Continually bashing their team has become a popular pastime among University of Colorado football fans, leaving expectations low for the foreseeable future. Who can blame them? The Buffs are 16-33 over the last four years, which happens to coincide with the reign of head coach Dan Hawkins, a likable man who has never proven that he has what it takes to lead a Big 12 football team.

As senior editor Luc Hatlestad writes in this month’s issue of 5280, without any major blue-chip recruits heading to Boulder, things aren’t likely to improve.

The Denver Post has its own previews of the CU football team, including an earlier installment predicting that junior quarterback Tyler Hansen will eventually be named the starter, though he hasn’t yet earned the spot.

The Post focuses on the team’s running backs, revealing a corps of players who are small and somewhat undersized, featuring several true freshman. Outside of junior Rodney “Speedy” Stewart—a smaller back who has led CU’s rushing totals over the last two years—there isn’t much by way of experience in the backfield.

The Post predicts that keeping Stewart fresh this year will require significant help from at least one of the freshman, never a good plan in top-tier college football.