SoCal, Buffs vs Miami U II - The Wrath of Barney

[Pezman]

Hey Bro! Since I wont be here most of the week to talk schmack I thought I'd start now
Ok, so the long anticipated matchup has arrived bro. The long-overdue follow up to the 1993 epic battle featuring a hell of alot of future NFL'ers has arrived! Going into the game, both teams are admittedly coming in at less than full-strength.

Going to the Orange Bowl will be a difficult task for most any team, but for the Buffs, it could be a fatal task in most years. But this year, with a very young Canes club, I wonder if CU can sneak in under the radar and snipe a victory.
The Canes will walk into this game 1-1- and in the top 15 again and CU will walk in 2-0 and unranked in the AP. Will Miami be looking back on a tough 3 OT battle with Clemson and maybe past the Buffs as well?

Lots and lots of questions to say the least... for now, I'll open with a prediction. We wont see another brawl for all. I think...

[Pezman]

By the way... about the brawl... here is a recent article remembering the incident and how it really got started a day earlier!

http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/cu_fo...090321,00.html


'Canes brought out ire in Buffs

Last time teams met, fireworks erupted

By Zak Brown, Camera Sports Writer
September 18, 2005

A day before they would engage in a chaotic bout of title contenders, the Colorado Buffaloes glared out at their opponents dancing on the field that would transform into a 100-yard-long ring.

While a No. 13-ranked CU team still reeling from a last-second loss at Stanford the week before was lifting weights in the Dal Ward Center, the No. 3 Miami Hurricanes did their walk-through in an empty Folsom Field. Except they did more than walk. They danced. They danced on the Buffalo. In football, disgracing the midfield emblem is one of the highest forms of insult. As the Buffs watched the Miami "swagger" out the wall-length windows, intensity exploded behind those windows.

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That intensity wasn't even close to the next day's.

On Sept. 25, 1993, Colorado lost to Miami 35-29 in a memorable game that included pre-game skirmishes, coin-flip standoffs, an irate athletic director and a massive, spectacular brawl. It was the last time the two teams played, and 12 years have created vastly different circumstances for this Saturday when the teams meet in the Orange Bowl.

"There was a lot riding on that game," said Matt Russell, a redshirt freshman linebacker for CU at the time and eventual Butkus Award winner. "There were national rankings and just the fact that we, plus the media, had high expectations."

When the teams meet Saturday at 10 a.m., the game will still be on national television (ABC-Channel 7). But that's about all that's the same. No. 13 Miami has drastically cleaned up its image. Colorado has dropped out of national contender status, and even the top 25. Miami should be a heavy favorite, and a Colorado win would be a major boost to the Buffs season.

In 1993, it was marquee material. It was a high-profile contest, even after what Colorado did the week before. Colorado went to Stanford for a late start in Week 3 holding onto national title hopes. The No. 8 Buffs had already beaten Texas and No. 24 Baylor, but they lost to the Cardinal on a controversial touchdown with eight seconds left.

"We probably looked ahead to Miami. We were waiting to play them from two years before," said starting tight end Sean Embree, now the offensive coordinator at Boulder High. "We wanted to get 'em. For us, it was like Nebraska. We wanted to put it on 'em. We wanted to hurt 'em."

That sentiment was the same across the country. Cocky wasn't enough to describe this Miami team that eventually lost to Alabama in the national championship game.

The program was notorious for NCAA law bending and state law breaking. In a 1995 story by the Miami Herald, the paper figured out at least one of every seven scholarship players on the 1994 team was arrested at some time in his career. That story prompted another, much larger piece that brought the swagger to America's coffee tables. On June 12, 1995, Sports Illustrated's Alexander Wolff wrote an open letter to Miami's president Tad Foote. On a background of Miami's trademark green, the cover of the issue said, "Why the University of Miami should drop football." It ripped the program for its NCAA and legal problems.

"They had that swagger," said Maurice Henriques, a former CU defensive back and now the track coach at Fairview. "They felt any field was their home field. It started during the walk-through."

