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Lucky No. 7
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Two weeks ago, Colorado defeated Cincinnati, 34-23, giving CU a 6-2 record.
Getting to six wins and bowl eligibility for only the second time in 17 years was a huge hurdle for the Buffs to clear. The “Bowl Game For Peggy” win over Cincinnati was cathartic for the Colorado program and its fan base, a fan base which had endured 11 straight losses since 2018 when the Buffs had five wins and a chance at a bowl bid.
The sixth win though, also shifted the dynamic for CU in terms of national recognition.
The 6-2 record earned the Buffs a spot in the Associated Press poll for the first time in the 2024 season, even after Coach Prime – seriously or not – asked that CU not be ranked.
“We ain’t thinking about the playoffs right now. We go one game at a time,” Coach Prime said in the postgame news conference after the win over Cincinnati. “We don’t even want to be ranked. Don’t rank us, please. We don’t like that. We rather be in the back, in the dark, just chilling in the cut. We good, we cool. We straight. All right, so don’t feel pressure to rank us. I promise you everybody, we are straight. So we’re not thinking about that.”
While the Buffs tried to stay in the background – at least as much as any team which has had every game of its season carried on a national network can – Colorado again became a national story.
Ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press poll after the Cincinnati game, the Buffs moved up to No. 21 after their bye week. The Fox Big Noon Saturday Show, which couldn’t find Lubbock with an atlas, suddenly was heading to North Texas for the CU/Texas Tech game. Fox picked the Buffs and Red Raiders for its network midday game, and then a day later chose Utah (a 4-5 disappointment this season) at Colorado for its Big Noon Kickoff for next Saturday.
How would the Buffs respond to the return to the national spotlight?
The Buff Nation remembered well how CU roared out to a 3-0 start in Coach Prime’s first season, playing on national television every weekend, earning the Buffs’ first national rankings since 2020. CU fans also remembered how the Buffs fell off a cliff the remainder of the season, going 1-8 in Pac-12 play.
The Buff Nation remembered well how CU played its best game of the season at UCF after the miracle win over Baylor. Central Florida got its first-ever visit from the Fox Big Noon Saturday show, and the Buffs routed the Knights, 48-21.
The Buffs then got a bye week to celebrate their big win, and the consensus that the program had turned a corner, and was a quality team which could compete for the Big 12 title.
The game after the bye, though, was a tough 31-28 home loss to No. 18 Kansas State.
Fast forward two weeks, after CUs 34-7 win over Arizona, and 34-23 win over Cincinnati.
The Buffs traveled to Lubbock with a 6-2 record … a No. 21 ranking in the Associated Press poll, and a No. 20 ranking in the first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings.
“We don’t care about (any) rankings,” Coach Prime said this week before the College Football Playoff committee ranked his Buffs 20th. “Rankings (are) like a tease, man. …
“Rankings can fool you. It can get you in a situation where you start thinking that you are that. And we don’t buy into that. We know who we are.
“(By) Week 11 in college football. If you don’t know who you are by now, something’s wrong. … So we can’t be fooled for that foolishness. That’s why I said, ‘Don’t rank us.’ We’re better without it. We’re cool.”
Despite Coach Prime’s warnings, the Buffs played the first quarter of their game against the Red Raiders looking like they didn’t need to actually prepare for their game against 6-2 Texas Tech.
The Red Raiders scored on only four plays – and in only 70 seconds – on their opening drive. On CU’s first play from scrimmage, the Buffs were penalized for a false start. On play two, an early unexpected snap forced Shedeur Sanders to fall on the ball for a four yard loss.
After a quick punt, the Texas Tech offense again rolled down the field, posting a field goal.
After another quick CU punt, the Texas Tech offense again rolled down the field, posting another field goal.
After one quarter of play, the score was 13-0. Texas Tech had 125 yards of total offense; Colorado had 26. The Red Raiders had six first downs; the Buffs had one. Time of possession: Ten minutes for Tech; five minutes for CU.
Buff fans had seen this movie before. It was like almost every game of the 2022 season. It was like almost every game in the second half of the 2023 season.
Had the Buff players read too many press clippings? Was Coach Prime’s concerns about being ranked coming to fruition?
After spending the previous week celebrating losses by Iowa State and Kansas State, creating a much clearer path for Colorado to get to the Big 12 championship game, the Buff Nation was “primed” for much greater expectations than mere bowl eligibility.
With the unexpected implosion of three of CU’s November opponents (Utah was ranked No. 12 in the preseason AP poll; Kansas was ranked No. 22; Oklahoma State No. 17), what had appeared in August to be a November gauntlet for the Buffs, now appeared to be a yellow-brick road to the Emerald City.
