The Kickoff: Oregon Travels to Boulder for Tilt With Buffaloes

Dammit Dave.

How could you wait until Wednesday to post the kickoff? It's The Kickoff, it's supposed to start the week.

Relax.

It's Colorado. Oregon invading Boulder is like the United States invading Grenada: it won't take long and the outcome isn't in doubt. It will be something like 28-0 after the first quaterer, and we'll be counting down the minutes until Lockie time. It's not difficult to understand why it wasn't high on my priority list.

Colorado won two games earlier in the year, opening with a victory over Colorado State in the Rocky Mountain Showdown. and notching a win over FCS Central Arkansas the next week. They were suppsed to play Fresno State, but that game was cancelled with the flooding in Colorado adn, with a BYE the next week, CU went two weeks without playing before being smoked in Corvallis last week.

Colorado's problem is that they still operate at a major talent deficiency vis-a-vis the rest of the conference. Receiver Paul Richardson is one of the elite players in the conference--but he is really the only one. Connor Wood is a bottom tier Pac-12 quarterback. RB Tony Jones barely has over 100 yards on the season. The offensive line doesn't get much of a push.

Things aren't any better defensively, where the Buffaloes couldn't contain Brandin Cooks against Oregon State. They have given up less than four yards per carry, but that is skewed by playing a non-existent OSU running game.

I want Colorado to be good. I really do. Colorado is much like Washington was a few years ago--a sleeping giant. Once you get a coach in place who re-aligns the foundation, CU is place where they have won big before and can win big again. But that's not happening soon. Watch the first half, see Oregon go up 49-3 at the half, then watch Washington and Stanford go at it. Because this one will be ugly. Very ugly.