Colorado Signing Day Part 7- Areas of focus

            A team that finishes the season 3-10 is bound to have a few holes. There will be, and are, numerous places the Buffs lacked any real contribution due to a number of reasons.

“When I looked at the board, we had a lot of holes, so I kind of prioritized how we needed to fill them,” said Embree who could have focused on a number of different positions but found his areas of emphasis without hesitation. “This year it was defensive back and D-line.”

Colorado graduated eight players from both those positions, 5 of whom were starters: Curtis Cunningham, David Goldberg, Josh Hartigan (the previous three from defensive line), Anthony Perkins and Travis Sanderfeld (both from the defensive backfield).

The focus was fulfilled with strong talent, big bodies and half of Colorado’s entire recruiting class. Fourteen players come in this year with a place, and more so a need for them to play a big part of the Buffs defense. Yuri Wright and Kenny Crawley in the secondary, along with Tyler Henington, Kisima Jagne and Justin Solis as the front line of the defense are just a few of the big names to watch.

Embree commented that there were no players that he planned to switch their position although it is not rare for that to happen later in some athlete’s career. But these players, in particular, come in with a clean slate ready to take the next step in their football careers and aid in the progression of Colorado football.      

“Thanks to the senior class, they don't have to hear about the (road losing) streak anymore, so they don't have to worry about that,” said Embree. The 28 players will come into a system that has only had a year to lay its initial groundwork, but learning on the fly is just something we’re going to all have to deal with. “At the end of it, it's still football.”

Colorado Signing Day Part 6- Embree's first full class

            A good hitter in baseball may watch the first pitch go by before taking his cuts. Embree didn’t have that luxury last year when he was hired amid recruiting. Now with a full cycle to compete for the top talent in the land he found himself knee deep in recruits that he hopes will turn the Colorado program around.

“I'd say about 75 percent, 80 percent of them have an opportunity to come in and earn some playing time, special teams or regular,” said Embree, which speaks to the talent of the class as well as the departure of a plethora of seniors.

            Colorado graduated 28 seniors, meaning the 28 recruits Embree signed will be forced to come in right and play.The overall youth of the team will be evident, and growing pains are going to happen.

“I'm sure there will be some mistakes that are made because of their youth, but also there is not just youth in this class, there is talent,” said Embree. “Hopefully the youth shows up in practice and the talent shows up on Saturday.”

With mistakes their will be obvious places for growth and advancement. But that’ll give a coaching staff riddled with NFL experience the ability to mold this raw talent. They’ll be able to set them on the right path, coach them up in the areas they need most and help the talented class reach its fullest potential

“The good thing about young is they grow up,” said Embree, the head designer and leader in the overall direction of Colorado football. “I actually have thought about that, about how young we possibly could be.  It's good and bad.  The good is they don't know any better.  There are no bad habits.”

Although a lot of the criticism of this class will likely come later on, when the 28 players put on the Colorado uniform, it is hard not to describe Embree first full go-round of recruiting a success. The Buffs did what they set out to do, and will be rewarded for there hard work in the falls to come. But as the ultimate perfectionist, there is always something more CU could do.

“I think we can be better in recruiting,” said the head coach. As the pistons of the recruiting machine continue to move and coaches, including Embree, reposition themselves to snag a player that will make all the difference. “I believe the dynamics in our conference, things change.”

Colorado Signing Day Part 5- Recruiting teammates

            College is a scary proposition, but so is college football. Combining the two would make any high school athlete feel genuinely sheepish stepping into a Pac-12 school, on both the academic and athletic fronts.  

            To combat the problem, or if it happened unknowingly, the Buffs found themselves wrangling in a number of teammates and siblings in this year’s class. Four different sets of teammates, including a pair of twins, with be coming to Colorado and helping each other ease the transition away from home and into the gauntlet that is Division I football.  

“Colorado is a unique program in that we have three kids in-state this year and last year we had two, so there are 25 kids in this class that are leaving home,” said Embree.

Of the teammates, there are Jeromy and Sean Irwin, twins from Cypress, Texas. Also the Buffs signed the proclaimed DC3 from H.D. Woodson High School in Washington D.C. including Kenneth Crawley, John Walker, De’Jon Wilson. And finally two pairs of teammates from the west coast; from Upland, California, came Donta Abron, Marques Mosley and Christian Powell, and from Westlake Village, California, was Justin Solis and Johnny Stuart.

