Apologies, folks. I've been moving and work has been nuts for a while now, but I'm finally getting some time back to get these written up. I know news has been scarce for us (except that it sounds like Doug Rippy's recovery is going well, which is awesome news), so I'll try to keep these coming with some regularity.

Today we're going to look at the safety position.

Safety:

• Ray Polk, Sr - He was still limited in the spring after surgery on his wrist, but all indications were that he was taking his position as senior in the group to heart and demonstrating leadership and the ability to line up the defense. With Richardson injured, he's probably the fastest player on the team, and if he can develop some of those DB instincts, he could be a real force at free safety. He was named to the preseason watch list for the Lott Award, and he possesses the physical abilities to end the year as a finalist, but he's going to need to take that final step in his development. And some help in the defensive backfield wouldn't hurt either.

Follow the jump because the Mayans said so!

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The 2012 NFL Draft finally gets underway tonight at 6:00 p.m. MT and while we won't see any Colorado Buffaloes picked tonight, we should see a few selected in the later rounds. This used to be more than just the first round, and it also used to fall on a Friday, but things changed, and now we only have 32 picks to look forward to on day one.

Last year, the Buffaloes had a banner year (especially for a team that had suffered through 5-straight losing seasons and fired its head coach before the year ended). Two first round picks, Nate Solder and Jimmy Smith (and not only were they picked high, but they were pretty huge contributors to their teams, both of which made it to the conference championships, with Solder's Patriots playing in the Super Bowl), and two day three picks, with Jalil Brown (4th) and Scotty McKnight (7th). This year, there's chance we have just as many, or more players picked, just none nearly as high as Nate or Jimmy in the 1st round.

With day one now only including the 1st round, we most likely won't see a Buffalo selected today. But since the NFL Draft begins, it's probably time we look at the Buffs that have a shot to hear their name called over the next three (it feels like more) days.

Follow the jump to see my quick, night-before-the-draft analysis!

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Tomorrow is the Colorado Buffaloes spring football game. Unfortunately, due to depth issues and injury concerns, it may be less of a spring football "game" and more of a spring football "practice." But still, this is our first (and last) chance to see the Buffaloes this spring. Which means it's our first chance to see Connor Wood throw the football, how Ray Polk looks coming back from injuries, how the offensive line looks after replacing both Guards from 2011, how the offensive skill positions look despite not returning any of the leaders there from last year, and a plethora of other things.

I know we don't want to hinge all of our expectations for the Buffaloes on this one evening of football, but it will be tough not to.

And knowing that what we see will have a huge impact on our outlook, let's look at five guys who we want to see step up tomorrow:

Connor Wood

No surprise here. He's taken all of the 1st-team snaps this offseason, but he hasn't been named the starter and the coaching staff still felt the need to go after a graduate-transfer. He was highly touted coming out of high school, but couldn't beat out a pretty awful QB at Texas before transferring here (though that's a story for another day). He's still learning the playbook, but that's not really what we're looking for tomorrow. We want to see how well he runs the offense and how "in command" he looks. And he has to be able to make all the throws while also showing that he can step up in the pocket. We've hear positive things, but they've all been tempered by the coaching staff as well. We need a starting quarterback in Boulder, and it would sure be nice to have already found him.

Follow the jump for a little Shangri-La!

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Bad news for the Buffaloes today as we find out the injury that Richardson suffered in Monday's practice was a torn ACL that requires surgery. Oy gevalt.

"Obviously, it’s a blow to our team, but it’s a part of the game," head coach Jon Embree said. "It’s an opportunity for others to step up and try to lessen his loss. I thought at first he just rolled his ankle, and it turned out to be this. It’s a shame because he’s worked real hard and was doing a great job both on and off the field, leading by example and improving on all the things he needed to work on."

We had multiple quotes from coaches about how well Richardson was doing this offseason. And we were definitely going to rely on him this year as the most experienced receiver on the roster by a longshot.

Follow the jump for some more quotes (this is too serious for a joke)!

