Colorado Football: 5 reasons why Buffaloes will struggle in 2017

2. The Buffaloes have a hard time protecting the football

Over the course of the 2016 season, Colorado accomplished a lot of great feats. Protecting the football was not among those feats. The Buffaloes regularly coughed up turnovers to their opponents. Though they finished with a positive turnover margin, that was in large part thanks to a ballhawking secondary and a front seven that was adept at stripping the football.

Between them, Sefo Liufau and Steven Montez threw 15 interceptions last season. The Buffaloes spit out another 11 fumbles that were lost to their opponents. Their 20 total turnovers lost ranked 68th nationally and seventh among Pac-12 teams. With new players taking on increased roles in the upcoming year, that number could increase even more in 2017.

And with Leavitt gone and several key defensive stars graduated from last year’s team, the defense isn’t necessarily going to bail them out. Colorado is going to have a hard time getting back to 10 wins when they lose the turnover battle with regularity.

The stars aligned perfectly in 2016 for the Buffaloes to overcome their gaffes. Those systemic advantages aren’t necessarily built into their roster this year. As such, expect CU to struggle with maintaining possession in a way they didn’t last year. Turnovers (both on offense and on special teams) will be detrimental in this year’s follow-up after winning the division.