Cal Football: 5 Questions About Colorado for Buffs' Beat Writer

Reporter for Bears' next foe discusses possible changes by interim coach, talented freshman QB Owen McCown, candidates for Buffs' head coaching job

Cal faces Colorado in Boulder, Colorado, on Saturday (11 a.m. Pacific time), and the winless Buffaloes are a bit of mystery team since they will be playing their first game under interim head coach Mike Sanford after Karl Dorrell was fired last week.

Colorado beat writer Brian Howell of the Boulder Daily Camera will try to unravel some of the mystery by answering five questions about the 0-5 Buffaloes.

1. What changes do you expect under Mike Sanford, and will it make a difference?

"I don't know how often we expect to see a college football team that midseason has a new head coach [Mike Sanford], new offensive coordinator [Clay Patterson] new defensive coordinator [Gerald Chatman] all at once, so I imagine there's going to be some changes" said Howell in the video atop this story.

Howell mentioned that Sanford said there will be some different terminology and that  the defense will be simplified.

"I think there's definitely going to be some changes," Howell said. "What they are, I have no idea."

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2. Freshman quarterback Owen McCown has been fairly effective in his first two starts. What is your assessment of him and his future?

Howell notes that McCown is just 175 pounds, and the Buffaloes were hoping to redshirt McCown, the son of former NFL quarterback Josh McCown, but ineffectiveness by the other quarterbacks forced Colorado to go with McCown.

"He's straight out of high school and he looks like he's straight out of high school," said Howell. "Owen's got a ton of talent, he's got a big arm, high football IQ and he's got some Brett Favre in him too, where he's going to make some throws that you say, 'Ew boy, maybe should have eaten that one.'  But he's brought some excitement to this offense."

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3. Why has Colorado's defense been so ineffective, and what changes do you think Gerald Chatman will make as the new defensive coordinator?

The Buffaloes rank 129th of 131 FBS teams in total defense, 130th in scoring defense and are dead last in the nation by a sizable margin in rushing defense.

"It's been a little bit surprising," Howell said. "That side of the ball was expected to be the better side, especially early, especially their defensive line. They're very experienced on the line and they've just been shredded. Their run defense has been terrible."

Howell says the Buffs have some talent on defense, especially in their front seven, and it remains to be seen whether Chatman can make any quick changes to make a noticeable difference.

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4. What is the attitude of the team now, and who are the standouts players on the team?

"Kind of surprisingly, [the players] have been hanging in with the team," Howell said, and kept their heads up."

He noted that players on teams that have a midseason coaching change have a 30-day window after the change to enter the transfer portal, but no Colorado player has done so yet.

As far as players to watch, Howell mentioned three true freshmen -- McCown, wide receiver Jordyn Tyson (18.3 yards per catch) and running back Anthony Hankerson (4.9 yards per carry). On defense, Howell points to linebacker and West Virginia transfer Josh Chandler-Semedo (4.0 tackles for loss)

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5. Give us an educated guess as to which people might be contenders for the Colorado head coaching job.

Howell offers three possibilities, admitting that dozens of names are floating around.

Matt Ruhle, who was recently fired by the Carolina Panthers, is getting some mention for the Colorado job, although Howell suspects he would be in line for a more attractive job.

Howell's choice would be Bronco Mendenhall, the former BYU and Virginia head coach who is taking the 2022 season off but has expressed an interest in returning to coaching.

The other name that has been popping up is former Colorado safety and current Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters.

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Cover photo of Owen McCown and Anthony Hankerson is by Ivan Pierre Aguirre, USA TODAY Sports

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