But the Buffs, who went 8-3-1 that season and beat Frenso State in the Aloha Bowl, weren't exactly choirboys. Earlier that year, two CU players were arrested for carrying guns on campus. In May of that year, Buff Erik Mitchell was questioned with two former Buffs in a shooting incident at the Denver Zoo when a ricocheting bullet hit a 10-month-old boy. The three were released, but two guns were found in their car. And no one on the team was afraid of fisticuffs.

The fire began to rise early on that Saturday. During CU's pre-game stretch, some of the Hurricanes walked through. It didn't take long for some of the Buffs to try to forcibly escort them away. The altercation was stopped before it boiled over. But one was certainly coming.

The teams even argued when the captains met at midfield. Two of the Buff captains, linebacker Ronnie Woolfork and receiver Charles Johnson, refused to shake hands with the 'Canes.

In the second quarter, athletic director Bill Marolt was in an altercation with Miami recruiting coordinator Pete Garcia. Upset at the Big East officials, Marolt stormed onto the field and threw down his sports coat. The refs thought he was with Miami, so they told Garcia, also in charge of sidelines, to get Marolt off the field. They got into each other's faces, but no one was thrown out.

Marolt, now president/chief executive officer of the U.S. Ski Association, declined to comment for this story.

On the field, Miami was backing up the brashness. With a 25-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter from Frank Costa to C.T. Jones, the 'Canes had a 21-6 lead with 20 seconds left in the half. Then the ensuing kick sailed out of the end zone.

CU true freshman Buster Wilbon was blocking on the kick and drilled Antonio Coley. As the two fell to the turf, Coley began to throw blows. Russell was next to Wilbon and ran to help his teammate. When he looked up, he saw both teams coming full force onto the field.

"It was like Braveheart," said Russell, a scout with the New England Patriots. "The two teams met in the middle of the field."

There were punches, kicks, karate chops. In one picture in the Daily Camera, CU linebacker Daryl Price had his foot level with the helmet of a Miami player. Kicks were more effective when everyone involved was covered with pads and facemasks.

"It was more trying to pull off helmets," said safety Donnell Leomiti, now a defensive technical intern with the Buffs. "It was just trying to grab and pull."

All-American Miami defensive end Kevin Patrick was on the ground in another battle on the field. Colorado's Garrett Ford, Gerald Ancar and James Hill were above him, pummeling him. Ford had ripped off Patrick's facemask, but the top was still attached to the helmet, making a perfect handle. Ford was pulling Patrick along the ground, forcing the chin strap to make a pig's snout of Patrick's nose. Meanwhile, Ancar and Hill were pounding him.

"I went down to the end zone because I was going to throw a helmet into the stands that I had from one of the Colorado players," said Patrick, who owns a new medical billing business in North Carolina and plans on putting the framed picture on his office wall. "Then (WR Michael) Westbrook came down and started with karate kicks. Then they kind of picked me out."

For those involved, it's hard to say what did stop it. As then and current linebackers coach Brian Cabral said, "I think they just tired out."

Lost in all the chaos was an exciting game. Miami led 28-6 in the third quarter, but Colorado scored 14 points in the last 8:50. The Buffs were sparked by an onside recovery by Deren Tadlock and a forced fumble by Chris Hudson. On the last drive, quarterback quarterback Kordell Stewart tried to go to Charles Johnson on fourth down at the 5-yard line, but Johnson, who had eight catches and seven in the last 8:50, couldn't get the ball.

"It was one of the best times I've had on a football field," Patrick said. "But you have to consider the fans throwing beer on you from the stands. I probably had a good keg wasted on me by the time I left."

[SoCalBronco]

Originally Posted by Pezman

Hey Bro! Since I wont be here most of the week to talk schmack I thought I'd start now
Ok, so the long anticipated matchup has arrived bro. The long-overdue follow up to the 1993 epic battle featuring a hell of alot of future NFL'ers has arrived! Going into the game, both teams are admittedly coming in at less than full-strength.

