Now that Being Bret Bielema is out on ESPNU, many people are getting an idea of the kind of personality he really is. Sure there have been plenty of times he’s made headlines for his quotes about nearly everything and everyone, but this ESPN feature really shows the personal side of Bielema. There is a clear focus of having fun in the football program, but also with doing it how he sees it as the right way.

Speaking of Bielema making headlines in front of a microphone, he’s done it again just a week ahead of the football season. He made plenty of jabs at Michigan again during the team’s kickoff luncheon. Bielema seems intent on making “Michigan” a verb, so don’t leave anything early around him or that’s the treatment you’re going to get.

Out of all the preseason predictions, one place particularly high on the Hogs was the SEC Network. Clint Stoerner and Greg McElroy are predicting the schedules of all the SEC teams and gave the Hogs a 9-3 mark, and a 6-2 run in SEC play. The highlight of that was the prediction of a win over Alabama this season. It wouldn’t be enough to win the SEC West, as they predicted that game to be Alabama’s only loss, but just about everyone in Arkansas would take that season.

Get ready to hear about how Austin Allen is Brandon’s little brother for the next three months. It will be mentioned on television broadcasts more than “Arkansas had the biggest offensive line in the world,” from last season. But this article is a good look into how Austin is carving his own name and style onto the starting quarterback job. Personality-wise he is very different that Brandon, and we won’t have to wait much longer to see how that translates on the field.

If you’re close enough to hear the players on gameday, chances are you’re going to hear Drew Morgan yelling about bringing the juice a lot. What does that mean? Well he explained it some here. Most importantly juice is a positive mindset to bring to practice and to games. Word is still out on how much it will catch on, but Morgan is going to do is best to make sure it sticks.

As the season approaches, many folks speculate on the upcoming year and how it will play out. The win/loss predictions can be seen on countless websites, both local and national. If Colorado wishes to attain their goal of a bowl game and a .500 record, they clearly are going to win a few games against some seriously talented teams. The Buffs have a very challenging schedule with games on the road against Oregon, USC, conference-favorite Stanford, and of course a trip to the Big House to play a Michigan team that will almost certainly be top-10 team at that time. Add the likes of difficult conference foes such as UCLA, Wazzu, and Utah at home, and they surely have one of the harder schedules in America. So which games can CU realistically win?

The only 3 games that I feel the Buffs will not really have a realistic chance of winning are at Oregon, USC, and Stanford. Those are three great teams, all of which CU has struggled against mightily since moving to the Pac 12. Other than that, they have 9 winnable games including Michigan and UCLA. Michigan will be coming off games against two teams that went a combined 2-23 last year (Hawaii and UCF), and the following week is their Big 10 opener with Penn State. This sounds like the definition of trap game for the maize and blue. Michigan should have a good offense, but not one of the upper echelon power 5 elite offenses. If the Buffs can force a couple turnovers and don’t make many mistakes, then they have a chance to win a defensive grudge match and shock the nation in the Big House. As for the UCLA game, this is a humongous chance for CU to upset one of the top teams in the conference. Contrary to Michigan, Josh Rosen leads a superb offense for the Bruins. This could be a little bit more of a high scoring affair, but ultimately it’s a Thursday night game and Folsom will be rocking. The spotlight might be on the Buffs more in than game than in any other game on the schedule, but the have the experience on both sides of the ball will give them an opportunity to pull off the massive upset. Colorado will have to bring their A-game in both games in order to stand a chance against either team, but I think they could do it. All things considered, Colorado will have chances to win games, they’ll just have to play smart football and limit mistakes that have cost them recently. Then they can finally string some wins together that have evaded them in the past few years.

Buffs Begin Prep For CSU; O-line Taking Shape – cubuffs.com

The Buffs have just started implementing their gameplan in practice this week as they prepare for the Rocky Mountain Showdown.

CU Buffs’ Sefo Liufau pleased with progress of offense – Buffzone

“A lot better in my opinion,” said Liufau, heading into his fourth year as the starter. “It’ll be a lot different when bullets start flying and the real thing happens, but I’m definitely pleased with where we are as an offense. A lot of guys are doing a lot of great things right now on offense, in all positions. We’re really consistent right now also, which is real good to see.