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It's tough not to get excited when talking about the basketball prospects that Tad Boyle and CU are bringing in as part of the 2012 recruiting class. The group is ranked in the top-25 by most of the scouting services and a number of the players look ready to contribute right away. You'll get a different answer each place you look about who has the most upside of the five **** (Update: it's now six!) guys we are bringing in, but nearly everyone agrees that they all are good and have the potential to be great.

After the success of true freshmen Spencer Dinwiddie and Askia Booker, it's not out of the questions to expect 3 or more of these guys to have pretty big impacts next year. And we're going to need at least three of them to contribute to continue to have success on the court, if not all five of them.

Josh Scott is one of three in-state kids that make up the 2012 basketball recruiting class. Mr. Scott was one of the top 100 players in the nation and was recently voted the Colorado bball player of the year in Colorado. He's listed at, 6'8", 6'9" or 6'10", depending on the site, and between 215 to 225 lbs. CU listed him as a power forward in their Signing Day press release, but he has the skills of a 3. He has a solid handle and can play both inside and out. He may be able to provide us with a real post-presence on offense eventually. Scott played HS ball against lower-level competition, but also proved himself against other top forwards during AAU ball. Like all of these guys, he will benefit from the pre-season trip that the team is taking to France, as well as getting practice time against Andre Roberson and Shane Harris-Tunks. It will be huge for the team if he can contribute right away, as he can be a focal point of the offense inside. Best case scenario is he is able to step right into the role that Austin Dufault held this past season, only with a more effective post game and more athleticism. But he may need some time to adjust to the college game and the quality of the defenses he'll need to overcome now. But he has supposedly improved a ton since the Buffs started recruiting him, and that's always a good sign.

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Unlike last offseason where we were looking at replacing 78% of our scoring, this year we lose only 45% of our total points in 2011-2012. That means we know a little bit more about who we have coming back. Yes, we will be relying on an exciting class of freshmen coming in, but first we're focusing on the guys that are returning.

Who we've got coming back:

It all starts with Andre "Animal Style" Roberson. Mr. Double-Double himself. He finshed 2011-2012 with 20 double-doubles, led the team and the Pac 12 Conference in rebounding and blocked shots. He's a beast of a help defender and he's improving as an on-the-ball defender. His offensive game is developing, which is only good for the Buffaloes. He actually ended the year second on the team in 3 point percentage. He is our best all around player but isn't always that aggressive on offense. With the Buffs losing some 'creators', that may be something we need to see out of him at some point. He's a fantastic athlete and really, the sky is the limit for him. He has seen time at the 4- & 5-spots here, but the team looks best with him playing the 4. He will be a junior and there's a good chance we lose him to the NBA after next season, but hopefully he decides to stay all 4 years.

As a true freshman, Spencer Dinwiddie started all 36 games and averaged ten points, 3.6 rebounds and nearly two assists per contest. He saw most of his time at the 1- and 2-spots, as well as some time at the 3. Dinwiddie looks like he can develop into a pretty good point guard for us, but he isn't there yet. He's got a sweet shot and we'll need him to be more aggressive with it and driving to the basket going forward. He is long, but besides that, his defensive effort was inconsistent this year. He showed us at times that he can be a lock-down defender, but he needs to continue to work on moving his feet and on improving his body position. He can be a star, and a full season of starts should give him and the coaching staff a good idea of what he needs to work on this offseason. I fully expect him to develop into a team leader this summer, and that is exactly what we'll need from him. I could see him leading the Buffs in scoring next season. He showed better awareness and patience as the season wore on, and that will be huge as we try to replace Tomlinson's experience in running the offense. And if he could bulk up just a little bit, that'll help him body up on defense and stay strong deeper into games.

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CU basketball has undergone a transformation under 2nd-year Head Coach Tad Boyle. The man some call "Taddy" proved that his team's year-one performance wasn't a fluke with a second consecutive 20-win season (for the first time in program history). And they weren't just 20-win seasons, they were both 24-win seasons, the most wins ever in a season. A nice run in the NIT last year and the upset victory over UNLV to get to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament this season proved that this team is improving even with the loss of some bigtime players. Tad Boyle is building something here, something we haven't seen in a long time, if ever.

Follow the jump because Colorado has a basketball team!

