UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BUFFALOES / SPORTS INFORMATION SERVICE www.CUBuffs.com Fieldhouse Annex #50, 357 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0357 © 2007 CU Athletics Telephone 303/492-5626 (FAX: 303/492-3811; E-mail: [email protected]) David Plati (Associate AD/Sports Information), Lindsay Lew (Associate SID), Andrew Green (Assistant SID), Troy Andre (Assistant SID/ COLORADO Internet Managing Editor), Linda Poncin (Assistant SID), Allie Musso (Assistant SID), Erich Schubert (Graduate Assistant). 2007 COLORADO BUFFALO Football Game 5—OKLAHOMA September 29 / 11:30 a.m. MDT / Boulder RELEASE NUMBER 5 (September 23, 2007) FOX SPORT NET (Regional) | KOA-RADIO | SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO (Ch. 121) | CUBUFFS.COM (Live Stats) QUICKLY SPEAKING… The Colorado Buffaloes (2-2, 0-0 Big 12) open up conference play this Saturday, also playing its first ranked opponent of the season as the No. 3/4 Oklahoma Sooners (4-0, 0-0 Big 12) invade Boulder for a 11:30 a.m. kickoff at Folsom Field… Fox Sports Net will broadcast the game regionally, with Joel Meyers (play-by-play), Dave Lapham (analyst) and Jim Knox (sidelines) set to call the action… This is the 14th straight game in the series that is being televised on a regional or national basis… These two will play with the sun out, last done in 2002 (kind of) as the previous four games all were nighttime kickoffs; the ’02 game was played in the afternoon, but with cloud cover as it rained heavily most of the game… This completes a hat-trick for the Buffs as CU last played three straight home games in as many weekends in 1998 until this year… Colorado is coming off a 42-0 win over Miami-Ohio, CU’s first shutout in two seasons as the Buffs had 634 yards on offense and limited MU to just 139… There are about 4,350 tickets remaining for the contest, which is CU’s annual homecoming game; unlike most schools, CU selects its homecoming on a date that jives with what works best for Family Weekend, which has emerged as the better draw and thus gets the mid-October date; homecoming then usually defaults to the last September or an earlier October home game. So none of this “How can CU select OU for its homecoming opponent?” stuff because it doesn’t work that way here… The CU-Baylor game on Oct. 6 will kickoff at 5:05 p.m. mountain time and will not be televised… CUBuffs.com features game day updates and live stats for all games DEPTH CHART ON PAGE 48; ROSTER ON PAGES 49-50 STAT OF THE WEEK When Colorado State scored on its first two second half possessions to take a 28-17 lead in the season opener, at that point the Rams were 9-of-12 on third down conversions. However, since that time, the CU defense has fortified itself on the down. How much so? Since that third defensive series of the second half of the opener, the opponent is a combined 11-of-52 (21.2 percent) converting on the down. For the season, the Buffs are ranked 32nd nationally in third down defense (31.3%), but sans those first 12 tries, the Buffs would be right up there with this week’s opponent, Oklahoma: the Sooners are second in category in the NCAA, allowing foes to convert just 20.6 percent of the time. OBSCURE NOTE OF THE WEEK Colorado outgained Miami by 495 yards (634-139) in its 42-0 victory last weekend; that is actually only the fourth largest (positive) difference in game for the Buffaloes. In a 40-6 win over Oklahoma State in 1971, the Buffs had 676 yards to just 124 for the Cowboys, a margin of 552; the other two were very close to what CU did last Saturday. In a 54-7 win over Kansas State in 1992, the Buffs had a “modest” 514 yards, but the defense suffocated the Wildcats and held them to just 16, providing a 498-yard margin, and in a 55-7 romp over Missouri in 1991, Colorado had 656 yards to Mizzou’s 159 (or 497 more). ROOKIES ON THE LINE Two true freshman busted into the lineup in the Miami game, OG Kai Maiava and OT Ryan Miller. They became just the fourth and fifth offensive linemen to play as true freshmen at CU in the last 15 seasons, joining OG Marwan Hage (2000), OG Drew Shader (2001) and OG Brian Daniels (2003). It’s the first time since 1991 that two played in the same season (OT Doyln Jackson, OG Clint Moore). Miller is the first tackle to play as a true frosh since Jackson. 