Going to the Orange Bowl will be a difficult task for most any team, but for the Buffs, it could be a fatal task in most years. But this year, with a very young Canes club, I wonder if CU can sneak in under the radar and snipe a victory.
The Canes will walk into this game 1-1- and in the top 15 again and CU will walk in 2-0 and unranked in the AP. Will Miami be looking back on a tough 3 OT battle with Clemson and maybe past the Buffs as well?

Lots and lots of questions to say the least... for now, I'll open with a prediction. We wont see another brawl for all. I think...

This should be a really good game bro. Hopefully Coker makes you guys wear the black unis in the heat.

[SoCalBronco]

From what I remember, the brawl started due to a certain CU band member throwing his trombone down onto the field on an innocent and unsuspecting Miami player.

[Northman]

Miami wins easily here. great win by UM over Clemson this weekend by the way SoCal.

[Master___Pain]

Originally Posted by SoCalBronco

This should be a really good game bro. Hopefully Coker makes you guys wear the black unis in the heat.

Unfortunately, they can't make CU wear the Black uni's. Miami has to ask for CU's permission to wear nything other than the home uni's (Green or Orange) No chance CU signs off on playing in the black uni's. I would expect CU to be in white tops with either the white or gold pants.

[Breck Bronc]

Originally Posted by Pezman

By the way... about the brawl... here is a recent article remembering the incident and how it really got started a day earlier!

http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/cu_fo...090321,00.html

That sentiment was the same across the country. corky wasn't enough to describe this Miami team that eventually lost to Alabama in the national championship game.

This Daily Camera article is good and well balanced, but there was one major error in it. Miami lost to Alabama in the 1992 Sugar Bowl for the national championship.

In 1993, when the Colorado game was played, Miami lost to Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl. The loss to Alabama in 1992 (technically Jan. 1 1993) was the start of the downfall of the Miami program under Dennis Erickson and the Fiesta Bowl embarrassment the next season showed how badly Erickson was really doing as coach.

I have to run now, but I have a lot more on the game coming up Saturday and that classic in Boulder in 1993.

[SoCalBronco]

Nuggets4 would probably be bewildered by this but I would gladly trade our OC Dan Werner for your OC Shawn Watson, no matter his deficiencies. And you can have Coker too just as a special gift bonus like you see on those QVC deals. If you guys think you have poor coaching, you havent seen anything yet. Wait till Saturday.

[Master___Pain]

Originally Posted by SoCalBronco

Nuggets4 would probably be bewildered by this but I would gladly trade our OC Dan Werner for your OC Shawn Watson, no matter his deficiencies. And you can have Coker too just as a special gift bonus like you see on those QVC deals. If you guys think you have poor coaching, you havent seen anything yet. Wait till Saturday.

Sand bagger.

BTW, Cane fans, any injuries from Sat. of note? Secondly, who do the Canes play the following week?

Things I like about this Buffs team.
Special Teams-Maybe the best in the country from KO's, KR, FGs, Punting and coverage they are solid all the way around. If Torp had enough attempts he'd be leading Sepulveda by 4.5 yards. Crosby is, well, the best damn kicker in the Country, period.
Defense- Not spectacular, but MUCH improved from years past. Looks to be pretty good against the run, but neither team they have faced is a running team. The LB's are easily the strength of the D, with 4 co-starters guys that could all be in the NFL in years to come. The secondary finally looks like they get it.
Running Game-Between the bruising running of Vickers and the quick burst slashing style of Hugh Charles, they can mix it up pretty good. I really think they have to run at Miami, not try to run for the edges. The O-line looks to be getting better, but if G Brian Daniels is unavailable, that's going to hurt big time.

[Billy Clyde Puckett]

[QUOTE=Master___Pain]Sand bagger.

QUOTE]

You know, pretty soon SoCal will start telling us that Frank Solich is a better coach than anyone they have ever had at Miami.

[SoCalBronco]

[QUOTE=Big Guy]

Originally Posted by Master___Pain

Sand bagger.

