Posts tagged Jon Embree
CU : EMBREE FIRED AS HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
Nov 26th
Embree took over as the school’s 24th full-time head coach in December 2010, just the third alumni to do so. In two seasons, his teams compiled a 4-21 record. This past fall, CU finished 1-11, which included a 1-8 record in Pac-12 Conference play.
University of Colorado President Bruce Benson, UCB Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano and Bohn released the following joint statement:
“On Sunday night, we announced the departure of Coach Jon Embree. We firmly believe a change in the leadership in our football program is in the best interests of the University of Colorado, particularly given our goal to compete at the highest levels of the Pac-12 Conference. It was a difficult decision, given Jon Embree’s history with CU, and one we arrived at after considerable deliberation. We appreciate his passion and dedication and wish him the best.
“We strive for excellence in all we do, and the university leadership is committed to doing everything we can to ensure success for our football program, for which we are accountable. We thank you, the entire university community, for your support during this challenging season and call upon you to join us in our efforts for a successful transition and future for the CU football program.”
Bohn will turn his attention immediately to forming a search committee to identify candidates for the coaching vacancy as well as to working with current assistant coaches in aiding in the transition.
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Brooks: Day’s Need Was ‘D’ But Buffs Didn’t Deliver
Nov 12th
TUCSON, Ariz. – Colorado changed quarterbacks here Saturday in hopes of generating a little more offense – and the Buffaloes got a little more than in five previous Pac-12 Conference blowouts. Just a little ‘D’ was needed – but the Buffs delivered even less than that.
There are plenty of horrific stats being accumulated in CU’s waning 2012 season, but what happened in Arizona Stadium offers an ugly encapsulation: Arizona’s 574 yards in total offense was only the fourth-highest total by a CU opponent this fall. And the Wildcats’ 56 points were only the third-most allowed by the Buffs. But it was the fifth time a 2012 opponent has put up 50 or more points on them.
CU’s carnage by yards: Fresno State, 665; Oregon, 617; Arizona State, 593; Arizona, 574. The beatings by points: Oregon, 70; Fresno State, 69; Arizona, 56; ASU, 51; USC, 50.
CU’s defense has forgotten how to spell S-T-O-P. And as for stopping the run, well, check with Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey, who spent as much time in CU’s secondary as the Buffs’ DBs.
Carey on, Ka’Deem – and he did, rushing for a Pac-12 record 366 yards and five touchdowns. He turned in a career-long 71 yarder, a 64-yarder, and accounted for 14 of the Wildcats’ 16 rushing first downs. When the Buffs closed their eyes Saturday night, they might have still seen Carey running past them.
And Arizona’s numbers could have been uglier. Backup quarterback B.J. Denker started instead of Pac-12 total offense leader Matt Scott, who sat this one out with a concussion. Scott accounts for 357.4 yards a game, and his expected absence, according to CU defensive coordinator Greg Brown, had the Buffs focused on dealing with Carey.
Brown called Scott a “tremendous player . . . sure, you’re looking at who might replace him. But we knew the whole issue was going to be (Carey). There was no secret. That was a big deal all week for us in our preparations. We had a certain goal to keep (Carey) contained and obviously didn’t happen.”
Brown said his unit had seen hours of tape demonstrating Carey’s ability to “break-kick” out of tackles. “That was no surprise,” he said. “Our defenders knew that going in. Coach (Rich) Rodriguez has implemented a great system and (Carey) fits that to a ‘T.’ With all those cutback runs, if you’re not in your gap then he’s going to hurt you. And he obviously hurt us to a huge extent.”
The Buffs couldn’t have slowed Carey with a restraining order, and the fact that they once again missed tackles and blew gap assignments compounded their long day of being run into the ground.
Junior linebacker Derrick Webb was at a loss to explain why he and his teammates continue to struggle against zone-read option offenses: “I couldn’t tell you that,” he said. “Every game plan we get we try to execute it. Coach Brown does a great job finding ways for us to combat the zone-read offense. It’s just a tough deal . . . you can’t do it nine out of ten times; that last time they’ll hit you and hit you hard for a bunch of yards. We’ve got guys playing as hard as they can; we’ve just got to be sound.”
On offense, it appeared they were getting sounder. The Buffs’ 31 points were their second most this season, behind the 35 they scored in the conference-opening win at Washington State nearly two months ago. CU also totaled 437 yards Saturday, second to the 531 at Wazzu and 361 more than the output the previous weekend (76) against Stanford. And those 31 points were a very nice upgrade over the zero scored against the Cardinal.
But in the interest of full Pac-12 disclosure, Saturday’s stats came against an Arizona defense that was allowing 497.3 yards and 35 points a game – ranking the Wildcats lower (No. 12) than the Buffs among the league’s defensive units.
