Richardson out for year; torn ACL

Junior wide receiver Paul Richardson was injured in Monday's practice, and was latter diagnosed with a torn knee ligament that will keep him off the field for the entire 2012 season.

This is a huge loss for the Buffs nearly a week before the Colorado football spring game.

According to the CUBuffs website Richardson tore the ACL in his knee when he was "simply planting and trying to make a turn in a non-contact special teams drill."

Richardson was a dynamic threat for the offense last year. Despite missing four games with a sprained knee in 2011 he was still the third leading receiver on the Buffaloes roster, with 39 catches and a total of 555 yards.



The fluke injury hurts the Buffaloes who are very inexperienced on the offensive side of the ball. Richardson was assuming a role as a leader on the team, in the locker room and on the field.

"Obviously, it's a blow to our team, but it's a part of the game," head coach Jon Embree said. "It's an opportunity for others to step up and try to lessen his loss. I thought at first he just rolled his ankle, and it turned out to be this [torn ACL]. It's a shame because he's worked real hard and was doing a great job both on and off the field, leading by example and improving on all the things he needed to work on." (via CUBuffs.com)

Richardson will use a redshirt year and come back with two years of eligibility in 2013.

[Information and quotes from CUBuffs.com]

Buffs ill-timing proves costly in loss to WSU

Jon Embree doesn’t understand losing.

“I hate losing and I’m competitive and I expect these guys to win every time we go out there,” said the former Buff tight end and now head coach.

The way Colorado let a 10-point lead slip out of their grasp in the final minutes of play is beyond him.

Embree came into Boulder knowing that taking over one of the worst stretches in CU football history was going to be tough. But I don’t know if he thought it was going to be this hard.

“When are they going to get tired of losing?” said Embree who has not strayed away from the Buffs ineptitude to close out a ballgame, “When are they going to get tired of finding a way to lose because you know what, this staff, we’ve been here for five weeks and I’m tired of it.”

But it’s the way the Buffs lost this game, which also happened to be their very first in the Pac-12 that can make any black and gold fan need some high-quality antacid.

The Cougars blocked a Will Oliver field goal attempt early in the first half, which ended up being the winning margin for WSU. Throughout the game the Buffs were able to play Embree’s ‘physical’ game. CU’s offensive line found a rhythm and pushed Rodney ‘Speedy’ Stewart easily 100-yards on the ground.  Then, like looking in a mirror of years past, the Buffs proceeded to squander a 10-point lead with just over five minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

“‘When is it going to be enough? When is enough, enough?” said Embree as his almost lost gaze turned into something more along the lines of disgust, “You put in all of this work, you do all of this stuff that you have done from spring ball to training camp for this? This is what we did the work for? So when is it enough?”

This mentality change is slowly working its way around the Colorado locker room, but there is one man ready to make it a full-on epidemic.

“It starts with Jon Embree, no one else.”

Embree and Buffs lose season opener

The first game for the Colorado Buffaloes under new head coach Jon Embree didn’t go as well as planned.

“Not good. Not A great debut,” Embree said following the 34-17 loss to the Hawai’i Warriors.

The loss makes it 18 consecutive road losses for the Buffaloes, a streak that dates back to October of 2007. Embree emphasized, during the offseason, the ineptitude of the Buffs to win away from the friendly confines of Folsom Field.

“There is no bright side. I’m not a moral victory type guy. We did not win,” said the former Colorado tight end was 7-13 in true road games over his career in the mid-1980’s, “That was our goal. We got to end this losing streak on the road. That is the goal right now. We didn’t do that.”

Colorado’s offense got off to a slow start at Aloha Stadium.  “We were off in the first half. I don’t know what that was,” Embree concluded, the first play was an extremely inauspicious start for the Buffs, “I mean, you fumble the snap on the first play of the game.” CU punted on their first 5 possessions, and went into halftime with 100 total yards of offense.

Bryant Moniz led the nation in passing a year ago with 5,040 yards through the air. But it was his legs, including a touchdown run of 57 yards that surprised some of the Warrior faithful and led the home team into the half up 17-0. “Mo Might not lead the nation in passing this week, but he might lead the nation in rushing,” said Hawai’i head coach McMackin about his now dual threat quarterback.