QUOTE]

You know, pretty soon SoCal will start telling us that Frank Solich is a better coach than anyone they have ever had at Miami.

We have had some good coaches, Schnellenburger, Johnson, Erickson, and good coordinators like Gary Stevens, Sonny Lubick, Tommy Tuberville, Greg Schiano. But neither Davis nor Coker were/are good gameday coaches or gameplanners. They are not cream of the crop Xs and Os wise. Davis was a very good recruiter. Coach Coker is an extremely nice man, works hard with his staff in recruiting (although they dont always close as well as they need to), projects a great image for the team, tries very hard to keep the program clean, but he isnt of the type of caliber of Coach that Miami needs. He just isnt a very good coach. We are now 6-4 in ACC play going back to last year. We are 21-6 in our last 27. This is garbage. 9-3 is now pathetically becoming acceptable at the U. This staff routinely gets the team to underachieve and just like the past Clemson game, we often turn solid wins into dogfights.

[SoCalBronco]

Originally Posted by Master___Pain

.

BTW, Cane fans, any injuries from Sat. of note? Secondly, who do the Canes play the following week?

.

Here is our practice report from today. It talks about injuries somewhat. I'll post them daily so you guys can get an idea of who is playing and who is hurt and generally how well you can expect us to play (based on the crispness, sluggishness of the overall practice and specific players)



Practice Report: 9/19

By Christopher Stock
Date: Sep 19, 2005

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The Hurricanes practiced today instead of tomorrow due to Hurricane Rita.

The team practiced for two hours beginning at 2:20 p.m.

It was announced today that the October 1 game against South Florida at home will be at 8:00 and televised nationally on ESPNU.


“This was a great day today. This is normally an off day and I was concerned with how we would approach it, but we approached it really well. We ran around well and looked fresh and rested even though we weren't out late and didn't get much rest."

"If you lose you'd like to get back on track and play the next night. We are going to make a positive out of the bye week, how much it helped we will find out around 7:30 on Saturday evening."



· RB Tyrone Moss and FS Kenny Phillips were named players of the week by the ACC for their performances. Moss was named the offensive back of the week after rushing for 139 yards and 3 touchdowns. Phillips was named the rookie of the week with 10 tackles and the game-clinching interception.

· SS Brandon Meriweather and FS Kenny Phillips both had 10 tackles apiece appear to be the starting safeties for the rest of the season with Greg Threat backing them up. All three players can provide the defense with great strengths.

· CB Devin Hester had eight plays in his 'package' each week. Offensive coordinator Dan Werner said they have used him in only about four of those plays. After Hester made the pass down field as opposed to taking a 3-yard gain on the designed run, Werner did not want to use Hester on offense in the rest of the game. However he will continued to be used on offense although he still needs to improve on his technique at cornerback.

· OL Reggie Youngblood and OL A.J. Trump have been working in with the second unit on the offensive line, but neither have played in a game although they have traveled. Both players are the future of the Miami offensive line--a line that graduates four seniors this year.

· QB Kirby Freeman participated in one play last game, a designed run to the right after faking to the tailback. The coaches would like to play Freeman more in the upcoming weeks, but only in the right situations.

· LB Willie Williams will continue to be worked into the lineup, but at this point he is still unlikely to be used in passing situations. He is doing a superb job at playing downhill.

· Coker mentioned that some of the guys will be watching the Redskins tonight which feature former 'Canes Santana Moss, Clinton Portis, and Sean Taylor.



· RB Charlie Jones was held out a bit during practice with cramps and it doesn't appear to be anything serious. Jones carried the ball six times for 279 yards against Clemson.

· LB Tavares Gooden did not play against Clemson and still appears at least another week away from returning.

· OL Derrick Morse is still out with a fracured shoulder. He is expected to miss 2-4 more weeks after suffering the injury on August 11.

· RB Andrew Johnson is still recovering from an ACL injury he suffered last December. Johnson could be cleared to practice within a month, but it is still unsure whether or not he will play this season or redshirt and come back next year as a sophomore.