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I know we're all focused on our NCAA Tournament-bound men's basketball team (I'm still in shock and so darn excited!), but that's no reason to ignore the snippets of news we're getting out of spring football practice.

I'll try to put together all the little pieces of information I've heard and read here for you about what has gone on thus far.

Injuires

Douglas Rippy is a guy that everyone is excited to get back after he was knocked out of 2011 with a knee injury. He's doing rehab and thinks that he's 75% recovered. He's been helping coach the linebackers in the mean time.

Malcolm Creer is also doing a little assistant coaching, which bodes well for his playing chances once he returns. He's also out for the spring.

Nate Bonsu and Jered Bell are doing some individual work this spring, but aren't quite cleared for team stuff and contact. But it sounds like they're close.

Follow the jump to find out why the chicken crossed the road!

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The final question involves guys who are playing new positions.

Spring Football Question Number Five:

How will guys adjust to their new positions?

This is an important question because we'll be relying on some of them this spring, and some of them even during the year. I won't look at everyone who is switching, just the ones that I think will make some noise.

Cordary Allen: He moves from TE (where he had moved from RB) to DE. He's an athletic kid, but he ran high as a running back and didn't have the hand for TE. DE is a position of need for us, so hopefully he can give us some meaningful snaps there, even if it's just during the spring. He has some quickness, so at the very least he'll help test our offensive line in some of the drills, even if he isn't a practiced technician.

Follow the jump to learn about the nefarious evolution of the Puggle!

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In my heart, but Buffs will always be special, but that is not what we are talking about here.

Spring Football Question Number Four:

Can we improve on special teams?

This is a must. And not in just one or two areas. Every. Single. One. We'll start with the kicking units, and we'll start where every kick starts, with the snapper.

Snapper:

Ryan Iverson spent his second year as the team's long snapper and his first as the short snapper. While it hasn't been talked about much, I'm still not sold on him as the best option there. Believe it or not, I don't like to get down on the players too much, but I do want to be honest. His snaps don't have great zip on them. If we can criticize QBs for not having enough arm strength, then I'm allowed to talk about his snapping. And he's a pretty small guy, so he gets pushed back further and more often than you'd like. We can't do much about the size issue, so I'm hoping that he at least improves on his snap velocity. Our punters have been at a disadvantage in that area. We have two other snappers listed on the roster and DaVaughn Thornton and Kyle Slavin have practiced there in the past, so we'll see what happens this spring. One of those guys is Keegan Lamar from Fairview and he might be the one to unseat Iverson.

Follow the jump to see Jon Embree's favorite brand of bottled water!

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In this installment of our sping football questions, we take a look at one of the most beleaguered positions from 2011.

Spring Football Questions Number Three:

Who steps up to join Ray Polk and Greg Henderson in the defensive backfield?

While this is an important question, it is almost certainly going to take more than spring ball to decide it. But that doesn't mean we can't get a head start on the discussion here.

Henderson was perhaps the lone bright spot of our defense last year, leading the team in snaps as a true freshman. He was by no means perfect in 2011, but he held his own and stayed healthy, which was important considering what happened around him. Ray Polk, on the other hand, was beat up and ended up missing some time as the season wore on. He's fully healthy now and has been getting rave reviews from the coaching staff for his offseason work. He is a fantastic athlete and has a few years of experience back there, so hopefully he's ready to be a leader and take his game to the next level. Either way, he's got the free safety spot locked up, and Greg Henderson has one of the starting CB spots.

Here are my Pre-Signing Day Previews for cornerback and safety and the recently released spring depth chart

Follow the jump to see what interesting deductions I can make from the players star signs!

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I'm talking about the skill position guys today.

Spring Football Question Number Two:

Who steps up at the skill positions on offense?

We need to find one new starter at the following positions: QB, RB, FB, WR & TE. Oy!

That is a heck of a lot of turnover on offense. Lets take a look at the candidates.

Tight End:

Our coaches want to run a lot of two TE sets. That was clear last year, but we will only have 4 guys on the roster at the position this spring, and only two of them are on scholarship. We have a number of talented freshmen due on campus this summer and there is a very good chance that one or more of them will get serious playing time in the fall. But for now, we're looking at the guys we have.

