Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Bad Losses Continue, Hard Questions, Too
November 03, 2012 | Football, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - So after losing five consecutive games by an average of 42 points per, what does a college football coach say to keep his fan base involved, engaged and well away from the eject button?
It's early November, his second Colorado team has won once, has been decimated in its past five games, and Jon Embree is getting too accustomed to dealing with queries like that.
His only response to questioners, as well as his players, is this: Things will get better.
Embree to CU fans: "They should come out just like did today . . . we have recruits here and that makes an impression on them. We're not even through the second year . . . things will be better."
Embree to his players: "(Freshmen) have made strides . . . they've made mistakes but made strides, too. Don't focus on the mistakes; keep on working on getting better."
Really now, what else could he say Saturday afternoon after No. 15 Stanford joined the growing list of Pac-12 Conference teams that have punished CU? The Cardinal pounded the Buffaloes 48-0, and like most of the other recent blowouts, it could have been worse. No exaggeration there, just brutal fact.
Oregon played three quarterbacks the previous weekend in a 70-14 mauling, Stanford played four Saturday. For the record, CU used three QBs and Embree might have no idea which of the trio might be most effective in the Buffs' three remaining games. He put off addressing that situation until Tuesday's weekly media luncheon, after he's reviewed Saturday's tape, huddled with his offensive coaches and talked to his QB threesome.
After a week of what Embree had said was an open competition, Jordan Webb made his ninth CU start but played only one half. Nick Hirschman succeeded him, Connor Wood succeeded Hirschman. Their combined passing output: 12-of-23 for 97 yards, with one interception by Webb. CU's total offensive output: six first downs (two by halftime), minus-21 yards rushing, 76 total yards.
CU's pro-style offense, Embree contended, is not the culprit and a schematic overhaul is not the answer. And Embree wouldn't engage in finger-pointing at his coaching staff. Asked about a late-term grade he would give his assistants, he said, "Not good . . . I don't know about a letter grade, but I'm not going to sit here and blame people. We all have to be better."
Running the wishbone, I-bone or wing-T on Saturday - suitable personnel available - might not have helped the Buffs against the Cardinal's front seven. Hirschman called it "better than anyone I have personally played before. (But) a lot of that responsibility falls on the quarterback and all three of us need to be better for our team to move on."
Embree said Stanford "got after us with their defense" - which the Cardinal has done to its past two opponents, holding Cal and Washington State to minus-13 yards rushing in the two preceding games. Now, with CU's minus-21, make that minus-34 in three consecutive games.
Embree said his current trio of QBs must improve if the Buffs find a way to finish out in an upbeat fashion. "We have to get better play at that position; we have to get it out of one of those three guys," he said.
The only quarterbacks Embree hasn't used this season are redshirt freshmen Stevie Joe Dorman and John Schrock, and true freshman Shane Dillon. Dorman generally is a scout team QB, Schrock - who was impressive when he walked on two summers ago - is recovering from mononucleosis, and Dillon appears to have recovered from off-season shoulder surgery that led to the decision to sit him this season.
Following his own lead of the past several weeks, Embree took a "help-is-on-the-way" approach for the future and claimed his offense "is not very far" from finding itself when more of the components are in place. "It is a combination of things (and) unfortunately not something you fix overnight," he said. "If you have a guy like (receiver) Paul Richardson, the bubble screens are little different when you're getting the ball in his hands."
And Embree mentioned - not by name - that reinforcements at receiver will appear on the 2013 roster. Richardson will be back then, too; he recovered swiftly, if not completely, after knee surgery last spring but elected to not chance a return this season.
But the Buffs aren't clear of 2012 yet, so even when he's asked about the future Embree can't get too far into it. Asked Saturday afternoon if he felt frustrated, angry or embarrassed over Saturday and the preceding string of lost weekends, Embree answered, "Probably all of them right now . . . I know some things will be different (next year). I'll just leave it at that."
But in a bit, he added, "I'll be taking a real hard look at what we do on both sides of ball to make sure we give our kids an opportunity to be successful."
Sophomore linebacker Brady Daigh, playing for the first time in three weeks after suffering a neck strain and slight concussion against Arizona State, said his focus for the final three games would be trying to keep his teammates "all on the same page . . . I just know we need to keep moving forward."
Daigh said he signed with CU two winters ago because he wanted to stay in-state (he played at Mullen) and "help turn this program back. I grew up watching this team . . . there are a lot of young guys in here, at least defensively, that are just stepping off of a high school field.
"I think once we adjust and everyone gets used to the college pace - even though it is tough for the fans to sit through it - the Buffs will be back."
Whether that comeback occurs in the next three games is debatable, but Daigh's dream is at least something he - and his coach - can latch onto.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
