Disappointed, but Not Discouraged

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Disappointed, but Not Discouraged

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It’s my fault.

If you want to blame someone for CU’s 31-28 loss to No. 18 Kansas State, you can put it on me.

When I posted my written “T.I.P.S.” for the CU/Kansas State game, I finished with the following:

I would like to buy into CU’s potentially great season, but the Buffs will have to put it all together against a ranked team first before I can go all in.

I see Saturday night’s game against Kansas State as one of missed opportunities for CU, but perhaps a game which continues to build the program …

Prediction … No. 18 Kansas State 31, Colorado 27

Final score Saturday night: No. 18 Kansas State, 31, Colorado 28.

I’m not posting this to brag about my prescience. The outcome of the CU game against K-State was anyone’s guess. With the Buffs’ frenzied comeback – a comeback without Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn, Jr. – the game could have just as easily been a Colorado victory.

It also could have just as easily been a Kansas State 34-14 rout.

Remember when the Wildcats took the second half kickoff, already leading 14-7, and went 81 yards on 16 plays to take a 21-7 lead, running off over half of the third quarter clock in the process?

Remember when the Wildcats, after the Buffs drew back within a touchdown, drove down and kicked a field goal, taking a ten-point lead?

Remember when CU’s ensuing drive ended in an interception, giving K-State the ball back early in the fourth quarter, already up ten points, with a rushing attack the Buffs couldn’t stop?

It’s easy to focus on the pass interference non-call on CU’s last play as a primary reason for CU’s loss.

The fact is: There were a dozen different plays during the game which could have tilted the game in favor of the Buffs.

And there were also a dozen different plays which could have led the game to getting out of hand.

This just in … 

You don’t let a ranked team hold the ball for ten minutes of game clock more than you do (35:00 – 25:00) and expect to have enough opportunities to win.

You don’t let a ranked team run over you 40 times for 188 yards and expect to win.

You don’t finish with a minus-29 yards rushing yourselves, setting a new school record for “rushing” futility, and expect to win.

And yet, the Buffs fought back – stats and common sense be damned – and still had a chance to win the game.

But, at the end of the day, CU lost, and now, at the midway point of the season, is 4-2, possessing the same record the Buffs had last at this point last season, a season which spiraled downward to a 4-8 final record.

If you want to avoid some of the national media stories about CU football this next week, you certainly have my permission.

Many writers, after citing CU’s loss to Kansas State, won’t be able to help themselves. They continue on with something along the lines of, “Well … Colorado is now 4-2 on the season. The Buffs also opened up the 2023 season, the first under Coach Prime, at 4-2. That CU team suffered injuries, and proceeded to lose every game in the second half of the season, with the Buffs limping home to a 4-8 record. Could that happen this season as well?” …

You don’t have to read those stories this week … because you could write them.

No one knows better than the Buff Nation how a promising season can go south once the leaves fall and the weather turns.

• Colorado was 5-4 in 2017, with three chances in November to pick up a sixth win and extend the momentum of the 10-4 2016 season … but the Buffs lost all three games;
• Colorado was 5-0 and nationally ranked in 2018, but somehow managed to lose its next seven games to miss out on a bowl, including an inexplicable 41-34 overtime loss at home to Oregon State, in a game in which the Buffs led, 31-3, in the third quarter;
• Colorado was 5-6 in 2019, and was riding the momentum of a two-game winning streak into the regular season finale against Utah … and lost 45-15;

If you are older, and (not necessarily) wiser, you can also cite other seasons in which the Buffs raised the expectation of their fan base, only to have dreams and expectation shattered with late season collapses.

Will it happen to Colorado in 2024?

Is the promise of the Central Florida game, played only a week ago, now destined to become the high-water mark of Coach Prime’s second season?

I’m going with … No.

This despite the unknown status of CU’s star two-way player, Travis Hunter.

Coach Prime didn’t give reporters any updates as to the status of Hunter after the game: “I haven’t gotten an update on those particular young men,” said CU’s coach, talking not only about Hunter, but fellow wide receivers Jimmy Horn and Omarion Miller (though it appears clear that Omarion Miller’s injury is far more serious, perhaps season-ending). “Hopefully they can get back at it, but we’re not going to rush them. Their safety and their health is much more important than this game.”

Hunter’s shoulder injury did not prevent him from patrolling the sidelines in the second half, taking on the role of cheerleader. Buff fans should probably expect his return earlier rather than later.

But Hunter’s return doesn’t solve CU’s inability to run the ball, or to stop the run.

Those issues will continue to dog this team. Kansas State provided the template for how to beat the Buffs … not that it was a huge secret:

— On offense: Run the ball, and then, run the ball some more.

— On defense, ignore CU’s non-existent running game, and let your defensive line and linebackers set their sights on sacking Shedeur.

The thing is: Not too many teams on CU’s remaining schedule are Kansas State. Not every team will be able to dominate the Buffs on both sides of the line of scrimmage as well as the Wildcats.

In the second half of the 2023 season, the Buffs faced three ranked teams, together with road games against Washington State and Utah to close out a miserable 0-6 finish.

The second half of this season? The schedule is far less daunting.

Two months ago, the second half of CU’s 2024 campaign looked difficult. The Buffs, including the tilt against Kansas State, had a schedule with CU facing five ranked teams in the final seven games.

Now, three of CU’s second half opponents, all ranked in August, have fallen by the wayside:

• No. 17 Oklahoma State? The Cowboys are 3-3, 0-3 in Big 12 play;
• No. 21 Arizona? 3-3, 1-2;
• No. 22 Kansas? 1-5, 0-3.

That being said, two of CU’s other second half opponents, Cincinnati and Texas Tech, games which the Buff Nation chalked up as potential wins for the Buffs in August, are playing well, and present their own set of challenges.

Which is a long way of saying … there’s no way of predicting how CU’s second half will play out.

“Sometimes when you lose in life”, said Coach Prime on what he told his team after the game. “You get your butt kicked, you just gotta take it. But sometimes you lose, you say, dang, we should’ve won that. We should’ve had that. And that was one of those types of games. That’s not taking anything away from our opponents, because they played their butts off, and they’re in that locker room right now celebrating having a good time, and they deserve it. But for us, we just felt like we let that one slip away, and we got to do a better job of taking advantage of the opportunities that we had to win that game, because we had several.”

There are going to more frustrating moments for this team going forward. The Buffs are a flawed team.

There are also going to be exciting moments for this team going forward, as there is more talent and depth on this team than the Buffs had last season.

Could the Buffs lose their next six games, descending into another 4-8 disappointment? Yes.

Could the Buffs win any or all of their next six games, raising the team to unlikely heights this fall? Yes.

The Buff Nation has every reason to be disappointed as to how the Kansas State game finished. The Buffs staged a spirited comeback, and gave the sellout crowd of 53,972 every reason to believe that CU was about to stage a second consecutive miracle home comeback.

Go ahead, feel disappointed. It was a tough loss.

But don’t be discouraged …

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This post, about the Kansas State game, from the 2024 Season, is filed under Article.
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