Nick Kasa will finally prove to folks why he was such a highly regarded recruit. He has all the physical ability to be a top-flight tight end, and he looked the part in limited playing time after switching positions late last year. I expect him to be that big, blocking TE that the coaches want on the field for at least 200 snaps, and I could see him catching a good number of passes as well. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see Kasa get himself drafted as a TE next year.

Though if I'm wrong about Alex Lewis starting at left tackle, he will get a lot of playing time here at TE.

Kyle Slavin is my bet to be the #1 receiving target at the TE position, at least in the spring. He will have some stiff competition when the new recruits join the team, but until then this is his job to lose. He's a good athlete and he is up to 245 lbs. He saw the field a bit last season, but doesn't have much experience. Yet I believe he's going to be a starter coming out of the spring.

Alex Wood and Scott Fernandez are the two walkon TEs on the roster. Fernandez is a former offensive lineman, and Wood seems to profile better as a FB, but they both will have their shots to earn some playing time here. I think they both could find roles as blockers in heavier offensive sets (though the Fernandez-as-a-fullback experiment that Hawkins ran was definitely a bust).

Follow the jump for a boogie-woogie time!

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No, I'm not talking about the little dance you do every time you walk into a Five Guys and get a burger, I'm talking about the offensive line.

Spring Football Question Number One:

Which five guys will start along the offensive line?

I talked about this a little bit in my pre-signing day previews for tackles and interior linemen, but there have been some developments since then. The biggest being one of the five guys I was certain would start, Paulay Asiata leaving the team. He looked like he would be a good one pretty soon, but now we have to move on and find someone else.

The Left Side:

As I've been saying since last season (and I reiterated it in my pre-signing day previews), I think David Bakhtiari would be best served playing offensive guard. He started at right tackle for us two years ago and left tackle for us this past year. He is our best offensive linemen, as the coaches have said more than once, but I have maintained that his best position isn't on the outside. The coaches see it too, as B.G. Brooks' Spring Primer states. They're going to try him inside and let a guy I've been high on try to win the left tackle spot: Alex Lewis. He saw the field quite a bit as a blocking tight end and was pretty darn effective. He's strong, has long arms, gets good leverage and has a nasty temperament. He still needs to pack on a few pounds, but he could be a very good left tackle for us.

Follow the jump to see what Albert Einstein said about dubstep and its implications for the universe!

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2012 was an interesting recruiting cycle when it comes to defense. The Buffaloes had a big haul along the defensive line, taking 9 players, and grabbed their only two 4-star players at cornerback, where they took five total kids. And most importantly: no linebackers. Which makes LB a definite position of focus in the next recruiting cycle.

But class balancing is still going to be an issue this time around, plus we're working with fewer available scholarships. As Phil pointed out in the last article, we currently only have something like 14 scholarships slated to open up. But I believe (though I might be counting incorrectly) that we will be carrying fewer than 85 scholarship players in 2012, so I'm predicting a class that is closer to 20 kids than 14.

Okay, lets take a look at how the next year in recruiting might go!

Defensive Back:

We signed 5 DBs in 2011, so we don't need to sign quite so many this time around. And it looks like we might be in on some pretty good ones, specifically a few safety prospects out of California. But we'll be fighting off the traditional Cali powers for them, and perhaps Stanford as well.

While we may move another cornerback or two to safety in the continued mission to increase team speed, we also may see a safety or two move to linebacker. Will Harlos is the primary candidate, as long as his bulking up is going well. So it may be important for us to take one true safety prospect in 2013; one that can hit and fill against the run. I think we nab one safety this cycle.

Follow the jump because there's cornerbacks to discuss!

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Now that we've wrapped up the 2012 recruiting class, it's time to start looking ahead. The coaching staff did what they had to do in order to 'balance the classes,' but we will still have to think about that going into 2013. We need balanced classes at every position so we don't deplete our numbers at any one position through attrition, whether it's graduation, not qualifying academically or (and hopefully we have this problem soon) guys leaving early for the NFL.