            But what does not get talked about enough is the popularly wrong consensus of a seemingly trivial fact that these student athletes are leaving home for the first time and they are also prone to getting home sick. So Embree is more than just the football coach for many of these student athletes.

“They can say all they want, they're all tough, and then they're in my office on my couch talking about momma and the dog and everybody else that they miss,” said Embree, who treats and takes care of all 105 players like their his own kids. “They all go through it, so it will help having other teammates.”

            Being around a familiar face will likely calm the nerves of several of the players. And the camaraderie brought together by fighting for a sole cause, with 28 new faces and personalities will be an interesting dynamic.

“They’re really good kids,” said Embree. “That locker room downstairs is about to change.”

Colorado Signing Day Part 4- Good grade in a good Buffs class

            Some analysts, and experts, ranked the Buffaloes class as high as 27^th in the nation. That’s nothing to scoff at, especially for a program that has only won 11 games in the last three seasons combined.

            “The sooner the better, but I expect us to be able to put together competitive classes, and the thing I'm really proud about with this class is that our current kids did a great job helping recruit these kids,” said Embree who has been adamant about the prospect of prospects in his first year. “The name of the game is with this class, I want to bring somebody in who can beat these guys out.” 

            If competition breeds more focus and faster improvements then the Buffs are right where they need to be. No one player’s position is secure come spring and fall camp. And Embree is building depth with his first two classes that will continue to push the returning players, even starters.

“This class got along great with the kids that are here,” said Embree. He’s also already mentioned the class of 2013 and 2014, which is crucial component to a new mentality in Boulder. “I expect them to be the same way with next year's class, it's important to keep that going.”

A turn-around, a rebuilding will take time, but also the development of young men into supreme college football players also isn’t an instant formula. Some players make it, and make an impact while others don’t. That is just the way of life in recruiting, and projecting a player four years down the road when there are so many unknowns to account for is extremely hard to do.  

“Really at the end of it, you judge your class in four years,” said Embree, where four years in the life of college football is an eon. “I wish they'd rank you then.  You can see who stayed, who performed, who gets injured or maybe academics, some people don't make it.”

Embree can’t predict what the Colorado football program will look like in a quadrennial, but he has definitely plan or blueprint set for his black and gold.

Buffs getting "better, Colorado National Signing Day Part 1

Similar to a helium balloon slipping through the hands of its pigtailed owner, the Colorado Buffaloes football program is on the rise. But unlike those cotton-candy coated hands of that same little girl that looks on in awe of the carnival that sits before her, Jon Embree’s grasp is only getting tighter, ready to take flight.

Embree and his team want that elevation too. 

“We're very excited about it.  Today we got better.  The Buffaloes definitely got better,” said Embree brimming on National Signing Day where the Buffs acquired 28 recruits. “There is a lot of excitement around our program.”  

            This is an exhilaration that translates and transfers much like osmosis throughout the veins of the Buffs contingent. A revival of the past is just one of number of reasons the Colorado program and its fan are excited about the upcoming years. All the coaches were a part of CU, and their pride and energy to resurrect it back to where it once was evident in the recruiting process.

“They (recruits) have to understand that they can come here and be part of us getting back to the way things used to be around here,” said Embree who played tight end for the Buffs in the late 1980’s. “We'll continue to work at it and we'll keep doing our best at it and eventually it will turn.”

Embree is a believer and conversion is what any good recruiter will tell you makes or breaks the sell. You don’t sell the product, Colorado football, you sell yourself, and Embree can make you want to be on his side, because that is where you’ll have the best chance of success.

But Embree wasn’t going after players because of their reputation; he went to place players that would fit the Colorado model. And one of these main requirements was passion; the passion to play the game, give everything for the team and being so committed to the team that they’d give anything to win.

 “As you talk to a kid, you can get a feel for how important it is to them and what it means to them,” said Embree who would strap a helmet on if they let him. “What would happen if they didn't have it?”  

So while a recruiting class win or lose you games, the energy Embree brought to the press conference and the enthusiasm he showed as he talked about his recruits makes you think his Buffs are already aspiring big things.

You better believe it, Embree sure does.

