Rarely do you hear an encouraging word about the Buffaloes.
After the 28-10 loss to the Cornhuskers on Saturday night, the performance of the Colorado football team can only be described as “stank”.
Except for Travis “Big Game” Hunter with 10 pass catches for 110 yards (but no touchdown) and Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig With 11 solo tackles (three with lost yardage), the CU players and coaches do not deserve a single silver or gold star.
Nebraska is back and Colorado is way, way back. Forget about a national playoff appearance altogether. Forget about a conference championship game. Don’t even think about a winning record.
The only positive thing for Deion Sanders right now is “AFLAC!” Duck, CU.
At least CU won’t have to play NU for a long time, if ever. The Huskers have a real team for the first time in many years. Good for the Nebraskans. They’ve been saving up their money for the bowl trip forever and can finally spend it this year on a vacation in Florida, California or somewhere warm. The Cornhuskers aren’t worth playing either, but they certainly won’t be embarrassing this season and could even play a role in the Big 10.
Coach Prime and Boulder’s newly recruited loan players were unprepared for a major prime-time game against a team that was bigger, stronger, faster and more skilled.
It could be a very long autumn.
The Buffs still have no defensive offensive line, no running game, no defensive front or anything else – including quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who will not win a Heisman Trophy and is mostly a moving target. Sanders completed 23 of 38 passes for 244 empty yards with one touchdown and one horrific interception that led to a touchdown.
Celebrities and media will not be in Colorado this season. These Buffs appear to be the same Buffs that suffered six straight losses and a 4-8 record last year. The first season of returning to the Big 12 could be just like the farewell season of the late, not-so-great Pac 12. Does it look like CU can win 5, 6, 7 games? Not if the Buffs look like they did at Lincoln Memorial Stadium.
The game in Fort Collins against Colorado State, which defeated the University of Northern Colorado on Saturday, will be a serious problem.
And the Buffaloes’ only wish is that the Big 12 Conference – which currently has 16 teams – poses no threat to win the national championship or send more than one school to the 12-team playoffs.
Coach Sanders said this spring and summer that the biggest changes would be on the offensive line and at running back. But the line wasn’t Hoover Dam, and the Cornhuskers sacked quarterback Sanders six times and chased him back and forth.
Colorado’s total yardage was 16 yards. Yes, 16. That sounds like 24. Of course, Sanders the Younger had to run for minus-30 yards on eight plays, and Dallan Hayden had five carries for 32 yards. But Charlie Offerdal went 4 of 4, backup QB Ryan Staub 3 of 4, and Isaiah Augustave 2 of 6. The Buffs had one double-digit scoring run attempt.
But two players on fourth-and-one were ridiculous and stood still. What was Sanders The Elder or good old Pat Shurmur, the offensive coordinator, thinking? Apparently not.
Hype and hope are the strategy.
Sanders the Other (Shiloh, the defensive back) left the field injured and was diagnosed with a broken forearm. He will likely miss the rest of the season.
Shadeur should play better than Nebraska rookie Dyland Raiola, who idolizes and imitates Patrick Mahomes. Raiola may not be the second coming of Christ, but he completed 23 of 30 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown. And more importantly, the Huskers ran 35 times for 149 yards. No one is ready to crown the Cornheads, but Nebraska has suffered from as many weak quarterbacks as the Denver Broncos for years.
Honestly, Colorado is not a good team. The Buffs managed to last longer than North Dakota State, but they may not be so lucky against three other “state” teams and a trip to Disney World.
Coach Sanders only wants words of encouragement from the mass media and the numerous fans.
He won’t get her.
Woody Paige has been a Colorado sports and general columnist for the Rocky Mountain News, The Denver Post, The Gazette and The Denver Gazette since 1974. He was a commentator for the ESPN network on six different shows for 20 years. [email protected]
