Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Buffs See Red Again, But K-State Comes First
November 18, 2010 | Football, B.G. Brooks
Before his first official meeting with the Buffaloes, Cabral made a quick trip to the team's meeting room, where he stripped away the recent past and went about redefining the 2010 goals. He pared a once-promising 12-game schedule into a three-game season and hit the reset button on a number of CU traditions that somehow had been scuttled.
One of them was rounding up enough red letters to spell N-E-B-R-A-S-K-A in can't-miss bold type for one final time on CU's schedule. That change (and others) didn't go unnoticed by cornerbacks Jalil Brown and Jimmy Smith, a pair of fifth-year seniors.
"We had a list of goals starting the season, but Coach Cabral went in and stripped those down," Brown said. "He replaced them with Iowa State, Kansas State and Nebraska . . . Nebraska's back in red letters now; when you see it, you notice it. Everybody is prepared for these next two games. Everybody is ready to give it their all."
Added Smith: "Nobody in my class has seen (Nebraska) in red, they don't know what that's about. He comes in here, he puts an emphasis on it. He's an old-school guy. It obviously means a lot to him and he wants it to mean a lot to us. It's been emphasized, but not like that - no red, for real, in his plan, that type of stuff."
Don't get the idea that K-State, CU's final Big 12 Conference home opponent on Saturday (12:10 p.m., no TV), somehow is being whisked away as an afterthought. Cabral's long-term plan in his short-term season hinges on a win against the Wildcats, setting up the post-Thanksgiving game in Lincoln as one with post-season implications. At 4-6 overall, CU must win out to become bowl eligible.
"Coach Cabral has definitely brought a refreshing vibe to the team and he's reaffirmed the fact that this season's not over, that we've definitely got plenty to play for," senior tight end Luke Walters said. "We're looking for the opportunity to win the next two games and have a postseason. I think everyone on this team thinks that's a definite possibility. We win this week and it's going to be a crazy five or six days heading up to Nebraska. It would definitely create a buzz around here. But first things first; we're definitely not looking past (K-State)."
CU's in-season coaching change after the Kansas debacle was contrary to almost everything that had been viewed as administrative conventional wisdom. How the Buffs would react, how Cabral might have them prepared, was among the great unknowns. Something worked. After last weekend's 34-14 rout of Iowa State, the Buffs are 1-0 in their second season and seem to be ready for a second helping of whatever Cabral is serving.
"Something's changed in meetings," freshman receiver Paul Richardson said. "There's more focus . . . we're blind to what's behind us, we're blind to what's ahead of us."
"The big thing was that Coach Cabral went back to scratch; he started from the ground up," Brown added. "He decided that we're not going to continue to do the same things we did (earlier this season). People weren't being focused, and that's the big thing he told us to do. With everybody being focused and not doing their own thing and being in their own world, doing their own plays sometimes, that kind of showed up on the field."
There difference was so vast between the fourth quarter of the Kansas game and the entire Iowa State game that it appeared an entire team had been put on the waiver wire and swapped out in a week. The reason? Brown contended Cabral's "big thing was allowing the position coaches and the 'D-coordinator' to go ahead and do their jobs, let them prepare us for (ISU).
"His big emphasis was to make sure we were focused and ready to go. He actually called us up in a team meeting and let us know what we had to do to prepare to win this game - not necessarily what plays we had to run, what gap you needed to be in. He just let us know what players we had to stop, which players on our offense and defense had to step it up and make plays.
"His big thing was playing together, playing with one heartbeat . . . the result of the game showed it worked."
Brown and Smith, touted as NFL-caliber corners, were among the players that Cabral spoke to individually last week. Cabral simply "felt they needed to be challenged. They have a tremendous responsibility to this team - and they're very capable."
When I asked Brown if last week and this have been an exciting time, for whatever reason, he said, "It really is. The whole demeanor of the team has changed. We feel like we have another fighting chance. Coach Cabral keeps us in tune; there's not as much laughter going on right now. It's a bit more serious - the way we handled ourselves at the parade (Friday night Buff Stampede), at the hotel . . . everything is a little more fine-tuned.
"That might be something we needed. I definitely see a difference in the way we're playing. I don't know if it's necessarily that Coach 'Hawk' is gone and Coach Cabral took his spot, or if he's coaching us a little differently and keeping us a little more disciplined. He's a bit more stern than Coach 'Hawk' was. But it's definitely showing up in the way we practice, the way everyone walks around before and during a game and the way everyone handles themselves on the sideline, too.
"Now, it's not necessarily a game all the time. I mean, it is a game, we're having fun, but we're executing and doing our jobs. There's not as much laughter and play going around."
A major question after Cabral's first week on the job and his first win was whether all that had happened last week had given the Buffs an emotional edge and intensity they might not be able to maintain for Week 2.
"I think it already has carried into this week," Smith said on Tuesday. "The defensive practices, we're coming up to hit. That's a focus every week - to keep the same intensity. Plus, it's going to be Senior Day, so I know I'm carrying it in and I know the other seniors are, too."
Brown agreed: "I think it all carries in to this week and the rest of the season . . . the release of Coach 'Hawk' before the season was over kind of gave us the impression that everyone was counting us down and out, that we were done. That made us want to bond together and play even harder, to show people we are a good team and actually have a lot to fight for - a lot of pride and that we represent a greater thing in ourselves and in this university. That goes for last week, this week and the rest of the season."
Cabral made a point last week of pointing out his offensive deficiencies - he's been CU's linebackers coach for 22 seasons - and reiterating how much he would rely on his assistants. His time on defense precluded spending much time with many senior offensive players, but he said that hasn't been a drawback. During the past 10 days, he has met several times with the seniors.
"I think I know them better than the rest of the team," he said. "I've brought them together a few times and maybe working with them has been a little different, but I think they know who I am and I know who they are. But I am relying on these guys in these last three games; I'm relying on their leadership for this game."
He's also depending on them to trust him, which he called a vital first step for many players whose previous contact with him has been limited.
"In my position coaching I know that I can't do anything, I can't help anyone, until they trust me," he said. "That's hard to come by with kids today. That's what I really try to do with my players. Hopefully, that's what I'm accomplishing with this team."
He did it for one week. Do it twice more and . . . . It's the longest of long shots, but who knows where this season and its interim coach might be headed.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
