Q&A With Colorado and the Ralphie Report

The Ralphie Report is one of my favorite SB Nation blogs. Jon Woods and Bob Bell do a great job! They asked me earlier in the week if we could do a Q&A and this is what we ended up coming up with this evening.

John - We all assumed that Dan Hawkins would be successful when he was hired by Colorado after his stint at Boise State. How come that didn't happen?

Bob - We thought he would be successful too. As you can imagine, it is a really long story but I think we see Chris Peterson was the mastermind behind the Boise State train. In short, I can narrow it down to three quick things:

1) Player development was lacking. I don't think players got better under Dan Hawkins. He wasn't getting the most out of the good players and he wasn't developing the under the radar players.

2) His coaching staff was mediocre and he didn't make necessary moves to bring different coaches in.

3) He couldn't get the team motivated especially on the road where the Buffs haven't won since 2007. Penalties, poor special teams play, flat performances all were a big part of the Dan Hawkins era

John - Why will it be a different story under Jon Embree?

Bob - Tough. Too early to tell because these are a lot of Hawkins' players who look like the have gotten used to losing. Embree will have to change the culture, bring in talent and when that talent gets here, he needs to be able to develop it. He has the moxie, the desire to get this program back and definitely has the attitude to get after it.

This was a tough year for Embree to start. The Buffs non-conference schedule was difficult and the remaining part of the schedule is not favorable.

I have hope Jon Embree will be able to recruit and raise the talent level. We have seen some early success but still need to see much more in that department.

John -  How are Buff fans adapting to the Pac 12? Is there any regrets for the average fan about leaving the Big 12?

Bob - Zero regrets for leaving the Big 12 except for the poor performance we are showing in our first year. We love the Pac-12, love Larry Scott and think it was a great move for our program. We are about to get a big taste of the Pac-12 with Stanford last week, Washington, Oregon, USC and Arizona State coming up. This first year we are definitely going to take our lumps.

John -  With WR Paul Richardson out for a couple of weeks who will be the Colorado receiver to keep an eye on this week?

Our best receiver other than Paul Richardson has been RB Rodney Stewart. Our offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has brought that NFL screen game to the college level and has utilized Stewart very well.

WR Toney Clemons is probably the next best option after Richardson although he has a tendency to disappear during games. The senior was a transfer from Michigan that had a ton of hype around him but hasn't been the consistent threat we thought he would be.

John - What is your prediction for Saturday?

Bob - With Colorado having lost 20 consecutive games on the road, it is difficult to predict the Buffs winning in Seattle. I think Washington wins by 14+ points and the game is never really close.