“You have to give him some credit, too. Seventeen (Moniz) is a heck of a player,” Embree and the Buffs defenders were preparing for an aerial attack from the Warrior senior, “He’s a stronger guy than what I thought. He ran though a lot of tackles.”

Even though CU went into the half, there was still quite a bit of confidence remaining in the Buffs locker room.

“I told the teams at halftime don’t worry about it. Let’s just come out and play and we did. I felt at halftime like we were going to win,” said Embree. The Buffs took only 3 minutes to do just that. A 15 yard strike by senior Tyler Hansen to sophomore Paul Richardson put the ball in the end zone for the first time on the season for the Buffs.

But Hawai’i stole the momentum right back. A 48 yard kickoff return gave the Warriors a short field ending in another Moniz touchdown scamper, one of three on the day, from 1 yard out.

Colorado continued to battle back though, the same combination met up on the next drive, Hansen to Richardson, this time from 21 yards out. Down ten, 24-14, and an ensuing fumble recovery by Conrad Obi and the Buffs put CU in position to strike. Will Oliver made a 34 yard field goal to open the 4^th quarter, to make it a one possession game, at 24-17.

After trading punts, Hawai’i started to put distance between themselves and the Buffs. Joey Iosefa took a shovel pass from Moniz 22 yards to the end zone, extending the lead to 31-17 with only 6:17 to play. Tyler Hansen was then intercepted on a 4^th and 6 from inside the Colorado 30, and Hawai’i tacked on a field goal to put the game away.

“It’s a great win, a great team win. I’m really proud of our players and our coaches,” said McMackin who saw a 10-0 lead disappear, losing 31-17 in Boulder last year, “We let one get away last year (at Colorado). We had that chip on our shoulders. We’ve been working really hard for this.”

The 34-17 loss for the Buffs is not what Jon Embree and company had in mind when they got on the 7 hour plane ride to the Aloha State. But patience is key for Embree and the rest of the Buffs, especially with a Pac-12 opponent (although it is not a conference matchup this year) in California coming to Boulder next week.

“We have to get ready for Cal. We don’t have any choice. That’s who’s coming in,” finished Embree, the Buffs lost 52-7 in 2010, “They whipped our butts last year. We just got to go. We need to get better.”

Colorado Buffaloes: 2011 Prediction

Over the course of my college career I have seen bad football, and a grand total of 13 wins. I’ve used body paint that was intended for industrial use, and made the studious student in me go to class looking like Zoolander in a coal mine. I’ve seen good traditions, like student marshmallow and tortilla fights during television timeouts, disappear.  

I’ve gotten the raw end of many deals, but yet I remain faithful and most of the time positive.

So I feel confident in saying the Buffs won’t go to a bowl game. Jon Embree’s second year as a coach will be better than this first. But the 5 wins, that I’m predicting, will be a success.

Hawai’i, Colorado State and Washington State should all be wins.

The Buffs will get at least one of these games, but more likely two Arizona, USC, UCLA, Washington, Arizona State or Cal. Greg Brown, Colorado’s defensive coordinator, will put together some crazy scheme for the matchup with his former team, the Arizona Wildcats. Their overall popularity has made USC a team players are gunning to knock off the top, even if they aren’t anywhere close to where they have been in years past. And Jon Embree will come out of the opposing tunnel at the Rose Bowl. He will be walking his son, Taylor, out on senior night and then hopefully sustain those strong emotions into the game versus UCLA.

And I think the Buffs could, or will at least have the opportunity in the final moments to beat Oregon, Utah, Ohio State or Stanford.  A win in one of these games won’t only be good for national recognition (possibly not the type Colorado needs) but it will reaffirm to Buff fans that this is the right direction the program needs to move in.

Tyler Hansen or bust

There is no doubt in everyone’s mind surrounding the Buffs program that senior Tyler Hansen is the man at the helm. The competition of attrition in years past is long gone, he was an obvious pick as a captain and #9 is the biggest BMOC (Big Man on Campus) in Boulder.

Fans, students, even Hansen knows that Colorado will go as he goes.

Let’s take out the time capsule; haven’t we all been saying that the last three years.

Dan Hawkins bleached his red shirt several times without warning or just cause. He suffered an injury that you couldn’t make up, a ruptured spleen, and is extremely tough to come back from. And with one year left, add a new program and new system to learn to the mix, as a Buff it’s his, and only his, time.

