Nov. 17th – at Washington State – Do You (Still) Believe?

Cameron Ward threw for 288 yards and accounted for four touchdowns, Brennan Jackson had two scoop-and-score touchdowns and Washington State beat Colorado 56-14 on Friday night to snap a six-game losing streak and end the Buffaloes’ hopes of a bowl game in the first year under Deion Sanders.

CU quarterback Shedeur Sanders left the game in the second quarter after taking a big hit on a botched snap. Sanders was slow to get up but walked off the field on his own before being taken to the locker room. The junior was 6-of-10 for 86 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown strike to Travis Hunter. Sanders was sacked four times before leaving the game.

“The opponents played a heck of a game, coached a heck of a game,” said Coach Prime. ” They came to play handily from the start to the finish. Obviously it doesn’t look like we did. You give up two fumble returns for touchdowns and a kickoff return for a touchdown, that’s not the recipe for a win. They executed early and executed often and when they got Shedeur out of the game it was tough sledding from then on.”

Washington State posted 447 yards of total offense, holding the Colorado offense – which had three turnovers and nine punts – to 255 yards of total offense. Freshman quarterback Ryan Staub completed 5-of-14 passes for 56 yards, while junior walk-on quarterback completed one-of-three passes for 21 yards, also throwing an interception.

The humbling loss to Washington State gives rise to understandable frustration, but anger is misplaced … Given a blind taste test against five other first-year coaches, can you find a candidate who you would rather have seen running the CU program? …

Coach Prime: “As long as we’re progressing, I happy with it” … Neill Woelk’s Keys to the Washington State game … Travis Hunter one of three finalists for Paul Hornung Award … Coach Prime talks recruiting: “They aren’t worried about losses. They think they are the missing piece” …

CU/Utah kickoff time on hold … Two Buffs tied for leading tackler … Orphan 2 the only Pac-12 teams with all-time losing records … Who won the “Hawkins Bowl” last weekend? … Betting flips: Oregon State (v. Washington) and Arizona (v. Utah) have gone from underdogs to favorites …

Pac-2/Mountain West in scheduling talks … Judge: Oregon State and Washington State to be the only voting members of the Pac-12 board … ASU Athletic Director Ray Anderson (who hired Herm Edwards) resigns … Buffs open as a 5.5-point road underdog to Washington State …

CU and WSU have two Top Ten passers – and two Bottom Ten rushing offenses … Will this be CU’s first non-sellout? … Which single season passing records will Shedeur break this weekend? … Will the Judge’s ruling be a distraction for the “Orphan” Cougars? … Let’s find out …

Friday night in Pullman will feature two of the top ten passers in the nation – and two of the bottom ten rushing offenses … Both teams are 4-6, and both are on losing streaks – Which team still has enough gas in the tank to pull out win No. 5 on a crisp Friday night in Pullman? … Let’s find out …