saturday. The hope here is that if CU does go down a couple of points early, offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau won’t hit the pass panic button, taking Scott out of the game.
BACK TO BASICS
Defensively, Hawkins is scaling down the number of packages and looks CU will be using this week. Although he still claims the problems with preventing the big play boil down to “one or two small adjustments,” this week will see significant change in complexity.
While this may help with preventing blown assignments, the adjustment the Buffaloes need to focus on is tackling. Missed tackles were responsible for many of the big runs Toledo put on CU last week, including that 61-yard QB scramble that stopped any hope of a Buffs comeback late in the game.
Defenders need to be in the mindset of a quarterback who “manages the game.” Nothing fancy, no need to knock a guy’s helmet off or strip the ball when risking losing your grip. Just square up, wrap up and take the man down.
Editor’s note: Comments have been turned off on football stories involving CU to meet the university’s requirement for giving media credentials to Web site reporters and photographers.