2007 COLORADO SCHEDULE & RESULTS (2-2, 0-0 BIG 12) 2007 Date CU* Opponent Opp* TV Result/Time Record Series This-N-That Sept. 1 NR Colorado State (Denver) NR FSN W 31-28 (OT) 0-3 58-19-2 PK Eberhart ties it and wins it with two FG; McKnight 108 rec yds, TD Sept. 8 NR at Arizona State NR FSN L 14-33 4-0 0- 2-0 Buffs take early 14-0 lead, but ASU scores last 33 in 102 degree heat SEPT. 15 NR FLORIDA STATE NR ESPN L 6-16 2-1 0- 2-0 First encounter went FSU’s way by 47-7 in Tallahassee in 2003 SEPT. 22 NR MIAMI-OHIO NR none W 42- 0 1-3 1- 0-0 CU rolls up 634 yards (359 rushing, most since ’02) , limits Miami to 139 SEPT. 29 NR OKLAHOMA (H) 3 FSN 11:30a 4-0 16-39-2 Sooners limit CU to 113 total yards in ‘06, late TD (:17) padded 24-3 final Oct. 6 at Baylor none 5:05p 3-1 8- 6-0 BU wins 3-OT thriller (34-31) in Boulder in ’06, CU’s first multi-OT game Oct. 13 at Kansas State TBA TBA 2-1 43-18-1 K-State 34-21 win last year gives Wildcats 6-4 edge in last 10 games OCT. 20 KANSAS (FW) TBA TBA 4-0 41-22-3 KU frosh QB Reesing leads ’06 comeback to snap 5-game CU series run Oct. 27 at Texas Tech TBA TBA 3-1 4- 4-0 30-6 win in ’06 is Hawkins’ first at CU as all phases (O-D-ST) dominate NOV. 3 MISSOURI TBA TBA 4-0 31-37-3 Buffs winners in 17 of last 21, including four straight in Boulder Nov. 10 at Iowa State TBA TBA 1-3 47-13-1 CU leads 24-7 all-time in Ames, with wins in 10 of last 11 NOV. 23 NEBRASKA ABC 10:00a 3-1 17-46-2 NU win in Lincoln in ’06 snapped 4-game winning streak by road team (All times mountain. KEY: *—AP rank at game time; —Big 12 Conference game; H—Homecoming; FW—Family Weekend) 2007 Colorado Football: The Media Page 2-2-2 MEDIA SERVICES ¾ Coach Dan Hawkins holds a Tuesday press luncheon in the Dal Ward Athletic Center, starting at 11:30 a.m. with lunch, followed by Hawkins beginning the interview session promptly at Noon. This year’s dates: Sept. 4-11-18-25, Oct. 2-9-16-23-30, Nov. 6-19 (Monday)-27, Dec. TBA (bowl). NOTE that there is no organized press luncheon on Nov. 13 (bye week). The press conference portion of the luncheon is streamed live on www.CUBuffs.com (in the BuffsTV area); all press conferences on CUBuffs.com are free and thus do not require access codes. ¾ Hawkins can be heard Mondays on the Big 12 Football Teleconference Call at 10:40 a.m. MT. All coaches participate; please call 706/679-2026 for access (media only—you must register). A teleconference replay is available after 2 p.m. MT the same day by phone (706/634-1616) or on www.Big12sports.com. ¾ Video highlights of CU football games are available anytime provided by the Big 12 Conference through www.CollegePressBox.tv. Highlights will be in files in Quicktime format, with all available for viewing prior to downloading. First-time visitors will need to register on-line for access; information: contact Ted Gangi at 214/909- 9314 or [email protected]. Special requests can also be made through CU’s BuffVision (Deric Swanson or Eric Pelloni: 303-735-3637). ¾ The Colorado lockerroom (home and road) is closed after games; following the customary 10-minute cooling off period, players will be made available (a list of players will be solicited immediately following the game; no cutoff to request players). ¾ Colorado’s regular season football practices are closed to the general public (exception: Sundays) but are open to the media (exception: Thursdays). The first 25 minutes of practices (Sun-Tues-Wed) in-season are open for photography/video needs from the end zones and sidelines. Extensive parameters listed in CU media policies. ¾ This year’s standard meeting/practice schedule (mountain time, pre-time change): Sunday (3:15-5:00, 5:15-6:15); Monday (off); Tuesday (2:30-3:40/4:00-6:30), Wednesday (2:30-3:40/4:00-6:30), Thursday (2:30-3:40/4:00-6:00), Friday (3:00-4:00, evening meetings). ¾ Interviews with Colorado players are allowed post-practice on Sundays, pre- and post-practice on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and pre-practice Thursdays (the cutoff moves up to pre-Wednesday practice for Friday games). Phone interviews with out-of-town media are allowed all four days in all time slots. Interviews on Mondays are at the discretion of the player, as it being the standard player day off (no meetings/practice), CU can’t arrange due to NCAA rules.