Bet Colorado Buffaloes – Buffaloes Fall Flat, Hawkins Era Could End After 2010

2009 Colorado Buffaloes Betting Recap

Online betting players knew it would be a long season when the Buffaloes lost their season opener at home to equally-woeful Colorado State, which they followed by a thumping at Toledo. The Buffaloes then followed their first win of the year, a shutout of Wyoming, with losses at West Virginia and Texas, two very tough places to play. Colorado would rebound to upset then-No.17 Kansas, then lose at Kansas State and Missouri before a victory over Texas A&M, their third of the season. However, the Buffaloes would drop their last three games of the year, falling at Iowa State and Oklahoma State before a home loss against Nebraska, and Colorado lost all three of these games by eight points or less.

There wasn’t much to be happy about in Boulder last year, on either side of the ball. The offense was 104th in the nation, and even though they were 45th in passing offense, they spent the year going between Cody Hawkins and Tyler Hansen at quarterback, and they couldn’t run the ball at all. The defense was inconsistent at best, allowing 28.8 points, and they couldn’t stop the run, either. The Buffaloes were great at returning kickoffs, but that only gets you so far.

2010 Preview To Bet Colorado Buffaloes

There isn’t much in the cupboard to make NCAA football betting players think that Colorado is going to turn it around in 2010, even though they have 16 starters returning to campus. Hansen ended the 2009 season as the starting quarterback, but Hawkins is still lurking and his father, Dan, needs one of them to step up if he is going to remain the head coach at Colorado. The Buffaloes could have a decent receiving corps with Toney Clemons transferring in from Michigan, and he could be joined by Kyle Cefalo, who was little used in his freshman year and will be out to make an impact. The offensive line was terrible last year, coming in 117th in sacks allowed, and it doesn’t matter who the quarterback is, if they have no time in the pocket, the Buffaloes will struggle. The defense will welcome seven starters back, but they’re looking to replace their top four tacklers from last season with the exception of Anthony Perkins. That doesn’t sound very convincing for a unit that showed improvement near the end of the 2009 campaign.

The Buffaloes will kick off their season with their annual rivalry clash against Colorado State at Invesco Field at Mile High, and the memory of their loss to the Rams last year will be fresh in their minds. Colorado then travels to California before home games against Hawaii and Georgia, and the Buffaloes can’t be called on having an easy non-conference schedule. The Big 12 portion of their slate starts at Missouri, and then three weeks later, Colorado will kick off a tough back-to-back on the road against Oklahoma and Kansas. The Buffaloes wrap up the season with home games against Iowa State and Kansas State, who Colorado finished behind in the Big 12 North last year and if they’re going to move up the ladder in their division, the Buffaloes have to win games like these. Finally, the Buffaloes will head to Nebraska to conclude the regular season.

Hawkins is going into his fifth season at Colorado, posting a 16-33 record with a 10-22 mark in the Big 12. It looked like he would be fired at the end of last year, but it turned out that his buyout was too expensive for Colorado, and that’s not an encouraging sign. Look for this type of thing to hang over the Buffaloes all season, and that’s just their off-field troubles. The Buffaloes have to sort out their quarterback and offensive-line problems, and the defense will have to replace their best players, but Hawkins hasn’t looked to be much of a recruiter since landing in Boulder. Four wins should be the ceiling for Colorado in what should be Hawkins’ last season at the helm, but if the defense can stay steady, they can earn a couple of wins for sports betting players against the spread.