Buffs Open Season 2-0 With Victory Over CSU At Home – cubuffs.com

After wins over Air Force, and little brother CSU, the women’s soccer team are off to a strong 2-0 start.

Predicting the 2016-17 Pac-12 College Basketball Standings (7. Colorado) – Bleacher Report

Bleacher Report predicted the Buffs to finish 7th in conference play this year. They retain almost the entire team from last year, and hopefully UCCS transfer Derrick White is as good as advertised. So in my eyes, a 7th place finish seems a little low for this year.

Stewart Mandel’s 2016 Pac-12 predictions  – FOX SPORTS

Stewart Mandel gives his conference outlook and has the Buffs finishing 5-7 and 5th in the South  ahead of ASU.

CU Buffs’ Kabion Ento hopes to seize opportunity – Buffzone

With the loss of Juwann Winfree for the season, fellow junior college transfer Kabion Ento hopes to fill the void at outside receiver.

As a reminder, I’m posting one thought per day in a series of 15 posts over the course of 15 days until we get to game day.

With 10 days left until kickoff, this is the sixth post of the series.

If you missed the other posts, the links are below

Post #1 – “The Youth Movement Continues”

Post #2 – “The Quarterbacks”

Post #3 – “Texas Needs To Score More”

Post #4 – “Offense Part 1: The Trenches”

Post #5 – “Offense Part 2: The Supporting Cast”

A lot of concern, discussion and attention this offseason has been focused around the improvements needed on offense. And in a conference that scores quickly and often, it’s easy to get carried away looking at the Texas offense for answers and improvements more than the defense.

The Texas defense, however, absolutely needs to take big steps forward too if this team wants to win more games in 2016. And anyone talking about nine or more wins needs to slow down, take a deep breathe and look at last year’s defense for what it was. In many ways, it wasn’t good.

Here’s where the Texas defense ranked in each of the following defensive categories among the Big 12 last season.

I know I’m throwing a lot of stats and numbers at you, so let’s break this down to understand it better.

The good

Turnovers – Texas was not only one of the best teams in the conference (2nd behind OK St), but averaging nearly a turnover a game with a +11 margin, Texas ranked 8th in the country in turnovers. Without these turnovers, last season could have been a lot uglier. (OK St led the conference averaging one per game.)

Sacks – With a sack rate of about three per game, the Longhorns led the Big 12 and finished fifth in the nation in that category. Behind them, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kansas State all rounded out the top-10 in the nation. (Getting sacks helps when your conference passes a ton. It’s also why an effective pass rush can do wonders for a team in this conference.)

Touchdowns – This could be partly be attributed to the Longhorns struggling to put points on the board themselves, but the defense ranked 4th in both rushing touchdowns and passing touchdowns allowed. Yay?

The Bad

Defense vs the run – This defense was bad against the run. Giving up 219.2 rush yards per game and 4.51 yards per carry ranked Texas 8th and 7th in the Big 12 respectively. (Interestingly enough, of all the teams in the Big 12, opponents ran the ball the most against Texas. Teams apparently knew what this defense’s weakness was).

Yards per Game – Overall, this defense was pushed up and down the field. Allowing an average of 452.6 yards per game ranked 7th worse in the the conference.

3rd/4th downs – We heard it each week last season whether it was defensive coordinator Vance Bedford, Charlie Strong, or one of the players telling us. Texas struggled too much to get off the field on 3rd and 4th downs. To put it in perspective, Texas and Texas Tech were even when it came to getting off the field on 3rd down.

Red zone – If any team got into the red zone against Texas, the defense would give up points nine times out of ten. Texas ranked dead last in red zone defense. Ironically (I had to look twice at this stat and still don’t believe it) Kansas tied TCU for best red zone percentage in the Big 12 at 77%.

The not terrible/not good

Pass defense – The pass efficiency rating was on the lower end at 135.47 and ranking 6th in the conference. But the defense did grab 13 interceptions, allowed the 3rd-fewest yards per completion and 4th-fewest passing yards per game. Given many of the defensive backs were true freshman, those aren’t bad stats.