· FS Anthony Reddick, DT Teraz McCray, CB Glenn Sharpe, and CB Carlos Armour are not practicing and are still recovering from ACL injuries. All four will miss the 2005 season.


For more, http://miami.scout.com/2/441030.html

[SoonerBronco]

[QUOTE=SoCalBronco]

Originally Posted by Big Guy

We have had some good coaches, Schnellenburger, ...

I'm sorry but "good coach" and Schnellenburger in the same sentence just doesn't ring true anymore !!!!

What a drunk raving lunatic! And his plastic wife isn't much better...

[SoCalBronco]

[QUOTE=SoonerBronco]

Originally Posted by SoCalBronco

I'm sorry but "good coach" and Schnellenburger in the same sentence just doesn't ring true anymore !!!!

What a drunk raving lunatic! And his plastic wife isn't much better...

He sure was effective in the late 70s and early 80s. His training camps were absolutely brutal and he outcoached many legendary coaches, whose teams far outgunned his Miami teams.

[Pezman]

Kind of sad to think of the glory days of the Buffs when this game would have grabbed national attention all week. But that's the problem with an old schooler like me who attended during the last days of the McCartney era.

Socal, I really do expect CU's defense to be able to keep Miami's offense in check to an extent, but given our lack of real depth on offense, I think we may have trouble sustaining drives against Miami. Our wideouts are still about as green as they come, and our O-line, while being strong with the starters, is definately going to struggle with the 6 man fronts that Miami throws. Our tight ends will be busy all day with blocking too, which will further hamper Joel Klatt from having extra throwing options.

It comes down to how well we can run at Miami. If our RB Charles can start strong, and we get good production out of our other RB Vickers, maybe we have a chance.

I keep hearing about how our special teams might be a factor, but in my mind, if we are forced to kick field goals all day, we're gonna end up trounced. This team has to produce TD's inside the redzone or we will never be able to keep up...

[Saulbadguy]

Any Buff fans going to this game?

[Master___Pain]

Originally Posted by Saulbadguy

Any Buff fans going to this game?

Yes, quite a few are going, however this Buff fan is not. I am going to the UGA/CU match-up next fall in Athens.

[Billy Clyde Puckett]

Originally Posted by Master___Pain

Yes, quite a few are going, however this Buff fan is not. I am going to the UGA/CU match-up next fall in Athens.

You will have a great time there. The "scenery" is always great.

[BMF Bronco]

I can't beleive I am cheering for the buffs! My disdain for the hurricanes far exceeds that of the Buffs.

[Breck Bronc]

Originally Posted by BMF Bronco

I can't beleive I am cheering for the buffs! My disdain for the hurricanes far exceeds that of the Buffs.

I hate the Cornhuskers, but it's hard to really hate a team you're 4-1 against (edit- ok, we're 5-5 against Nebraska, but 4-1 in the last 5 , I should have added "in my lifetime"), especially when they've fallen off the face of the earth this decade.

And I've said it before here, but I must be one of ten or so non-Nebraksa fans that attended both the 62-36 game at Folsom and 37-14 Rose Bowl in 2001. What a thrill those two games were. Miami scored four touchdowns into the Hurricane section of the Rose Bowl in the second quarter. Too bad Coker called off the dogs like he always does, unlike Pete Carroll at USC. That mentality has cost Miami games in the past three seasons, including last Saturday at Clemson.

[Saulbadguy]

Don't really care who wins this one. I guess I will root for Mizzou West.

[FADERPROOF]

Go Canes and Buffs in this one.

[Nuggets4]

Hey Pain, you going to the watch party?

[SoCalBronco]

Coach Gary Barnett's Press Conference transcript today. Enjoy.

Barnett Sept. 20 Press Conference


Gary Barnett/BSN By Mark Collins BSN Editor
Date: Sep 20, 2005

Colorado head coach Gary Barnett met with members of the media Tuesday afternoon for his game week press conference. Inside, Barnett talks at length about playing Miami and the challenges the Hurricanes present for the Buffs.

