2008 Colorado Buffaloes
Written July 2, 2008 by Jason Lowry
With summer upon us it only means one thing, football season is right around the corner and today Jason Lowry is going to give you his 2008 Colorado Buffaloes football predictions. Last season the Buffaloes were able to finish off the regular season at 6-6 and it was considered good enough for a shot at Alabama in the Independence Bowl, but they wound up losing the game 24-30 to finish the season at 6-7. Head coach Dan Hawkins is entering his 3rd season at Colorado and is hoping that he can lead his 14 returning starters to another bowl game and a winning season in 2008. To get a good idea what kind of shot he has with this team lets take a look at what they are returning on both sides of the ball this season
Offense:
This could end up being one of the better offenses in a year or so as the team returns 6 starters and only one of them is a senior and 2 are juniors. The rest of the starting lineup is expected to full of freshman and sophomore, with one of them being sophomore quarterback Cody Hawkins who ended up throwing for 3,015 yards and 20 touchdowns last season. The team lost 1,000 yard rusher Hugh Charles, but really like what they got in freshman Darrel Scott, who some think is one of the better backs in all of the Big 12. The team returns all its down field weapons from last year in sophomore wide receivers Josh Smith and Scotty McKnight and junior tight end Riar Greer. The offensive line only has two returning starters and one is senior center Daniel Sanders who is one of the best the Big 12 has to offer, it looks like sophomore Nate Solder will take over at left tackle, while junior Devin Head and freshman Maxwell Tuioti-Mariner take over at the guard spots.
Defense:
The defense on the other hand is much more experienced as they return 8 starters and all but one of them is a senior. This unit should be able to improve greatly on its 29.5 points it allowed last season, and it will start with the defensive line where they return 3 of 4 starters from last year. Senior Drew Hudgins will like take over at the empty defensive end spot, and should have no trouble with the talent he has playing between him and fellow senior end Maurice Lucas, as seniors George Hypolite and Brandon Nicolas are two of the best tackles the Big 12 has to offer. The team returns two starters at linebacker in senior Brad Jones and junior Jeff Smart. It looks like the team will turn to junior Shaun Mohler at the other linebacker spot. The secondary also has a lot of talent coming back as 3 of the 4 starters return for another year. The only spot that is empty is one of the corner spots, and the team thinks they will be able to solve that problem with junior Cha’pelle Brown. He should get plenty of help behind him as they have to very solid safeties in seniors Ryan Walters and Daniel Dykes.
Prediction: 4th in the Big 12 North
We really think that this team has just the right mix of experience and youth to put together another solid season. While we don’t think that you will see this team fighting for the North title with the way Missouri and Kansas look this season, we do think that they can put together a 7-5 season and go 4-4 in the Big 12.
Be sure to check out all of our team and conference previews, and be sure to check back later for our NFL team preview and predictions. Also, if you are looking to get a jump start on the upcoming football betting season, get an account going at Bodoglife.com today.
