Interesting SC at Colarado game
- Thread starter M-I-Coug
- Start date
Liufau left the game in the first half and is now on crutches. No other information regarding his injury.
USC has outscored CU 24-0 since they were down 17-3. I think it has been a combination of losing Luifau and really, USC not being ready to play this game. Once they decided they were going to show up, it has been all USC.
If Luifau is out, I don't see CU winning in Pullman.
Kessler has steadily regressed this year. He was in the Heisman hunt in Sept, but now I don't see any way he even gets drafted. Just poor.
Cougs should shred Buffs' D. Spruce is a poor man's McCafferty, a smart, savvy receiver, but that won't be enough.
If what I read is correct, Liufau is done for the season. Broken bone in the foot/ankle area.
Yes, I agree. This is strange isn't it. Prior to the season the conference's two "NFL ready" quarterbacks and Heisman candidates were Goff and Kessler. Both are trending downwards lately and are completely out of even remote consideration for the Heisman and with plummeting draft prospects.
Since you are more closely acquainted with USC than others on the board, do you think Sark's absence is responsible for Kessler's slide or is it something else?
FWIW, the score was 7-3 when Luifau went out of the game. They scored 10 points with the other guy in the first half. Sefo might have made more of a difference in the second half but I wouldn't bet on it. USC came out flat and I suspect that they thought that CU was going to just take a knee to start the game in fear of the logo on the side of the helmet. Once the Trojans started actually playing football, it was obvious that they were the better team.
I am kind of curious about mikefingleach's "Wulff esque" comment above. MacIntyre has taken a team that went 4-22 under his predecessor and is sitting at 10-25 under his watch with four losses that have come down to a single score this year alone. There is all sorts of talk on this site about how it takes time to build up a program and MacIntyre appears to be close. I don't blame him if he had a couple angry moments or moments of frustration last night. So, I'm curious as to the point about the comment other than to just show that he and his cronies have to mention the name of a certain man any time that they find the thinnest opportunity.
Kessler.....this is hard to write, as he is obviously a quality human being. I remember well his concern for Halliday, and he is a genuinely nice guy.
1. Our O-line is slow and fat and we miss Tuerk. Kessler is slow, slow, slow. So if you can flush him out, he WILL keep his head downfield but he has been caught from behind so often it's getting to him. I hope is the last of the statues of an outdated paradigm but we will see
2. Ronald Jones is a truly great back, so Helton has taken the team from a 60-40 team in favor of pass (Sark) to a 60-40 team in favor of the run. Unfortunately, the playcalling has tended to put Kessler throwing in obvious situations (3rd and 5, 2nd and 8) so teams have figured it out,,,,they come after him with everything but the kitchen sink. Graham tried that but Kessler hit his receivers early (ala Falk) and there is nobody better than Smith-Shuster or Jackson when it comes to YAC.
3. Some of the WRs (Mitchell at times) run incomplete routes. Last night Mitchell broke off a route, and Kessler threw the ball where Mitchell was supposed to be..,.result? Pick.
4. Kessler is also the victim of changing priorities (as you mention). Helton and Sark are different, they signal plays in differently, and they do it differently, and that is not Kessler's fault.
5. He is panicking. He used to be described as "cool" under fire. No more. He looks flustered and lost, and he simply doesn't know how or want to throw the damn ball away!!
6. All in all, he is a good, serviceable QB, with solid knowledge of the routes, but slow and ponderous. He does possess pocket mobility, but DCs have figured out how to get rid of the pocket, and get him on the run. If we had a much better O-line some of that issue would go away.
I hope he as that breakout game against a better opponent. Leading the Trojans back from a deficit like Leinart. Maybe ucla. But his time is running out. He has two tough games left, and then some kind of bowl game. I don't see any NFL team picking him....but, if he and Helton click and he looks great in the next 2 games, he may go in the 4th round or so.....
Didn't watch much of the game; just noticed the closeness of the final score. So maybe there was not as much of a drop off after Liufau went down as one might expect. I know nothing about CU's new quarterback. Would imagine that we will all be better informed during the coming week.
As far as MacIntyre's situation is concerned, I would hope that UC has the patience to see if he can get it done. He walked into a dire position in Boulder. We Cougs can empathize and identify with that. We can all remember Leach's postgame demeanor during the earlier portion of his tenure in Pullman as a combination of seething anger and despondency. So, yes, MacIntyre's frustration at this point of the Buffs' rebuild is understandable. I hope that he gets it done. Not because of any identification with him or UC but a sympathy for the underdog.
As far as MacIntyre's situation is concerned, I would hope that UC has the patience to see if he can get it done. He walked into a dire position in Boulder. We Cougs can empathize and identify with that. We can all remember Leach's postgame demeanor during the earlier portion of his tenure in Pullman as a combination of seething anger and despondency. So, yes, MacIntyre's frustration at this point of the Buffs' rebuild is understandable. I hope that he gets it done. Not because of any identification with him or UC but a sympathy for the underdog.
Nothing specific. McIntyre goes ballistic on occasion (a la Wulff 2011 vs OSU) out of desperation. I sense an aura of cluelessness around him. CU has been close many, many times, but that means they puke all over themselves repeatedly. I don't see CU being close to turning the corner at all.
Fair enough. I just hope we all get to the point where we can forget our bm-having, nose-picking, not good enough for prime time former coach and he is mentioned as often as Jim Sweeney is.
Thanks for the response and explanation. Sounds like he has more than a few obstacles to deal with, some self-contained and others coming from elsewhere. Thanks again.
When USC wanted to play, there was no comparison between the two teams. USC came out flat. They turned it on and CU had little answer. But, Cougar fans will know this well, CU had a long punt return late in the game to set up their final score and make the game closer than it was after the first quarter.
I have watched CU a couple of times while I was also watching or doing other things. So, I have seen them, but not intently. Neither MacIntryre or Leach walked into a great situation. The difference I think was that Leach's postgame demeanor in his first year plus at WSU had more to do with the effort of the players. Many of the players were fighting him. You don't really hear Leach talk about effort anymore with the players he recruited.
With MacIntyre, he has mostly his players, with a few of Embree's players left. But, the third year of a coaching tenure is often not a good year because the players are not physically or mentally mature yet. I expect CU to be much better next season. Still, what is tough for every team in the conference is that many of the good or rising teams also have very young rosters.