So lets take a look at where we're at now and what the roster will look like after next season! We begin on the offensive side of the ball.

Quarterback:

Though not everyone agrees, many will tell you it's good to take a scholarship QB each year. We finally have some balance on the depth chart here, so we should be able to fall into that pattern. We will lose Brent Burnette, though his impact mostly likely won't be that great next year. The West has some talented QB prospects, including Colorado's own Ryan Novak. It remains to be seen whether he is one of CU's top targets there, but we'll keep an eye on this.

So basically, look for the Buffs to be looking for one QB in the 2013 class. I can't imagine them wanting to sign more than one (this year, once they got a commitment from Shane Dillon, they basically stopped looking at other QBs. They don't want more than one per cycle). So if we get an early commitment from someone, that's probably the end of the QB discussion.

Follow the jump because Chumbawumba says so!

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The rest of the offensive line! We are looking for two brand new starters at offensive guard going into spring ball. We lost two guys that held down those two spots for a while for us, so it's time to see what the kids can do. And I combine this with center, because they tend to run guys at both spots to make sure there is quality depth on the interior of the line.

Offensive Guard/Center

• Gus Handler, Jr - He improved as the season went on and played his best football in the last few weeks of 2011. If he can carry that momentum going forward, he's got a solid chance to be the starting center for the Buffs going into 2012. He moves well and has gotten much stronger since he arrived on campus. He has to continue refining his technique and his ability to make the calls at the line of scrimmage, which we will hopefully see if he gets more first team snaps this offseason.

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Today we look at offensive tackle. We went into the 2011 season with a returning starter (though he was switching from the right side to the left), and one guy who showed a lot of promise that they had slotted to start at right tackle. Well, things didn't end up that way, as both of them were injured during the season. Lets look at who we have there now:

Offensive Tackle:

• Ryan Dannewitz, Sr - All of a sudden, Dannewitz is the greybeard of the offensive line. He's played a number of positions for the Buffs throughout his career, but his true value is as a reserve swing-tackle. He was pressed into action almost immediately in 2011, and ended up 3rd in number of snaps played along the o-line. Dannewitz is a tough guy who has some versatility and good size, but is limited athletically and can't give these coaches exactly what they want every down at the tackle position. He's a guy who can come in and give some solid backup-level play off the bench on either side of the line.

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There are rumblings that we're going to be "switching" to the 4-3 for our defensive alignment in 2012. I put switching in quotes, because that's basically what lined up in for the majority of snaps in 2011. But it means that we'll need to use some true freshmen this season in our tackle rotation. We're ridiculously thin inside. Lets see how thin we are:

Defensive Tackles

• Eric Richter, Sr - I'm hoping I have this wrong and that he's actually only a junior, but I think he already spent his redshirt year. He's the biggest guy on the team (315 lbs) and also the strongest. If he can get even some of the technique down, he can contribute this year. And we need him. We don't have much else. Especially in short yardage situations, he could be a real force for us, and we need all the help we can get in defending the run. How many times did teams blow our defensive line off the ball in 2011? He would inject some real size in there, and if nothing else, he can be harder to move than the rest of the kids we have inside. I'm hoping that he can play and give us some meaningful time.

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This is a position where depth is a serious problem. And it's one that we depend on quite a bit for our offense to work. There's a reason that Nick Kasa saw playing time in 2011 soon after making the switch from defensive end.

Tight End:

• Nick Kasa, Sr - It's funny that the reason we were able to steal him away from Florida is because they wanted him at tight end and he wanted to play defense, which we were willing to let him do. He never made an impact on defense, so now he's back to tight end, and he was able to see immediate playing time. He will see more of it in 2012, especially because I believe Alex Lewis will be staring at LT. He proved to be a good blocker, even with minimum practice time, so I believe he will improve by leaps and bounds this offseason. He's got great size, and he has better hands than Lewis does, so he may be able to fill that role even better than Lewis did. Lewis played more than 100 snaps at TE in 2011, and I believe that Kasa could end up playing closer to 200. He is already the best blocker we have there, and he showed solid hands with his reception against Utah. We would love to be playing multiple TE sets, and he should become a staple of them in his final season in Boulder.

