The 3-2-1: Already a season to remember for Colorado Football
Colorado is now 6-2 and 4-1 in PAC 12 Conference Play. Bowl Eligible for the first time since 2007 after beating Stanford last Saturday 10-5, that win was the Buffs’ first win over the Cardinal since 1990. This weekend the Buffs are entering a bye week sitting at No. 23 in both the Amway Coaches and AP Top 25 Rankings. Today, we open Tuesday up with a 3-2-1 column, as we tell you three things we learned, ask two questions, and make one prediction.
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Three Things We Learned
1. Colorado is ranked again and will only continue to climb in the rankings
After Colorado’s 10-5 victory over the Stanford Cardinal, the Buffs were ranked No. 23 in both the Amway Coaches and AP Top 25 Rankings. The highest Colorado has been ranked this year was No. 21 before they lost to USC 21-17 in Los Angeles. With Colorado having their bye week this weekend it’s likely that when the Buffs host UCLA Thursday, November 3rd on Fox Sports 1 that they’ll be ranked even higher.
Before this season, the last time Colorado was nationally ranked was back in 2005 under Head Coach Gary Barnett. During the 2005 season, Colorado at that time in the Big 12 started out 7-2, before losing their last 4 games of the season to finish 7-6 on the season and would lose to Clemson in the Citrus Bowl 19-10.
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The highest Colorado Football has been ranked since 2000 was in 2001 when Colorado was No. 3 in the AP Poll and would finish 10-3 losing to No. 2 Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl 16-3.
2. Phillip Lindsay is proving to be one of top running backs in the PAC 12
The last time Colorado had a running back eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in a season was in 2010 when Rodney Stewart ran for 1,318-yards and scored 10 touchdowns on the season. Junior Running Back Phillip Lindsay is just 255-yards away from his first career 1,000-yard season, he currently has rushed for 745-yards off 119-carries and scored 9 touchdowns.
In his last two games, Lindsay has accounted for a total of 350-yards and 3 touchdowns, earning the PAC 12 Offensive Player of the Week Award on October 15th rushing for 219-yards and 3 scores in the Buffs’ blowout 40-16 victory over Arizona State.
The Tasmanian Devil (his nickname) dubbed by coaches and teammates because of his non-stop and explosive playing style continues to prove he’s one of the most underrated running backs in College Football and with Colorado’s now proven ability to run the football, the offense which is ranked among the top 20 in the nation in total yardage is even more dangerous.
In Colorado’s first five games on the season Lindsay had rushed for just 338-yards, but in his last three games we’ve seen Colorado go to him 49 times as he’s rushed for 407-yards and three scores.
3. Jim Levitt’s defense continues to shine
The Colorado Defense continues to receive national praise and after giving up just three points to Stanford last week (CU took a safety), it’s becoming apparent that Colorado’s defense is among the best in the nation.
Currently, through 8 games, the Buffs are allowing just 336.7 yards per game which ranks 15th in the nation. During the 2015 season, which was Defensive Coordinator Jim Leavitt’s first year in Boulder, the Buffs allowed 437.8 yards per game, so you can see how drastic this change has been for the Buffs.
Last weekend against Stanford the Buffs’ defense held Stanford Running Back Christian McCaffrey to just 92-yards of 21-rushes and zero touchdowns. That is the first time this year that McCaffrey has been held under 100-yards rushing when receiving 20 or more carries.
Read: Commits React To Beating Stanford | PAC 12 Defensive Player of the Week
Linebacker Jimmie Gilbert has 7 sacks which is tied for 13th in the nation, Safety Tedric Thompson has 4 interceptions which is tied for 2nd in the nation, and Colorado’s defense has forced at least one turnover in 21 consecutive games, which leads the entire nation.
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Two Questions
1. How many games will Colorado win in 2016?
The Buffs are 4-0 this season when playing in the State of Colorado. Good news with 3 out of their next 4 games being at Folsom Field. They host UCLA on November 3rd which is a Thursday Night Game on Fox Sports 1. UCLA is 3-5 this season and has lost three in a row.
The Buffs then travel to Arizona on November 12th, the Wildcats are struggling on the year with a 2-6 record and are riding a 4 game losing streak heading into week 9 against Stanford, then the Buffs host Washington State on the 19th of November in what should be a shootout with a vastly improved Cougar’s team.
The Cougars who started out 0-2 are now 5-2 on the season and have beat: Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, and Arizona State in the last four weeks of play. Looking at Washington State’s schedule there is a good chance the Cougars come to Boulder with a record of 8-2. The Buffs will then host Utah on November 26th, the Utes are currently No. 17th in the nation with a current record of 7-1 and 4-1 in conference play.
The Utes host No. 4 Washington this week, but looking down the road there is a good chance Utah comes to town with a record of 9-2. While Colorado’s season mantra continues to be one game at a time as it should be, Colorado not only controls their destiny but will be the favorite in each of their next 3 out of 4 games. What we’re thinking: Best case record: 10-2, worst case: 8-4.
2. When will the special team's woes subside?
As Colorado moves into their final 4 games of the regular season, there are few things to nitpick at. The biggest concern continues to be special teams play. Last weekend against Stanford, Colorado missed three field goals. Two misses by Chris Graham and one miss by punter Alex Kinney.
When your punter is kicking field goals, you’re clearly in dire straights. Since losing starting kicker Diego Gonzalez to a season-ending Achilles Tear, Colorado is 8 for 12 kicking field goals. The Stanford game was atrocious, but freshman kicker Davis Price who is 4 for 5 this year with a longest of 54-yards did not play as he was out with mono.
Price has shown promise going 2 for 2 against Oregon State, 1 for 1 against USC, and 1 for 2 against Arizona State.
If Price is back special teams play greatly improves, which means it’s going to continue to be tough for opponents to find a weak spot when playing Colorado, especially at Folsom where Price has already proven he can hit the deep ones.
One Prediction
He literally delivered In and Out Burger to his team after the Buffs beat Stanford in Palo Alto 10-5. That headline made ESPN, but more importantly MacIntyre has delivered to Colorado a winning season in 2016.
MacIntyre who entered the season having a career record of 10-27 since arriving in Colorado in 2013 is 6-2 this year and has the Buffs tied for 1st place in the PAC 12 South with Utah. MacIntyre has the Buffs ranked for the first time since 2005 and the Buffs Bowl Eligible for the first time since 2007.
MacIntyre was the first Colorado Coach to beat Stanford since 1990 and the first Head Coach at Colorado to beat Arizona State in program history.
Before this season, MacIntyre had won just two games against PAC 12 Opponents, he is 4-1 this season. No coach right now in College Football deserves national merit more than MacIntyre. Period.
READ: Tedric Thompson earns PAC 12 Defensive Player of the Week Award
Colorado continues to impress on the field and with their season victories come weekly awards. In fact, this is the fifth time this season a Colorado Football Player has earned either an offensive or defensive Player or special teams Player of the Week Award.
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Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada continues to pump out some of the top high school football players in the country. Two Rivals.com 4-Star Defensive Backs plan to visit Colorado, which is obviously major news.
