Building Boulder l Colorado Dynasty

[AE]

Skill Level: All-American
Recruiting Difficulty: All-American
Injuries: On
Fatigue: On
Quarter Length: 6 minutes
Home Field Advantage: On
Ice the Kicker: On

[AE]

Buffs 2010 Season Preview

A 3-win 2009 season marked the first time the Buffs finished with back-to-back bowl less seasons, since joining the Big XII in 1996. Dan Hawkins was fired at seasons end and hired by the much younger and virtually unknown elNIN022. elNIN022 comes to Boulder after a 3-year stint as San Diego State offensive coordinator.

Key Games: Week 2 @ Cal, Week 5 vs. Georgia, Week 9 @ Oklahoma, Week 13 @ Nebraska
** The Buffaloes play a tough schedule in what will be the first of their final two Big XII seasons. The Buffs will need to see success on the road in order to qualify for a bowl contention this season. Colorado will open and close the season on the road, along with play at California, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Mizzou, and Kansas.

Key Players: HB Rodney Stewart, FS Anthony Perkins, WR Scotty McKnight
** elNIN022 will look to transition this team into more of a spread offense, however the 2010 Buffs will rely heavily on the ground game once again. Junior Rodney Stewart rushed for a little over 800 yards and 9 touchdowns last season, and should have no problem at least matching those stats in 2010. Junior redshirt Anthony Perkins will be relied upon to anchor a defense that needs to play bigger and more clutch, in order to win games.

Who to watch for: QB Tyler Hansen
** Hansen has corps of capable receivers and should benefit from a strong running attack. If the offensive line can keep the pressure off of him, Hansen has the ability to double his 2009 statistics. Hansen can be very accurate inside the pocket but if he makes bad choices with the football, the Buffs will end up a one dimensional offense once again.

Outlook: Colorado has at least 5 winnable games on their schedule and will most likely look to simply build off of last year's 3 win disappointment. elNIN022's ability to motivate his players will be put to test and if he's able to live up to his self hype, the Buffs' best-case scenario is a couple of uncharacteristic wins and a potential upset over a big conference opponent. elNIN022 is an instant success if he can lead the Buffaloes to a Bowl game in his first season but it's going to take a lot an improved defense, productive offense, and a lot of winning on the road.

[AE]

Buffs Win Rocky Mountain Rivalry
elNIN022 leads Colorado University to a 55-27 thrashing of Colorado State in his first win.

DENVER, CO - Colorado State took the 1st possession of the Rocky Mountain Rivarly game and drove the ball downfield with ease. The Colorado Buffaloes had no answer for the Rams' rushing attack and it looked like much of the same from 2009. Buffs' linebacker BJ Beatty picked off a Pete Thomas in the endzone and suddenly things changed. Beatty returned his interception 101-yards for a touchdown and then Josh Hartigan returned a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and the score was 14-0. Colorado State took their 3rd possession to the house and then a Colorado offensive miscue left the game tied at 14. The big play of the day came from junior Jason Esposito and his 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

With the a score of 21-20 at the half, the rest of the game belonged to Rodney Stewart. Stewart annihilated the ground game with his 192-yard day and single-handedly wore down the Colorado State defense. Equally impressive was the day of junior quarterback Tyler Hansen. Although Hansen's early miscue on an option pitch lead to a Colorado State touchdown, the junior bounced back to lead a mistake free 3-quarters. Said coach elNIN022, "...Tyler threw the ball very well today...was very composed and very accurate. He did make that one mistake early but he showed a lot of character and mental toughness in the way he put it past him and made up for it with ensuing possessions."

The Buffaloes will travel to Northern California this week where the same success on the field will be needed at Berkley. Colorado takes on future conference opponent Cal in what will be a very telling game for what's ahead in the 2010 Colorado football season.

FINAL SCORE

Colorado	14	7	13	21	55
Colorado State	0	20	0	7	27