(The flip side of teams rushing a lot against this defense was they didn’t attempt many passes. Texas saw the fewest passes attempted against them of any team in the Big 12. This could also be attributed to the fact that Texas rarely got into shootouts on offense and didn’t put too many teams in positions where they needed to pass to get back into a game or keep up).

Steps need to be taken, but will they this season?

To summarize, the 2015 defense was bad against the run, average to maybe-kind of okay against the pass, did well with turnovers and sacks, but almost always gave up points in the red zone and couldn’t get off the field on 3rd and 4th down when it needed to.

The two biggest weaknesses that need to improve are stopping the run and getting off the field on 3rd down.

Even though this is a league that likes to pass and execute plays out of spread formations, stopping the run is still important. It’s no coincidence that teams like West Virginia, Oklahoma, Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State all finished in the top half of the conference (in that order) against the run.

And when Texas was on its stretch of winning ten or more games a season, the defense was always strong against the run, ranking near or at the top in the conference and nation. The Longhorns will struggle to win games if teams continue to gash them up the middle for big chunks.

The issue, unfortunately for this season, is that Texas doesn’t have much proven production upfront returning to hang its hat on. Senior Paul Boyette Jr, junior Poona Ford, and sophomore Chris Nelson are the only returning players with any sort of real playing time. Heck, they’re the only returning scholarship DT’s.

Boyette Jr – 38 TT, 8 TFL, 3 SCKS

Ford – 39 TT, 6 TFL, 2.5 SCK

Nelson – 7 TT, 1 TFL, 1 SCK

To try to begin solving the issue, Strong did sign five defensive tackles this past recruiting class. But considering they are all just true freshman this season, who knows if any of them will be able to really make an impact – the type this defense really needs this season on a consistent basis.

The other point to remember is defensive coordinator Vance Bedford’s base defense is a 4-2-5. Instead of having an additional linebacker in there to help with run support, we often see a fifth defensive back lined up in the slot.

That helps against the pass. But replacing a linebacker with a defensive back takes away another guy that could fare better against a big lineman, tight end or big running back.

Speaking of linebacker, this group will still be green, inexperienced, and lacking just enough depth to still make you uncomfortable if a long-term injury or two hits. Aside from senior Tim Cole, the only returning upperclassmen, the rest of the linebackers are first and second year players.

Sure, sophomore Malik Jefferson is already seen as one of the better linebackers in the conference. But this group will also need a couple young guys, like sophomore Anthony Wheeler, redshirt freshman Edwin Freeman, and true freshman Jeffrey McCulloch, to step up and make impacts this season when called upon.

The optimistic approach

If Texas can do just enough on offense and against the run to force opponents into positions to pass, the defense could actually improve overall.

After leading the Big 12 in sacks last season, the defensive front has a chance to do that again. Junior Nashon Hughes, sophomore Charles Omenihu, senior Bryce Cottrell join the aforementioned Ford, Nelson and Boyette in hopes of strengthening Texas’ talent in the trenches. Anything the slew of freshman big bodies can provide to than end will be a bonus, and there’s certainly some talent on hand to make some plays throughout, but in any case, filling the massive shoes left by Hassan Ridgeway will be a tall task.

The secondary is loaded with talent. The starting corners, sophomore Holton Hill and sophomore Devante Davis, played about as well as you can as true freshmen and should continue to build off what they did last season. And it sounds like fellow sophomore DB Kris Boyd is set to make a bigger impact this season as well.

On the back end, veterans Dylan Haines and Jason Hall return as the starting safeties. Haines led the defense with five interceptions on the season. And Hall was second only to Duke Thomas (who’s currently fighting for a roster spot with the Houston Texans) among all of the defensive backs in tackles with 51.

On the depth chart behind those two safeties is another veteran in Kevin Vaccaro as well as some young guys with even more athleticism and talent than the vets. Sophomore DeShon Elliott, sophomore P.J. Locke III, and freshman Brandon Jones will likely get on the field consistently throughout the season.

What’s Texas’ realistic ceiling?

There’s talent in place, there’s no denying that. But much of that talent still has years of experience ahead of them and the growing pains that come with such a young team are sure to come. Given the steps this defense needs to take eight wins looks like the team’s most probable ceiling.

