Colorado Buffaloes Football: 2015 Season Preview and Prediction

What is in store for Colorado Buffaloes head coach Mike MacIntyre and his football team in 2015 after a 2-10 season and a winless Pac-12 record last year?

After a four-win season in his first year at Colorado, Buffaloes head coach Mike MacIntyre couldn’t build on the win-loss record in his second year as his team regressed to a 2-10 record and a winless campaign in the Pac-12.

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Despite the poor record, Colorado actually looked like a better football team than the one the year before. Needless to say, it’s tough to convince the students, alumni, administration and fan base that progress is being made when your record is that ugly.

Will his team this year show improvement on the field and on the scoreboard?

Offensive Outlook

Colorado is led by their passing offense that ranked 20th in the nation and fifth in the Pac-12 with 284.6 passing yards per game on average. Quarterback Sefo Liufau returns for his junior and has 18 starts under his belt as he looks to build off his sophomore campaign that saw the 6-4, 230-pound signal-caller complete 65.3 percent of his passes for 3,200 yards and 32 touchdowns to 15 interceptions. The interceptions have to be reduced moving forward if the Buffs hope to be more competitive and come out on the winning end.

Helping Liufau in the passing game is All-American candidate Nelson Spruce who is one of the more underrated players in the country. Spruce’s 112 receptions last year tied for fourth in the nation, trailing Biletnikoff Award winner, Amari Cooper, FBS all-time receptions leader Justin Hardy from East Carolina and Kevin White who was the No. 7 pick in the NFL Draft. Not bad company, right? Spruce also added 1,198 yards and 12 touchdowns. Look for Shay Fields to take advantage with coverages rolled to Spruce and build on the 50 catches for 486 yards and four scores he had as a freshman.

The rushing attack finished 77th in the nation and ninth in the Pac-12 with an average of 154.6 yards per game with Christian Powell leading the team in rushing for the third year in a row. Powell had 448 yards and four touchdowns, so not numbers you’d come to expect from a team leader. Four runners had at least 391 yards, including Michael Adkins II and Phillip Lindsay and Boise State transfer Aaron Baltazar will jockey for carries in a four-man platoon.

Anchoring the offensive line are center Alex Kelley and tackle Stephane Nembot.

Defensive Outlook

Colorado was atrocious on defense last year with the nation’s No. 119 scoring unit, allowing an average of 39 points per game. In fact, Colorado has allowed at least 30 points in every game for five straight years. Nowhere to go but up I suppose for new defensive coordinator and former South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt who has an uphill battle to get this team to respectability before they can think about being a quality unit capable of limiting opponents in any way.

The Buffs return their five leading tacklers, including linebackers Kenneth Olugbode and Addison Gillam who had 70 and 64 tackles, respectively, and Gillam also led the team in tackles for loss with nine. They have to stay healthy and play at a high level with not much depth behind them.

Defensive lineman Josh Tupou has started the last three years and led all linemen with 29 tackles and will be counted on being a bigger leader this year. Redshirt sophomore Derek McCartney played well as a freshman, leading the team with 4.5 sacks and finishing second with eight tackles for loss. Jimmie Gilbert and Samson Kafovalu, who returns after taking last year off, offer depth in the trenches.

The secondary has experience in Jered Bell who returns after being granted a sixth season of eligibility and cornerback Ken Crawley is returning to start for the fourth year. Tedric Thompson led the team with three interceptions last year, actually he was the only player to get an interception, but needs help from Chidobe Awuzie, Evan White and Ryan Moeller to bring some play-making ability to the defensive backfield.

Prediction

The offense has the ability to score with most teams in the Pac-12 but unless the defense can generate more turnovers than the 11 they forced last year, they’ll be back in last place of the league standings and win less than a handful of games. Leavitt has to be the second coming of Nick Saban to fix a unit short on high-end talent and depth this year, but Colorado can be competitive and pull off a surprise win or two if they can average at least one takeaway a game.

Spruce is a must-see talent but Colorado needs 20 more players like him to make a bowl game or make a dent in Pac-12 play so I think it’ll be another long year in Boulder. I see the Buffs winning three games with a shot at a fourth on the road at Washington State, otherwise they’ll go winless in the Pac-12 for a second straight year.

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