Opening Comments
Gary Barnett
This game is a big opportunity for our program. It’s also a game that our players have been looking forward to for a long time. When we first put the schedule board up a year ago, it caught their attention.
I think Miami is a storied program that is one of the standard bearers for college football in the last 15 years, maybe longer than that.

Playing it down there adds a little bit more for our players. It’s in an atmosphere and an environment that we don’t experience very often – I mean the type of heat and humidity. We don’t really get a chance to prepare for that kind of thing very often.

What we expect from this game is a very physical game.

Having two weeks to prepare is good and bad. It probably gives you too much time to look at too many things. I think you can try to do too many things. One of the challenges is to try and narrow it down a little bit.

Looking at Miami this year, they’ve had to play two very emotional, very physical games against two really good defenses. They’ve matched, of course, defensively both teams very easily.

They’re a team with a good young quarterback that’s learning their system. But they’ve got the great running game that they’ve always had.

What we see as we watch film on Miami is just how physical they are in their offense. They’ve got a couple big play guys at the receiver spots. When Kyle Wright has had time to throw, he’s been able to get the ball to them and make big plays. They’ve struggled a little bit in pass protection, but I think that’s because they’ve played against two fast, aggressive defenses that have done a really good job against them. In the end, though, last week they were just able to pound on Clemson and get the ball in the end zone and get the win in overtime.

We talk about our schedule being difficult, but when you start with Florida State and Clemson right out of the chute, that’s a heck of a schedule. Their players and program have really met the challenge. You look at the Florida State game, and they’re just a play away from winning that game.

No question the biggest challenge we’ve had this year. Playing Miami, for us, is a lot like playing Oklahoma, playing Texas. Same kind of athletes, same kind of speed, same kind of physical play. It’s not like we don’t see a team like this every year.

We take a much-improved defense into Miami; improved over where we’ve been the last couple years. I think that offensively our challenges are going to be to find a way to move the ball against this kind of speed. We’re a little hamstrung in that we probably won’t have Brian Daniels. We’ve got a couple other guys banged up in our offensive line, which was already thin. We’re going to have to just make the best out of it we can. We’ve got to find ways to move the ball.

In a game like this, what Miami does is they force you to make a lot of mistakes on offense. That’s our challenge, to not make mistakes; rely on our kicking game to help our field position. Not be afraid to use our kicking game and take advantage of opportunities that we do get. If we do get in the red zone, we’ve got to come away with points. If you do get down inside the 10, you’ve got to find touchdowns instead of field goals, and you’ve got to stay away from 90-yard drives and situations that play into their hands.

We haven’t done anything special for preparation. There isn’t really much you can do. Over the course of the summer, we worked in as much heat as we could. Fortunately here we did have a lot of heat. We worked as many guys out in the heat in the afternoons to sort of get ourselves mentally ready for this experience. We turned up the heat in our weightroom on Friday mornings to try to get that going a little bit.

We’ve talked to the players about hydrating. We play at 10 o’clock our time, body time. It means we get up at 5 o’clock in the morning our time to get ready for this game. We’ve done this a couple times in the past and the guys have responded pretty well. So we’re trying not to make a big deal out of all that.

This is one of those games where you just tell the guys what time the bus leaves, and they’re going to be anxious to play and ready to play.

We’re taking a veteran team down there for the most part. We’ve got a couple of guys that haven’t played much for us. A couple guys in the offensive line. Just about everywhere else, though, we’ve got guys that have played in big games. So I feel good about experience and the veteran nature of the team that we’ve got going down there.

I’ll go back to what I said in the beginning, I see it as a great opportunity for us. Hopefully, we’ve used the two weeks as best we could to prepare for them.

Q: The Miami speed you talk about – is that the toughest thing to prepare for?
GB: There’s no way to simulate it in practice. We ask our scout team guys and everybody else to just play a little faster this week. But it’s still the hardest thing to get ready for, the speed that a team like Miami brings. Especially on defense and in their receiver positions. Sinorice Moss is extremely fast.

