2011-2012 Football Previews – Pac 12 – Colorado Buffaloes
The Colorado Buffaloes have struggled to compete in the Big-12 for the past five years, and have not having had a winning season since going 7-6 in 2006. Now they will get ready for their first season in the PAC-12 after a dismal 2-6 conference finish in 2010.
2011-2012 PAC 12 | Colorado Buffaloes Football Preview
Coach: Jon Embree.
2010-11 Record: 5-7 (2-6)
Colorado Buffaloes Gambling Odds from Bodog.com to win BCS: 20-1
Colorado Team Page – Players Stats – Roster – 2011 Schedule –>
To go along with their conference move, 2011 will also mark the first season under head coach Jon Embree, who replaces Dan Hawkins that was apparently so bad Colorado paid him $2 million just to go away.
A little known assistant coach with both NFL and college experience, including several stints totaling 10 years at Colorado, Embree could be in over his head, but only time will tell.
With all that change, there’s is one constant, as the Buffaloes bring back 16 starters from last year. But that could all be overshadowed by the fact the players will have to learn new systems on both sides of the ball, not to mention trying to win their first road game in three seasons in unfamiliar territory.
So, here’s a closer look at the 2011 Colorado Buffaloes to help make your College Football wagers winners.
Offense:
Tyler Hansen will get another shot at quarterback after suffering a season ending injury against Texas Tech in his seventh start last season. Hansen was replaced by Cody Hawkins, son of former coach Hawkins, but not before completing 112-of-164 passes for 1,102 yards with six touchdowns and six interceptions.
Over three seasons, Hansen’s 2,822 career yards rank 11th all-time for the Buffaloes. Hansen will open the season as the expected starter, and if he stays healthy, could finish the year with well over 1,500 passing yards, matching Hawkins production in 2010.
He will get a lot of help from one of the top offensive lines in the conference, bringing back four of their five starters from 2010, including two of the best guards in the PAC-12 in Ethan Adkins and Ryan Miller. Both will not only provide adequate pass protection, but should open lanes for senior running back Rodney Stewart to rip off some serious rushing yards against their new conference contenders, unloading some of the offensive burden from Hansen’s shoulders.
Stewart was Colorado’s lone bright spot in 2010, finishing third in the Big 12 with 1,318 yards to and 10 rushing touchdowns. He will be a key contributor to the Buffaloes offense again this season, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him top last year’s numbers.
One area for concern for Colorado’s offense will be finding a suitable replacement for Scotty McKnight, who finished his career setting the school’s all-time records for receiving touchdowns and receptions, before being picked up by the Jets in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Hopeful Paul Richardson will be called upon, trying to build off a solid freshman season where he caught 34 passes for 514 yards and six touchdowns.
Defense:
Once again, the biggest area of concern for Colorado will be on defense, even though they return seven starters. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Allowing just over 30 points a game, the Buffaloes labored defensively in 2010, but will remain hopeful that the starting defensive tackle duo of Curtis Cunningham and Will Pericak, can quietly emerge as solid run stopping unit. Pericak recorded five tackles for loss and a team-high 10 tackles for zero yards last season.
Just behind them, Colorado brings back starting linebackers Jon Major and Liloa Nobriga, but lost inside linebacker Michael Sipili who led the team with 94 tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss. This will leave the Buffaloes with a huge void to fill. Likely to step into the role will be junior Douglas Rippy who has just 10 career tackles– but that’s in just one start.
In the secondary, the Buffaloes bring back the starting safety duo of senior strong safety Anthony Perkins and junior free safety Ray Polk, but lose two exceptional corners in Jimmy Smith and Jalil Brown. Hard to believe this unit will be anywhere near as productive as they were last year with those two huge losses.
Matt’s Prediction: 6th PAC-12 South – The defense will be the question mark here, and with as much focus that will be put into the offense, I’m just not sure the Buffaloes will have enough left to make a splash in their PAC-12 debut.
2011 Colorado Buffaloes Schedule
9/3/11 10:15 PM ET @HAW
9/10/11 12:00 PM ET CAL
9/17/11 1:30 PM ET COLST
9/24/11 12:00 PM ET @OHIST
10/1/11 12:00 PM ET WSHST
10/8/11 12:00 PM ET @STAN
10/15/11 12:00 PM ET @WASH
10/22/11 12:00 PM ET ORE
10/29/11 12:00 PM ET @ARZST
11/4/11 9:00 PM ET USC
11/12/11 12:00 PM ET ARZ
11/19/11 12:00 PM ET @UCLA
11/25/11 3:30 PM ET @UTAH
One reply on “2011 Colorado Buffaloes Gambling Odds | Predictions”
Will the Buffaloes have more or less than 6 wins this year?