Ed. Note: The second scrimmage of the fall is a closed one reserved for members of the Red Elephant Club. Therefore any media or digital reporting about the scrimmage are based upon Saban’s remarks or are cobbled together from secondhand accounts. However, if you’re very fortunate to be a member, you get to see it first-hand. For the third straight season, we have our man on the scene.

My father and I go to every A-Day. It’s been a bonding time for us since I was old enough to watch football.

I’ve been to games as a young’un where we watched a 3rd string QB go off on a scout defense and said, “that dude is a boss!” only to see him not even make the squad the next fall. I’ve sat with my father at A-Day so hungover as an undergrad I didn’t think I’d make it to halftime to relieve myself in the stalls, but we dissected the hell out of the offensive line and the new QB center exchange after my rally.

Scrimmages are a thanksgiving with your mentors, the person, (grandfather, uncle, pops, or even aunt, grandmother, or mom) who taught you how to appreciate the sport; taught you to respect its intricacies, no matter how much you want that 3rd stinger who showed out to become the next star.

I remember pulling for Bart Raulston because he was the largest human we’d ever signed only to see him never play a game. Seriously, we had to have a new helmet made for Bart.

I only say this because scrimmage observations are like Ryan Lochte stories. You’ll never really know the whole truth, but you’ll gladly accept the other guy’s version.

Defense

Front Seven

First of all, I did not focus on the defensive line or outside linebackers as much. Tim Williams, Da’ron Payne, Jonathan Allen, etc. are all proven commodities. I did watch the inside linebackers, the increased role of Rashaan Evans, as well as the play of some younger guys.

Alabama’s defense is absurdly talented, but not quite as deep as last year. The defensive line ate the lunch of ‘Bama’s offensive line all day.

Seeing Dakota Ball at the 3-tech on obvious passing downs was reminiscent of Gentry, and I hope that continues throughout the season.

Raekwon Davis is a terrifyingly large human.

Freshman LB Terrell Hall played with the ones, and he played well.

The linebackers knew their assignments, and Reuben Foster was on-point throughout the scrimmage. Foster knows Mike and Will. Shaun Dion-Hamilton knows money (nickel set LB) and Will. Rashaan Evans knows Mike and Will, but also showed game-changing blitzing ability. Don’t be surprised to see Evans be a package guy like Tim Williams was last year. I’ve honestly never seen a linebacker corps exhibit that much lateral speed.

Secondary

The secondary were enjoying themselves with all of their interceptions (did I mention the offense had a rough day?)

Marlon Humphrey and Minkah Fitzpatrick have locked down the outside corner spots while Anthony Averett has made his case for the nickel following the departure of Maurice Smith.

Averett’s nice pick-six on Cooper Bateman only cemented his position as the nickel starter.

Eddie Jackson seemed to be in command of those guys, and called most of the adjustments.

Offensive line

The line got beat up by the defensive line consistently.

The stunts really bothered Bradley Bozeman and Lester Cotton, but we’re fine there. These guys are tested by the best every day and only need to find some cohesion.

I’ve always worried about center because my father played it, and it’s the only position aside from QB that touches the ball every play. Ross Piersbacher looks to have a knowledge of the schemes and had no bad snaps. His backup on the second team, Josh Casher, had no bad snaps either.

Right tackle Jonah Williams in particular looked liked he had added weight and is surprisingly ready to start as a true freshman.

Running backs

The Tide did not scrimmage much with the running backs. Both Joshua Jacobs and B.J. Emmons did get carries, though.

In an interesting and exciting quote, Saban said Joshua Jacobs reminds him of Mark Ingram.

B.J. Emmons is the more versatile of the two players, and has softer hands.

Quarterbacks

I will be honest, I walked into the scrimmage saying, “the hype is bogus, we’re not playing a true freshman quarterback.” I’ll channel our inner founder/oracle (OTS,) and say none were particularly good. They all turned the ball over stupidly.

Blake Barnett easily had the worst outing of the QBs. He had two interceptions, one of which was returned for a TD, and coughed up two running back exchange fumbles, that were sure touchdowns.

Barnett has just seemingly not progressed at all since his freshman year: the line gave him little time, but Barnett had sloppy footwork on rollouts, gunned the ball downfield without even knowing if a receiver would be in play. It’s as though he doesn’t make reads — he relies upon his gut instincts and arm.