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Wide receiver is one of a few positions where we lose a lot of quality experience. Toney Clemons really stepped it up in the last five games, and Kyle Cefalo and Logan Gray logged a number of snaps between them. Our experience levels going into 2012 are low, besides Paul Richardson. But he can't do it by himself, and even he only had a few good games in 2011. Who will be manning this position come spring practices:

Wide Receiver:

• Dustin Ebner, Sr - Walk-on who has seen some time at receiver, though not in a couple of seasons. He played on special teams some last year, but not after the coaches went to playing starters on those units.

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I am not too worried about linebacker in 2012. Now, 2013 is another story, but we look to be solid here for the time being. That is, of course, if we can get Doug Rippy back from his knee injury. But a few freshmen spent some time there and looked good, and I think we have a solid group of guys that can team with Rippy, Jon Major and Derrick Webb to give us good production in the middle of the field. Now there is one thing I'd like to talk about, and that is Patrick Mahnke. He had an interesting year in 2011. He managed to both make a number of big plays (he actually led the team in 3rd down stops, quarterback chase downs, tackles for loss and tackles for no gain), while also giving up a large number of plays (the TD against Cal where the TE dragged him into the endzone was one of many). He played more snaps than Derrick Webb, so he's actually going to be a guy that we really have to replace, and his speed was an asset to our defense. But I do think we've got the talent to be good here in 2012.

Linebacker:

• Jon Major, Sr - He finally played an entire season! That's good news after he spent the first part of his RFr year recovering from an ACL tear and his sophomore season was cut short by an MCL sprain. And while he led the team in tackles, he still hasn't quite regained the speed that he showed in high school. Hopefully a good offseason can help him continue to recover from his injuries, because he showed us that he can be a pretty good linebacker in 2011. He started the season playing outside, but had to move Inside (and then back and forth some) after Rippy went down with the knee injury. Without that speed, he's a very solid backer, but if he can get some more of that speed, he can have a special season this year.

Follow the jump to see the boldest of my bold predictions!

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*Just to make this extra clear, this is a letter from me, NOT from all Colorado fans. And I'm not actually sending it to them (though I could...). What do you want to say to them?

Dear Colorado FB Coaching Staff,

Thank you for coming here to clean up the mess that has been left by your predecessors. Y'all have been here for a year now and there are things I'd like to say. First of all, I understand that last year was difficult. A long and arduous schedule, coupled with depth and talent deficiencies left by the previous coaching staff, meant last year was going to be rough even before it started. But I also expect a lot, as do the rest of Buff Nation. I hope you learned enough on the fly in 2011, because I want to see more in 2012.

Follow the jump to see just how demanding I can be!

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I'm combining our pass rushers into one piece. We still aren't getting great production out of this group, though last year Josh Hartigan and Chidera Uzo-Diribe combined to record 13 ½ sacks. With Kanavis McGhee on staff, this number will hopefully increase. We need this group to be special to succeed in the Pac 12. It isn't there yet, and we lose our most productive guy there in Hartigan. Lets see what we have going on in the getting-after-the-quarterback department:

Defensive End / Jack Linebacker

• Chidera Uzo-Diribe, Jr - He was leading the team in sacks for a chunk of 2011, and he has the ability to do so for all of 2012. He made improvements this year, and I'm hoping that more time with the new coaching staff pushes him even further in his development. He's got great long arms, and is still raw as a defensive end. He's still out there going on pure athletic ability at times, but he's playing with better technique and discipline. Unfortunately, we now need him to take another few steps forward, because we have little else there. He led the team with 3 forced fumbles in 2011, and again, we need him to have an even larger impact next season. He's played through injuries each of his seasons, but managed to play in every game, and we need to see him on the field even more going forward. It may not be fair, but there will be a lot of pressure on him to perform at a high level.