Oregon Uniforms Top the List

Pasadena isn't necessarily know for its fashion scene. They usually leave the trends, and slow moving traffic to the people of Los Angeles. But in an odd Rose Bowl, one that was played on January 2nd, both those came west for the Grand-Daddy of them All. 

The Rose Bowl Parade is nothing new, as the traditions of the game run as deep as Mariana's Trench. But the sense of style, in the form of new uniforms and slick metallic gleamed helmets, was all the buzz. (If Tweeting and Twitter make a buzz, then what do bees make?But thats for another day.)

Yet the uniforms were nothing more than a cover up.

Oregon is arguably one of the best teams in the nation. They consistently bring in talent, and aren't in the process of slowing down anytime soon. (On and off the field.) But while the plethora of skill and swag the Ducks have there is one thing they is the overriding factor in why they are where they are right now. And that is coaching.

The Ducks are the most well coached team in college football. Chip Kelly knows how to get players to commit to the program, to come to Eugene and to buy into his system, and he knows how to coach football in this day in age.

They play fast and they win. Oh, and they look the part. 

College bowls aren't selfish

People who think there are too many bowl games, that the BCS is rigged, that college football deserves better than the teams, conferences and institutions that surround them are selfish. These people, wherever they find themselves are self-centered.

These people want the self satisfaction of an enjoyable, resolved 10 or so games that will crown a sole team the best in the nation.

Without the first two rounds of the NCAA college basketball tournament it would just be called “March”, because there is no real madness from the Sweet-16 on in. The Super Bowl should lack the prescribed title if they pitted the two best regular season teams together in a single game in mid-February.

These games matter, not to the fans that remain ignorant about what IUPUI means as an acronym or as a university, but to the players. For most of these players this is an experience they will tell their grandkids about.

These student-athletes, as some uncommonly refer to themselves as, will not cherish this moment. They will enjoy the ride and take for granted what it truly means. But there will be more than a few that take this in and see that they are no bigger than the game but it is a privilege to be taking part in it. These are the players that need 

these ‘irrelevant games’.

So while rude fans can sit at home flipping the channel past the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl or the Beef’o’Brady Bowl St. Petersburg this is where the real magic of the bowl season happens. The players earned this so relish it all fellas.

College Bowl Predictions; 2011-2012

This is starting to feel a lot like a tradition. For the third straight year I will be laying down the law, writing the prescribed amount and, hopefully, correctly picking the winners in each of the 35 college bowl games that get underway today. 

1. Wyoming over Temple. The Pokes can’t let their basketball team outshine them, thus they’ll take down the Owls.

2. Utah State beats Ohio. The Idaho Potato Bowl mashes two of the better, traditionally, lower tiered conference teams together. But “I Believe that… Utah State will win.”

3. San Diego State will beat LA-Lafayette. I watched the movie, ‘Anchorman’ yesterday. So that’s got to be a sign, right?

4. Marshall over Florida International. I’m taking a shot on the Thundering Herd. I learned two years ago that the team that is closest to their home usually does worse. So seeing the Beef’o’Brady St. Petersburg Bowl is next door to FIU then I’m going with Marshall.

5. TCU easy win over Louisiana Tech. Simple as that.

6. Boise State over Arizona State. Kellen Moore deserved to be a Heisman Finalist, Chris Peterson deserves a ton of respect as a coach, and the Broncos will easily cover the nearly two touchdown spread to beat the Sun Devils. ASU has been reeling the last half of the season with their last win coming against Colorado in October.

7. Southern Mississippi beats Nevada. The Golden Eagles unseated Houston in the Conference USA title game, we can just hope the beautiful Hawaii scenery doesn’t distract them.

8. Missouri over North Carolina. Gary Pinkel and the Tigers find a way to get it done, although this game will remain tight throughout.

9. Purdue beats Western Michigan.

10. Louisville beats North Carolina State. These last two have been educated guesses.

11. Air Force over Toledo. You just don’t bet against the Armed Forces in a bowl game, you just don’t do it. These kids deserve a spot in a bowl game every year, even if their record doesn’t reflect it, and they’ll earn it.

12. Texas gets past California. Colt McCoy won his first ever bowl game appearance as a freshman in 2006 in the Alamo Bowl, and Case McCoy will do the same in his first bowl game too. The Longhorns have been hit or miss this year, but they beat the Golden Bears in the Holiday Bowl.