Cooper Bateman also had a pick-six, this one to Averett. His arm strength is just so limited, that passes over 20 yards not an option. Bateman does have very good east-west and short-accuracy, but is just so physically limited.

Jalen Hurts had two picks, one on the last play of the scrimmage during an obvious desperation throw. But, Hurts also led the drives, or was directly responsible for all of the touchdowns scored during the scrimmage.

The coaches only trotted Hurts out after Bateman and Barnett had each played four possessions. However, once Hurts was in, he dominated the rest of the scrimmage.

Jalen Hurts is obviously talented, but I still believe Bateman will lead ‘Bama to a win against USC, and Hurts can overtake him against Western Kentucky, with a hopeful start in Oxford.

Wide receivers

T.J. Simmons has three or four targets, but dropped several passes.

Robert Foster did not get as many targets as you’d expect, as he rotated with Calvin Ridley. Although he beat coverage when he was in.

ArDarius Stewart had a very nice grab off a deflection and took it for 30-yards. They used him as the high-pointer.

Gehrig Dieter really knows the offense. He is comfortable in the slot and the outside: He got the first Jalen Hurts TD pass off busted coverage running the post. Dieter looks to be battling Robert Foster at the X, and whoever wins will largely depend on the QB.

O.J. Howard was largely MIA in the scrimmage. Hale Hentges blocked well. And, Forristall had a pair of passes tossed his way and dropped both.

Special teams

Kicking game

The special teams were not featured much, but the kicking situation is not optimal. Adam Griffith has an injured foot and a possibly injured neck (“Griffith’s foot has been bothering him, but we’re running his neck.”)

Walk-on/Ole Miss transfer Andy Pappanastos missed his lone attempt, a 21-yarder.

Return specialists

Xavian Marks was the punt returner

You can tell the coaching staff trusts Trevon Diggs. Diggs was always on the kick return team. He most often was paired with Tony Brown.

Random Coach Saban Thoughts

Coach Saban opened with a comment about giving to Baton Rouge if you can (he’s such a jerk.)

He spoke about how the run-pass option has changed the game ridiculously.

Someone asked him if Saban would send Kirby a Christmas card this year, to which he responded, “work is work, friends are friends.”

He advocated for moving kickoffs back to the 40 to increase touchbacks and avoid full-speed collisions. My favorite, though, “when I played, no one knew your name until you made a play on the field. Now? Y’all rub their necks online before they’re even on campus.”

Roll Tide.

One of the main questions facing the Oklahoma defense entering the 2016 season is at the linebacker position. An athletic core that developed into such a dominant force over the last few seasons saw the exodus of stars Eric Striker, Devante Bond and Dominique Alexander along with Frank Shannon and P.L. Lindley. With some uncertainty looming over this group, especially concerning the pass rush, the Sooners must now look to some new names that they hope will emerge as stars, and hope they emerge fast.

Along with All-Big 12 senior and now-captain Jordan Evans, sophomores Tay Evans and Curtis Bolton return this season and look to anchor the middle of the LB core. And while a few names are in the mix to head the pass rush and replace Striker and Bond, the most likely candidate to take the reigns is redshirt junior Ogbonnia Okoronkwo (pronounced Oh-BO-ny-uh Oh-kor-RON-kwo) or known to most fans as “Obo”.

What’s remarkable about his coaches and teammates highlighting Obo’s speed and quickness off the edge in the video above (via Sooner Sports) is that he stands at a menacing 6’2” 245 lb., a size closer to a young Von Miller than the prolific “tweener” Striker. The Sooners recruiting at many positions has been lightning following last season and linebacker is no exception, so the unit looks to be shaping up well with #SoonerSquad17 and beyond. But the former defensive end Okoronkwo, with his startling combination of size and athleticism, could become the anchor at this spot for the next couple of years if he can produce in games like we’ve heard he consistently has in practice this offseason.

Playing in nine games last season and behind Lindley along with Striker and Bond, the Sooners will need Obo to stay on the field this year to anchor and help bring on this young outside linebacker group, which also features promising redshirt freshman Ricky DeBerry and star-in-the-making true freshman Caleb Kelly, who from California just looks too good not to see the field immediately. If this group can gel quickly, it has the talent to become one the nation’s most exciting and dangerous through this and future seasons to come.