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This is a position that I'm nervous about. Having Eric Bieniemy as the position coach helps with it a little bit, but it's still a concern. We only have three players at tailback (only two on scholarship) going into the spring, barring guys like Cordary Allen (moved to TE) and D.D. Goodson (Nickelback) switching back. Tony Jones looked solid and flashed something special a couple of times in 2011, but we don't know if he'll be a guy that can truly be a #1 option guy for us, and Creer may not play in 2012 because of his injury. That means we'll have 1 healthy scholarship RB in the spring. Not to mention the graduation of our two scholarship fullbacks. Alex Wood is a tight end, but he took some snaps at fullback and looks more suited for the position anyway (see my upcoming TE breakdown for his information)

Running Backs

• Josh Ford, Jr - His shining moment in 2011 was his TD run right up the middle, and he had a few other solid pickups on the ground, but he still needs to keep working on his blocking to be a full-time contributor for us going forward. He's a guy with solid speed who is best as a one-cut and go type of player. The question is if he can keep a spot in the TB rotation with new guys coming in.

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Dear Colorado Football Fans,

First, I'd like to give you a hug. You deserve it. These last six years have tried your loyalty. You've seen a high-profile coaching hire fall flat on his face. You've started Bernard Jackson and Cody Hawkins at quarterback. You haven't seen a winning season. You've seen some prestigious marks fall, such as the 242 game scoring streak that was broken by Missouri in 2008. You've also seen some ignominious records set, like the four-plus year losing streak outside the state of Colorado. Thankfully, that record was broken right at the end of the year, which also saved another record from being set: most losses in a Colorado football season ever. You've seen a high number of big-time recruits fail to live up to expectations. And you've seen a coaching staff with deep ties to the university struggle through a difficult first season.

But enough with the hugging. It's time for some advice: suck it up.

Follow the jump for more from my soap box!

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Now we look at safety. We dealt with injuries to entrenched starters, Ray Polk and Anthony Perkins here, so we actually got to see glimpses of the future at this position. It wasn't always pretty, but there were some good things to see from them. Ray Polk looks like he'll be our free safety to start the year, but the other spot is still up for grabs.

Safety:

• Vince Ewing, Sr - He spent most of last year recovering from the knee injury that knocked him out before the 2010 season. He's been a special teams guy when he's been healthy for us.

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Just a heads up, if I reference things that I have yet to "write," it's because I did them out of order. I definitely didn't start with quarterback, but it makes sense as the first one to publish.

This may be the least complete of all of the offseason breakdowns. With Tyler Hansen leaving, we have a whole lot of "who knows" at quarterback. We've seen a bit of Nick Hirschman, but not enough of the other guys. I'll do my best, folks. And when I look at who we need, I'm doing so in a vacuum. I am following recruiting, so I know who we have committed or who we're fighting to get, but I'm going to revisit these post-nat'l signing day, so we'll deal with what we have coming in when we know for sure.

Quarterback:

Follow the jump to see which of the QBs on our roster is also an Olympic Qualifying Bar Mitzvah Planner!

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This will be the second to last 2011 opponent watch, though it will also include news about the teams we'll be facing in 2012, just to get you ready!

Also! This one includes the 2012 opponents that we haven't been following: Fresno State and Sacramento State. Read up on them at the end!

If you're only interested in our opponents the week we're slated to play them, then this piece isn't for you. This is a look at all 12 13 16 of our opponents in 2011 & 2012 and how they did from week-to-week. Eventually, this will be a measure of our Schedule strength, but since there's a pretty good chance we're not playing for a BCS bowl this season, it's just a friendly update about those teams that we'll be facing at some point. Also, with us playing Cal in '10 and this season, OSU is the only Pac-12 team we don't know anything about, so I figured we should follow them a bit so we know what to expect when we face them finally in 2013. And because they're important too.

*Updated to include ASU's (really delayed) hire for Head Coach

Hawaii Warriors (6-7, 3-4 WAC)

The Warriors finished the season with a loss to BYU, leaving them ineligible for a bowl invite. More importantly, though, Head Coach Greg McMackin retired after four seasons at the helm in the Islands. We won't face them again for a few years, so the Warriors may very well have a different look when we see them again, though somehow I doubt they'll abandon the run-n-shoot offense they've been running.

Follow the jump to see which team hired a ghost as its next Head Coach!

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