All that stood in the way of CU’s march to Arlington was 6-2 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders did own a win over No. 10 Iowa State, but also had the 132nd-ranked pass defense in the country.
The Buffs were rested, relatively healthy (CU was down some defensive linemen), and confident.
And yet, at the end of the first quarter, the tortilla tossing at sold-out Jones AT&T Stadium was in full voice, with the Buffs down, 13-0.
Then, a funny thing happened on the way to CU’s meltdown and a quick exit from the national stage … the Buffs kept their composure, and started playing better.
First, it was the Buff offense which found its stride. After punting the ball on its first four possessions, the Buff offense went: touchdown; field goal; touchdown; touchdown; touchdown on its next five possessions, scoring 31 points in the second and third quarters.
Up 31-20, it was then up to the Buff defense to flex its muscles. Starting late in the third quarter, the Texas Tech offensive possessions went: turnover on downs (failed fake punt); turnover on downs (sack on fourth-and-nine at the CU 34-yard line; interception; fumble; turnover on downs (failed attempt on fourth-and-goal at the CU one-yard line).
The great play of the defense, which finished with three turnovers and six sacks, should have been more than enough for Colorado to turn the game into a rout. Instead, a series of mistakes, including completely unnecessary taunting penalties, kept the Red Raiders in the game.
It wasn’t until a Shilo Sanders scoop-and-score on a fumble forced by defensive lineman Amari Walker in the final minute restored CU’s two-score lead could the Buff Nation breathe a sigh of relief.
“It’s almost like they got to get hit in the face,” Coach Prime said of his team’s slow start. “They got to get slapped. They got to feel it and I don’t know why we’re like that, because we do everything in our power, even the way we script practices, to get started fast. The emphasis is let’s get out to a good start. Because we know if we get out to a good start, the sky’s the limit.”
At the end of the day, Colorado had a 41-27 victory, the Buffs’ fourth straight victory on the road (not accomplished by any Buff team in a season since 1996, and the first CU team to win four straight road games by 14 or more points since the 1989 team went 11-0 in the regular season). The win gave CU a 5-1 record in Big 12 play, and, with Iowa State losing for the second consecutive weekend, a direct path to the Big 12 title game.
With the slow start and the sloppy play (including 14 penalties for 106 yards), it’s not a stretch to say that CU’s No. 7 win of the 2024 season was lucky.
Some say it’s better to be lucky than good.
For the past two decades, the Colorado football program hasn’t had many games – or seasons – in which the Buffs were either lucky or good.
It’s kinda fun to be supporting a team in 2024 which is both lucky … and good.
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5 Replies to “Lucky No. 7”
Gotta disagree. Wasn’t luck. Good teams find a way to win. They got punched in the mouth. All teams get punched in the mouth during a season. They weathered it, kept playing and did enough to win. Great teams, play flat out, all three teams, play well nearly all of the time. We are not a great team, not yet….. but we might become one….. We got a few more games to become one before we have to be one to really compete.
I’m with you Rob. Lucky is winning when unknowingly being granted a 5th down, (as an ’88 grad, I can say this). Capitalizing on opportunities by playing hard is a different thing altogether. Winning teams have the ball bounce their way because they keeping making the “ball bounce”.
Lucky and good. Agreed. When you’re good you tend to make your own luck.
GO BUFFS!!
Spot on, two weeks in a row w/a ‘dumb’ penalty, and a weak 4th quarter offense, among the things that need to get cleaned up for the stretch.
Flip side is that this is the most talented Buffs team since the 90’s, and the defense is actually fun to watch (imposing their will on the opponent).
It’s not a good thing that the Buffs seem to need to be “punched in the face” before they get rolling.
But they continue to make adjustments until they got four or five stops in a row on defense, with the offense scoring on four or five possessions. This team has been able to take over the game with confidence and the belief that they will win the second half and that ultimately they will win the game.
Almost happened against KSU with 5 key players out/injured and a missed PI call.
Their belief matched with their ability to make adjustments are straight up great coaching matched by team effort. If by the end of the season they can get going right out of the gate they could be dangerous come the Big12 Championship game and bowl games.
The have seem to take less time to get the ship right, this time it was on the 4th possession that they got the stop, but holding TT to FGs on the 2nd & 3rd possession slowed the bleeding until the adjustments started to work. On both sides of the ball.
Stupid penalties prevented them from closing out the game early… AND after a nice lead a little drop off in play hurt them too, but Prime got on them and they responded.
Learn how to get rolling out of the gate & keep the intensity up through the game and this team can go far.
What a turn around from 1-11 and last in all stats just two years ago, go Prime, GO BUFFS!