There’s always speculation about how long Jim Harbaugh will stay with the Michigan Wolverines.

Some say he’ll be gone after only a few years before jumping back to the NFL, while others think he’ll stay at his alma mater for decades.

Harbaugh was asked that question himself during an appearance on Sirius XM College Sports: Does he see himself staying at Michigan for 20 or 25 years?

“Yeah, I think that way,” Harbaugh said. “And I think, God willing and the creek don’t rise, that will happen. I love coaching, I love football, I love the University of Michigan and you hope to go as long as you can where you’re still doing it by example, not just through anecdote, and you’re still able to do that as long as the good Lord will allow you to do it.”

That’s an answer that will make a lot of folks in Ann Arbor very happy.

If you weren’t convinced it’s time for college football season to start, look no further.

Georgia Bulldogs coach was asked a burning question during his media availability on Wednesday:

Will he or won’t he wear a visor against UNC?

Response below:

“Great question!” Smart says. “I haven’t decided yet. It’s not something I usually think about. I’ve worn them sometimes and I haven’t sometimes. It just kind of depended on the day.”

While somewhat more common these days, the visor is still often associated with the Head Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier.

Not that it’ll matter for Smart. So far, he’s worn a visor at all of Georgia’s practices and wore it during the spring game, so maybe it’s time for a new visor in the SEC.

Or maybe it’s just time for football season to start.

It’s been since Week 3 of last season—when the helmeted head of an Alabama blocker struck Tony Conner’s right knee with enough force to rip the meniscus—that the most talented defensive back on Ole Miss’ roster was healthy. Eleven months and two surgeries later, the star Rebel defender is still working his way back.

“I would say 90 percent,” Conner told reporters on Tuesday when asked to appraise his recovery. “I’m feeling good. If we had a game tomorrow, I’m willing to go.”

The good news is that after sitting out spring practice, Conner’s been taking the majority of reps with the starters during fall camp. He said he no longer feels pain in the knee, which is currently being protected by a brace that he may have to wear all season.

Conner went under the knife three days after suffering the original injury last September and was back on the field seven weeks later. But after suffering through games against Arkansas and LSU, he was shelved for good to undergo more extensive surgery in December. The defense struggled to replace him, ranking 105th in the country in passing yards allowed per game.

It’s hard to overstate the impact Conner has from the husky position. His playmaking ability is unmatched. His versatility—which allows him to run stride-for-stride downfield with a slot receiver one play and come off the edge to drop a runner in the backfield the next—is the fulcrum on which Dave Wommack’s 4-2-5 defense pivots. Perhaps most importantly on a defense that might start a transfer middle linebacker and two underclassmen at the safeties, the rangy Conner is capable of erasing the mistakes of his teammates.

That’ll be particularly important when the Rebs head to Orlando to face the most explosive running back in the country, Dalvin Cook. I wrote last week that hobbled strong-side defensive end Fadol Brown will be critical in setting the edge and preventing the Florida State superstar from getting outside; when Cook does find those escape routes to the flats, Conner’s athleticism and sure-handed tackling could be the only thing keeping him from going the distance.

“Playing a tailback Week 1 like we’re facing, this guy’s special now,” Hugh Freeze said after Tuesday’s practice. “This guy’s in a different league. You’ve got to get him on the ground in a lot of space, and they create a lot of good plays for him to get him in space. We haven’t tackled extraordinarily well.”

Freeze said the defense struggled to make tackles during last Sunday’s scrimmage, which he’s particularly concerned about because this is typically the time in fall camp that he begins dialing back the live hitting. Contact practices have already taken a toll on the Rebels’ defensive backfield—No. 2 strong safety C.J. Moore is probably done for the season with a torn pectoral and the true freshman sliding into his spot, Deontay Anderson, fractured his wrist over the weekend (though Freeze suggested that Anderson could play with a cast and might not miss any time).

All of which underscores the importance of Conner’s health in the opener and beyond. For the Rebel defense to survive the early gauntlet it faces in September, it likely needs Conner playing at or near 100 percent.