Q: You have altitude on your side when you play at home. And the heat and humidity is in Miami. Is one of those a bigger advantage to the home team?
GB: I don’t know that any of us really know that. If you talk to distance runners, they tell you that going to even humidity at sea level, you have an advantage training at altitude. But recently we’ve seen an example where not everybody believes that (Denver Broncos loss at Miami Dolphins). So I don’t know.

We’ve done extra conditioning. We haven’t done humidity. We do plan on playing a lot of guys. If you watch Miami, they do play a lot of guys down there. We’re going to try to get everybody that we’re taking to this game to be in the game some way or another. So we will try to be cognizant of everything that’s going on.

Bottom line is we’re preparing to play them. There isn’t much you can do about where you’re going to play.

Q: How often will you try to offset their speed?
GB: There’s a number of things you try to do. You try to create the best angles that you can in blocking schemes to avoid the speed that they use to get off blocks. You try to take advantage of their speed. There’s certain things that speed does that lets you, offensively, take advantage. Not a lot, but a few things.

It’s funny, you usually watch guys against a team like this throw screen passes. But they run the screen pass down from behind. That’s how fast they are. You don’t see a lot of people trying to screen them. Except in blitz situations.

Mostly, you try to play your game; you try to get better at what you do. We have a lot of things in our playbook that we haven’t used, that we worked on in fall camp that we bring out, trying to be different than we were in the first two games. And then there’s a part of you where you have to be the same because that’s what you do well. So it’s a balancing act on offense.

The most important thing is you’ve got to avoid negative plays. That’s what a defense like Miami’s does – it takes you out of your rhythm and puts you into second and longs and third and longs. Against a defense like this, if you get in those situations, you’ve got a real issue. You’ve got to avoid the big mistakes.

On the visibility for the Colorado program, playing Miami on national TV
GB: They all have the same value for us, as a team. Now, publicity wise, nationally, all that sort of thing, it is different than, obviously, New Mexico State. But for us, it is the same value – one win or one loss. You’ve got to keep that a little bit in perspective.

I think one of the challenges for us was keeping our kids (from looking ahead to this game). Because when we met on August the 3rd, our first night, when we went over the schedule, the buzz was all about this game.

But we prepared really well. We had three good days last week with good focus. Yesterday we did. The game has their attention. They really want to play well down there.

On potential positive of playing in Southeast with regards to recruiting
GB: That’s not an area we spend a lot of time recruiting. We don’t see a lot of value in that. Although we are in Florida this year more than we’ve ever been. We’ll have some coaches go in early and recruit. I don’t think you really know the value of that stuff until later on. It’s nothing we think about in our preparation. We don’t think, ‘We’ve got to go look good so we can recruit.’ Everybody just pays attention to the team we’re playing and the game itself.

Q: There was a memorable incident (a brawl) that occurred the last time these teams played. Did the video department pull that video out?
GB: We actually saw it during camp. I think that weekend (in 1993),there was about three fights. The NCAA changed all the fighting rules right after that game. Barring the game last year (South Carolina), there hasn’t been that kind of fight, that kind of outbreak since they changed the rule. But the players saw it.

Q: Most years, CU is better at the end of the season. Does this game help team development? And can you get to where you can play better in September?
GB: You do want to be playing better at the end of the year because that’s where you make your mark, you put yourself in a position for league championship. Games like this tell you right where you are at that point in time. These games can go a long way in getting you ready.

Our next three games after this one are pretty critical for us. Every game is critical for coaches, but you look at the quality of opponent we’re playing (Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas), all three South teams in a row. This game is gonna be a good mark to see where we are going into that.

You’d like to go in and be able to play it with all your players. I don’t know that we’ll be able do that. But it will show us where we’re at at this point in time.

Q: Last time you played in the Orange Bowl you kicked to the Rocket. What’s your philosophy about kicking to Devin Hester?
GB: I’m going to avoid it if I can. It’s a 100-yard field. You can’t kick ‘em all outside of the boundaries. No one wants to kick to him, but sometimes things aren’t as controllable as you’d like them to be.