13. Florida beats Notre Dame. This game may be a tossup, but when in doubt choose speed at the college level.

14. Baylor beats Washington. This could be one of the better bowl games out there. Griffin is surging coming over the school’s first ever Heisman so a lot of eyes will be on him. But Washington is sneaky good, 4 of their 5 losses have come to Nebraska, Stanford, Oregon and USC. Watch out for the Huskies who will happily spoil the Bears bowl season.

15. Tulsa beats BYU. I do not like the fact that the Cougars are an independent, and they had their choice of scheduling this year. In three good matchups BYU found itself on the losing end. Tulsa will take it.

16. Rutgers beats Iowa State. The Cyclones played their best game of the year to beat Oklahoma State. But they won’t be able to rekindle the those old feelings against the Scarlet Knights.

17. Mississippi State over Wake Forest. SEC v ACC, then this sounds like a sure-fire pick.

18. Iowa beats Oklahoma. If Ryan Broyles were in the game then this would be an easy pick. But the Sooners losing to Iowa will just prove, once more, how crucial Broyles is to this team.

19. Texas A&M rolls past Northwester. The Wildcats haven’t won a bowl game since 1948 and I think the jump to the SEC for the Aggies will help carry them. The drought will thus continue for Northwestern.

20. Georgia Tech beats Utah. The option offense will be too much to handle, although the Utes front-seven is really good.

21. Vanderbilt beats Cincinnati. To go against what I just practically said, this will be only the second bowl since 1982 for the Commodores and they get it done. They won their final game to get eligibility and James Franklin will carry them to the top.

22. Illinois beats UCLA. Upheaval, and a losing record does not bode well for the Bruins. The Fighting Illini cruise past UCLA.

23. Auburn over Virginia. War Eagle is in transition mode, only returning 6 starters from the National Championship a year ago. It should be seen as a feat rather than a failure when Gene Chizik wins a second straight bowl game.

24. Houston beats Penn State. It is really hard to figure out this game. The Nittany Lions will be surrounded by a media circus which could make it hard to focus on football or give them a much needed kick in the rear to push them to victory. Case Keenum will win his final game amid a trying game for both sides.

25. Michigan State beats Georgia. Although the Bulldogs looked good against LSU the Big 10 is gaining in stature. The Spartans lost in the inaugural championship game and have something to prove this game. Kirk Cousins solidifies his case to be drafted into the NFL.

26. Nebraska over South Carolina. For the first time in a long time the Gamecocks are definitely the second-best team in the great state of South Carolina. The ol’ ball coach may try trickery but Nebraska wins easily.

27. Ohio State beats Florida. The new Florida Gators versus the old Florida Gators. The Bowl Selection Committee probably gets a chuckle out of pitting these two teams against each other. Urban Meyer will take his talents to Columbus next year and this game is likely to be a dogfight down to the wire.

28. Oregon beats Wisconsin. The Ducks, just ahead of the Trojans, were the most impressive team I saw in person this year. They were classy, they clicked and they did nothing to embarrass the Buffs except play their game the right way and win big. Chip Kelly has something in Eugene that is truly special.

29. Oklahoma State beats Stanford. The Cowboys did not deserve to be in the BCS National Title Game, as echoed by Mike Gundy. But once the ‘Pokes’ win, and a possible LSU loss, the debate about the best team in America continues on. (BCS Gods will be smiling.)

30. Michigan beats Virginia Tech. In a game that should be taking place on Christmas Eve rather than January 3^rd the Wolverines will win. VT looked bad against Clemson, and Denard Robinson steals the show.

31. Clemson cruises past West Virginia. Dabo Sweeney does everything right for one more game in Miami. How can the Tigers not win at a place called the ‘Orange Bowl’?

32. Kansas State beats Arkansas. Bill Snyder is one of the best coaches ever in college football.

33. Pittsburgh over SMU. June Jones was reported to be leaving, then he wasn’t, then, well who knows. A solid program may be able to handle that kind of strife but I don’t think SMU will have enough.

34. Arkansas State beats Northern Illinois. Why is this bowl game played on this date? I almost just left it off my ballot I’m so disturbed by it.

35. LSU will beat Alabama for the second time this year for the BCS National Championship. ‘Bama had their chance; in Tuscaloosa, missing four field goals and one of the best interceptions of the season on the goal line. They had their chance and now the steamroller that is LSU and Les Miles will easily take it. ‘The Honey-Badger don’t care’, and LSU goes undefeated.