So when the Buffs touched down here Friday, they meant to hit the ground running and passing under new quarterback Nick Hirschman, who was effective until leaving the game in the third quarter with concussion symptoms. Actually, he should have left earlier than he did; CU allowed two sacks, one coming after a groggy Hirschman forgot the play he’d called and wound up spun to the turf, according to Buffs coach Jon Embree.
“That’s how we start the third quarter,” Embree said, noting that a delay of game penalty on CU also was the product of Hirschman being woozy. “Those issues with the clock . . . we didn’t realize Hirschman had gotten dinged early in third.”
Other than that and an interception that eventually led to an Arizona score, Embree said Hirschman “managed the offense and gave us a chance on that side. He handled checks well; he had his moments.”
When Hirschman was sidelined, Connor Wood relieved him and also had his moments, although Embree said if Hirschman’s health permits he likely will start next Saturday against Washington. Of Wood, Embree said, “He was fine when he got in there. It’s just part of the growing pains with those guys . . . I’m pleased overall with how that position played this week. They did a lot better job of managing it, a lot better job of taking check downs. We had some plays downfield but weren’t comfortable . . . so they didn’t force it.”
But the afternoon eventually came back to the CU defense and its inability to slow Carey. Arizona scored on seven consecutive possessions spanning the first and second halves and was forced to punt only twice. Said Embree of his defense: “It was not a good performance.”
Webb pointed to “the same issues all season” surfacing again Saturday – pinpointing the Buffs allowing runners to hit the edge, successfully cut back and reel off large runs. Webb called Carey “a great back . . . he was able to cut it back. A couple of times guys could have been in gaps better (but) he found the gap and went for a long ways.
“The thing about the zone-read offense – it’s all about being sound. You can have ten guys playing their butts off, but all it takes is one gap – and he was able to find that gap. He was able to hit it hard and it’s off to the races.”
Scoff if you want, but Brown believes his unit has made improvement during the course of this wearing, one-win season. But, he conceded, “It’s hard to see . . . it’s really hard on a day like to sit there and talk about that. There are young kids who are getting better. We started five freshmen on defense; they’ve got to get better. But it isn’t just the freshmen; we’ve got to get better across the board. The accountability has to be there for all of us . . .”
Webb contended the Buffs’ ‘D’ still has something left for the season’s final two games – next Saturday vs. Washington, Nov. 23 vs. Utah, with both at Folsom Field. “We put it all out every game and that’s what we’re going to do these last two,” he said. “We’ve got a lot more to give, especially after a game like this. We always want to come back and be strong for the next week.
“Yeah, we have been (gashed). It’s been a tough season for us. As tough as it is, though, it only makes us stronger, as crazy as that may sound. We’ve been through a lot, but it’s all about how you come back and play the next game.”
After 10 mostly futile weeks, the ‘D’ has two more chances to improve. After that comes as long an off-season as CU has experienced. It isn’t what anyone expected, but it’s what is left of the remains.
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CU football team falls 70-14 at Oregon
Oct 27th
Saturday quickly turned into that kind of day. No. 2 Oregon, built for speed, ran for 311 first-half yards, flashed to a 56-0 halftime lead and coasted to a 70-14 win against Colorado.
Oregon’s 70 points were the school’s most ever in a conference game and the most allowed by CU since losing 70-3 to Texas in the 2005 Big 12 Conference championship game.
The Buffaloes’ staggering defensive collapse continues; in their last four Pac-12 Conference games they’ve allowed 2,115 yards and 213 points. Oregon’s contribution to the yardage figure was 617 yards in total offense, including 425 on the ground.
Saturday’s loss was the Buffs’ fourth straight and dropped them to 1-7 overall, assuring the school of a record seventh consecutive losing football season. CU fell to 1-4 in the Pac-12, with its lone win coming five weeks ago at Washington State.
Second-year Buffs coach Jon Embree said he hadn’t thought about the seven consecutive losing seasons, instead focusing on how to fix his defense: “It’s just disappointing that we’re not getting stops on that side and giving ourselves a chance. It just hasn’t been what you expect from a Colorado defense. Trust me, I’m trying to figure that out.”
Although the Buffs’ halftime deficit Saturday matched the school record, set in 1980 against UCLA, they did show vital signs after intermission. With Nick Hirschman replacing Jordan Webb at quarterback, the Buffs drove 72 yards after receiving the second-half kickoff, scoring their first touchdown since the second quarter of the Arizona State game (Oct. 11) on a 1-yard run by freshman Christian Powell.