Hell or high water Hansen will be under center. It doesn’t matter if the Buffs go 13-0 or 0-13 this is his creation. Heisman hopeful or hippie hugger Hansen better be ready.

Stevie Dorman, Brent Burnette, and John Schrock are trying to win Rip Scherer’s crew of askew juggs machines. Nick Hirschman, in a medical precautionary boot, has a better chance of running the first team offense than any one of the trio.

Tyler Hansen is the Buffs quarterback and leader; we’re all in with Hansen.

Colorado Buffaloes Football Good 'Concerns'

Jon Embree doesn’t feel worried.

 He’s not feeling the heat of the first days of August practice. He’s not fretting taking over the Colorado Buffaloes after a tumultuous firing and season a year prior. He’s not bothered by joining what could be the toughest conference in America and thus 13 straight weeks of downright dogfights.  

The sweat on his brow is from none of these things; it’s from the lack of air conditioning due to a weak swamp cooler in the Dal Ward Athletic Center. (The upwards of 50 media members jam packed into a little press conference room probably didn’t help either.)

But that lack of concern is concerning.

With less than a month until his first game, and only 4 full days of practice as the head coach under his belt he shouldn’t be as snug as a bug. ‘This isn’t his first rodeo,’ but technically it is. He thinks that this job is just football, and its easy pickings.

As a fan, as a sportswriter, as a person who has seen this program struggle the last three years for numerous reasons this is not the kind of attitude I want to see. Strife, turmoil, upheaval should be the environment at CU; instead it’s nonchalant, harmonious, and relaxation.

The Buffs were the best when students were burning couches, throwing marshmallows and, most importantly, when the football team was unmercifully demolishing their opposition.

Be concerned, or get worried.

The Clock Strikes Midnight on the Big XII

Boulder extinguished the Big XII era in dramatic fashion. It was a time and place that seems so distant to right now.

At 12:01 AM early this morning the switchover became official. The University of Colorado-Boulder and Utah Utes are a part of the PAC-12 Conference. This is the dawning of a new era for all twelve components.

A mere 12 hours later on the CU campus people are excited. The bell struck twelve times. It did not happen for the time of day that students are so accustomed to, but rather the turning of a page in the prestigious universities history; a simple christening of future big things to come. 

Like a dark fog lifting over uncharted waters there is no telling what lies ahead.  No map to guide CU on their way.

The Buff nation, in purest of forms, has unbridled enthusiasm about the Pac-12. Students from the west coast, and pretty much everywhere else, are ready for this transition to begin. They are ready to move on like a Friday night after a big presentation; holding nothing back. 

All 30,198 students should be able to feel the pride in the air today as the Golden Buffaloes ring in the beginning of something truly special. 

http://www.cubookstore.com/p-63011-pac-12-all-teams-tee-white.aspx

University of Colorado 32nd Most Profitable School

                In a recent poll published by ‘The Business of College Sports’ the University of Colorado ranks as the 32rd most profitable athletic department in the nation. The Buffaloes pocketed over $13.6 million last year.

This successful collegiate program is also an extremely helpful tool for academics at those same schools. The money the athletic department raises in ticket sales, merchandise and other forms does not remain in the department; rather it is filtered through the universities landscape like a large bag of mulch.

And that amount, that bag of cedar, is only going to get bigger moving into the newly formed PAC-12. The conference signed a network television deal with FOX and ESPN worth $3 billion over the next 12 years. (That’s $250 million a year, split 12 very equal ways.)

Making this type of money is all well in good only if it is put to work. If they update the University, with a strong emphasis on the athletic department, it’s more than worthwhile. Of all the PAC-12 schools CU is the 2^nd most profitable, only Washington is ahead. But, of all the schools again, CU spent the 3^rd least. Only Washington State and Oregon State invested less.

This is a new chapter in the long and historic lineage of the University of Colorado-Boulder. This new foothold, new West-coast perspective, spring-fresh start should make the school want to evolve, expand and push boundaries. CU could look a lot differently in the next decade, both athletically and academically.

http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/06/20/which-football-and-basketball-programs-produce-the-largest-profits/

CU SportsMag PKGs

Malcolm Blacken.... new CU Strength and Conditioning coordinator.


Frozen Foot 5K.... the CU Triathlon hosts a race that will support their efforts as they head to Nationals next month.