We’ll how beat up these predictions get over the course of the bowl season.

Oregon v LSU: Part Deaux

The BCS standings are more disputed than the appetizer selection at Outback steakhouse on a redneck Thanksgiving.

But if everything continues to go in this direction that is so inevitably appears to be then the BCS is in good shape. Louisiana State and Oklahoma State are on the path to meet at the Superdome in New Orleans. They, and Houston which could win 20 games this year and not go to the Championship Game, are the only undefeated teams in the nation. But what if it doesn’t?

Oklahoma State, assuming that they win out to go undefeated, deserves a spot in the National Title game on January 9^th. Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon are as good a combination as we’ve seen in college football.

What if, by most sort of fluke, the Cowboys trip up over the course of the last two weeks? (They are sort of lucky, or unlucky depending on how you look at it, due to the conference realignment. There is no Big XII Championship game because the league does not field enough teams.)

Who is going to go play LSU? It will be a rematch, for whom a second chance is given would be the sole factor now.

Alabama or Oregon? Houndstooth apples or third-alternate oranges?

You probably couldn’t go wrong with either, but Oregon (in my respectfully omnipotent opinion) should get their number called.

The Ducks are the best coached team in the nation, hands down. Their class is only equivalent to their skill and only slightly behind their unbridled speed. The Ducks did lose to LSU 40-27 at Cowboy Stadium on the opening weekend of the college football season, but they have come a long way ever since.

They “made Stanford look like a JV team,” said respected analyst Kirk Herbstreit. And the Tide had their shot, midseason form in the game of the century, at home, and they couldn’t pull it off.

Oregon is arguably the best and deepest team in the nation. Chip Kelly’s team is ready to go down to Louisiana and take on what can only be assumed to be a pro-Tiger crowd. It will be Oregon versus LSU; Part Deaux.

Collin Klein is a Heisman sleeper

The kid from little Loveland, Colorado is getting no love.

Junior Collin Klein in undoubtedly the most unstoppable force at Kansas State. He’s leading the most surprising team in the nation to one of the most prolific seasons in school history. There are 5 or 6 players that are, in number of popular votes, ahead of the Wildcat quarterback.

Klein goes to school in the Little Apple (Manhattan, Kansas) but he has at least earned a trip to the Big Apple.

He has 34 total touchdowns through just 10 games. And he’s done it in one of the best, most physical conferences (Big XII) in America. Klein has, on average rushed for 100 yards and 3 touchdowns per game. He leads the nation in rushing touchdowns, and that includes all the running backs. He’s also rushed for more than every quarterback than one (Chandler Harnish from NIU) and he’s 150 yards ahead of Denard Robinson.

Not to mention his even less notarized passing skills. Klein has thrown for 10 touchdowns, or as many as AJ McCarron (Alabama quarterback) and John McEntee (UCONN quarterback and trivial-gun-slinger extraordinaire).

Klein has led his team, in his first year as a starter, to an 8-2 record. And more than a friendly pat on the back he should be in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy.

A Streak of 3-D

“There was no interference from that…. Um…. Yay-hoo,” said the referee following an incomplete pass by Tyler Hansen on third down.

While all the fans at the game were disappointed, the popular voters at home were thankful even noticeable grateful that he still had his clothes on. What could have been a disaster in the second-EVER 3-D broadcast turned out to be nothing more than a meaningless prank.

The streaker, if we true fans can even call him that came onto Folsom Field could have single handedly (I refrain, too easy of a joke) made ESPN question its production value. And how could a little thing, a small infraction like that, have such big implications for the largest network in the sports arena?

All kidding aside, 3-D television doesn’t seem to be the next new thing. It won’t sizzle, but it won’t take off either.

Fans at home, and sometimes people even at the stadium get caught doing it, watch the two-dimensional version of the contest to their bemusement. There is no reason to think that people will want to bring this into their home; it may be an interesting improvement of technology but only a step forward to something more dramatic.

The ‘Wall-E’ shaped cameras may start to replace fingerprint covered binoculars. People will come back, they can’t stay away. HD, 3-D or Heavy-D (R.I.P. and he will be missed), by Dwight’s dimension definition, they paved the way and yet there is more to come.