After a fumble recovery on by CU defensive back Jered Bell on the next Oregon series, the 6-1, 235-pound Powell scored his second TD on a 20-yard run. He finished the afternoon with 121 yards on 20 carries and the pair of scores.
But by the time Powell had crossed the goal line for a second time, the Ducks (8-0, 5-0) already were in cruise control and were heading toward their eighth straight win. As they did last weekend at Southern California, the Buffs fell into a first-quarter pit – 19-3 against the Trojans – and never recovered.
But this weekend, it was worse. Oregon led 28-0 at the end of the first quarter and was well on its way to a halftime total offense output of 447 yards.
The Ducks’ speed was evident from the first snap. They went 57 yards in five plays to take a 7-0 lead on Kenjon Barner’ 1-yard run, then got the ball back when CU’s Tony Jones fumbled the kickoff and set up Oregon at the Buffs’ 17-yard line.
Three plays later, De’Anthony Thomas scored on a 9-yard sweep of left end (14-0) and the mauling was underway. Barner, who entered the game averaging 124 rushing yards, carried nine times in the first half for 104 yards and two TDs, while Thomas rushed five times for 97 and one score. With those totals, both were done for the day.
In Oregon’s 45-2 rout of CU last season in Boulder, Barner rushed 10 times for 115 yards and two touchdowns – one a career-long 84-yarder. The Ducks led that one 29-0 after one quarter and 35-0 at the half.
Look for Thomas’ TD punt return Saturday to be replayed ad infinitum here and elsewhere – try ESPN for starters. After letting Darragh O’Neill’s punt take a backward bounce, Thomas scooped it up going to his right, reversed himself and made Buffs safety Ray Polk miss, cut toward the CU sideline and made Buffs linebacker Derrick Webb whiff, then turned on the speed and outran everyone else in a white jersey to the end zone.
Embree had said all week that the Ducks appeared even faster than last year, and Saturday confirmed it. “They’re fast at every position . . . defense, offense, linebacker, receiver and it showed. They closed some holes offensively quicker and got around the ball. And obviously, what they did offensively . . . (Thomas) getting around the edge, then his punt return reminded me of Ben Kelly.”
That remarkable run pushed the score to 42-0 with 11:06 remaining in the first half – and the only questions left unanswered were how many more times the Ducks would cross the goal line and if the Buffs would ever get there.
By the time the fourth quarter started, Oregon had its most points – 70 – in a conference game and led by a cool 56. And Ducks coach Chip Kelly couldn’t be accused of piling on; he pulled Barner, Thomas, freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota and most of his super-skilled offensive players before halftime. Mariota’s first-half work: 10-of-14 passes completed for 136 yards and two TDs.
Still, CU’s second-teamers were no match for Oregon’s. Backup Ducks QB Bryan Bennett, a sophomore, completed all four of his pass attempts for 56 yards and ran 10 times for 73 yards and three TDs. Third-team QB Dustin Haines replaced Bennett in the fourth quarter.
CU’s Webb, starting for the eighth time, finished his afternoon completing seven of 11 passes for 31 yards. Under his direction, the Buffs’ deepest first-half penetration was to the Ducks’ 32-yard line. Under Hirschman, the Buffs got both TDs – although he faced the Ducks’ second- and third-team defense and the game had long ago been tucked away in the win column for Oregon.
Sophomore Connor Wood spelled Hirschman for CU’s final possession. Wood didn’t attempt a pass, and Hirschman finished 7-of-16 for 64 yards. Embree said naming a starter for next week would be evaluated.
The Buffs’ schedule remains rugged; they return to Folsom Field next Saturday to face their third straight Top 25 opponent – No. 19 Stanford. Kickoff is at noon (FX).
BUFF BITS: CU played without its best offensive lineman – junior left tackle David Bakhtiari, who made the trip but was held out with a knee injury. Starting in his place was senior Ryan Dannewitz, but O-line coach Steve Marshall also had sophomore left guard Alex Lewis move out and freshman Jeromy Irwin take his place . . . . On defense, starting freshman nosetackle Josh Tupou (ankle) did not make the trip. Opening in his place was junior Nate Bonsu. Also, freshman Yuri Wright started in place of freshman Kenneth Crawley at cornerback, and junior Terrel Smith opened at nickel instead of freshman Marques Mosley . . . . Before kickoff, Oregon honored former CU tight end Ed Reinhardt, who suffered a severe head injury in the 1984 Buffs-Ducks game here. CU head coach Jon Embree was a teammate. Reinhardt, accompanied on the trip by his father, Ed, Sr., was given a standing ovation by the Autzen Stadium crowd . . . . Saturday’s attendance was announced as 57,521.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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