Anytime you’ve got a big-time guy like that you try to keep the ball out of his hands. And Hester’s no question a big-play guy. If you saw him last week, they played him on offense and threw him the ball. On punt returns, he’s awesome.

Q: Was there a marked improvement between the first and second game for Kyle Wright?
GB: I think so. But two similar defenses. Clemson’s defense is almost as fast as Florida State’s defense. But I could see a difference in Wright. He really throws the ball hard. When he has time, he’s really accurate. He’s a young player who’s got a lot of talent.

What Miami’s done is a good job of is protecting him a lot — more at Clemson than at Florida State. They protected him with formations and calls, run actions, those sort of things. If you watch the Clemson game like we do, the last probably 20 plays, 15 of those they lined up in unbalance and just turned around and hand the ball to Tyrone Moss, and just sort of protected Wright. Eliminated all their negative plays.

Q: You talked about having a veteran team. But what about a guy like Hugh Charles? How do you make sure he doesn’t explode before kickoff?
GB: There’s not much you can do, really. I read where he had to go spend some time with his mother and his grandmother before the first game. I don’t know who he’s going to spend time with before this one. He’s got two under his belt and he’s a competitor. He’s a young guy, both of those guys (Byron Ellis) are. There’s not much you can do, you’ve just got to count on them going in there and settling down.

Q: Does he have enough speed to get to the corner vs. Miami?
GB: You hope that you can get that loose. At least you know you’ve got a better chance with him if you can get him outside. Most people don’t try to run outside on Miami because you’re playing into their hands. It’s always been a better play to go right at them.

Q: How does your secondary match up with their receivers?
GB:We don’t have great speed in our secondary. But we’ve been really solid back there and we haven’t made a lot of mistakes. The way we’re playing right now is considerably better than we were a year a go. Our matchup with their speed isn’t great, but not very many people really match up with Miami at the receiver spot.

We’re going to have to find ways to double some people, find ways to avoid as much man coverage as we can. When we do, try to create as much help as we can for the players who have man.

But I like our matchup a lot better this year than I would have last year.

On the amount of Division I college football players that come from Florida vs. Colorado
GB: Florida signs about 300 Division I players a year. Colorado signs probably 20 to 25. As far as national recruits, Colorado is gonna have six or seven, Florida is gonna have probably 150, maybe closer to 200. There’s a big difference in high school, just numbers. The state’s bigger, a lot more people play football down there.

Q: Does that make you envious?
GB: Well, you don’t have to fly a lot of places (to recruit) when you’re down there. I think the biggest advantage is kids don’t have to leave home. Here, probably two-thirds of our players have come over 1,200 miles. And they have all the things that come with adapting to being a way from home and being in a completely different environment. That’s the challenge you face.

Q: How does that 150 number compare with Texas and California?
GB: I’d say very similar to Texas and California. Those three states are the three that have the most Division I signees per year.

Q: There’s a lot of talk about the heat and humidity factor, their team speed. Is this a winnable game for you guys?
GB: Oh sure. Sure. Anytime you’re in a game like this, you’ve got to play well to win. Heat and humidity shouldn’t be the difference in the game. It’s gonna be how our guys play them, and how their guys play us.

Q: Is this one of your best conditioned teams?
GB: It feels that way. We’ve conditioned every day last week, and will condition every day this week. We played the first two games as if we were in really good condition.

We didn’t just all of a sudden realize we were playing Miami. We worked on this all summer and planted the seed in players’ head that we were going to be in condition to play there, so that it’s not an issue.

Q: What’s the situation behind Joel Klatt? Is there a thought of using Bernard Jackson as a change of pace?
GB: No. Joel’s our quarterback. James Cox is our second quarterback

for more, http://colorado.scout.com/2/441481.html

[Master___Pain]

Originally Posted by Nuggets4

Hey Pain, you going to the watch party?

Nope, I am going to a buddy's house in Denver.