Brooks: Two First-Year Buffs Get Crash Course On CU-CSU Rivalry

BOULDER – Some freshmen arrive on their college campuses believing they're years ahead of the first-year learning curve – and a few are. But Patrick Carr and N.J. Falo set foot on the University of Colorado campus earlier this summer with their humility intact and their minds open.

Neither is a know-it-all, neither professes to be. They're learning about college life, their new surroundings, their new teammates and assignments on the CU football squad. And, yes, they're learning about this annual event called the Rocky Mountain Showdown.

"When I came here I didn't know it was called that . . . that's the first thing I learned," Falo, an outside linebacker from Sacramento, Calif., said of the looming Colorado-Colorado State game (Saturday, 5 p.m., CBS-SN, Sports Authority Field).

Being from a state that might lead the nation in instate rivalry games, Falo's knowledge of the CU-CSU series was lacking. And that might be too generous. So he did something about it.

"I went deep in the history and learned that it's a pretty damn big rivalry game," he recalled. "It's basically about who's the king of this state. Nobody wants to be somebody's little brother and be picked on all year long until you get another win."

Carr's home state (Texas) also features a multitude of college football rivalries, and like Falo in California, he didn't equate CU-CSU with Texas-Texas A&M, Texas-Baylor, Texas-Whoever . . .

"I didn't know a lot at all about it," said Carr, a running back from The Woodlands – a Houston suburb. "I do know now that it (CU-CSU) is a big rivalry, but I have no clue why they don't like each other or whatever. It's pretty exciting, but we'll treat it like another game really."

AT LEAST FOR PUBLIC CONSUMPTION, that's been the theme this week among the Buffaloes. Conduct business as usual, stay focused, don't fall prey to what happens on the periphery or in the media. Just go to Denver and deliver.

No delivery was made last season. CSU rallied with 21 unanswered points and bused back to Fort Collins basking in a solid 31-17 win. Falo and Carr weren't around to experience that bummer for the Buffs, but sampling the defeat's nasty aftertaste came quickly once Rams week rolled around last Sunday.

Falo might have been a little too exuberant when he told me that Saturday's game is "basically our main goal this year." Then again, given their 1-1 record and their long-standing bowl hopes, the Buffs need to treat it as just as Falo described it – "basically our main goal . . ."

"It doesn't matter who we play next week or the rest of the season," he continued. "This game is going to be a very big game for us. It's going to mean a lot for our team."

"A lot" might be selling this game's importance just a little bit short. "Everything" might not be an overstatement.

Falo was CU's first 2015 commit, Carr was the last and a very welcome signing day surprise after it was initially believed he was headed for Arkansas.

A native of Hawai'i, Falo didn't play in the Buffs' 28-20 opening loss in Honolulu but was in on 21 snaps and made a pair of unassisted tackles in last weekend's 48-14 win against Massachusetts. He's listed third on this week's depth chart at outside linebacker behind Jaleel Awini and Christian Shaver.

Carr, meanwhile, has played in both games, with his 10 carries for 55 yards against UMass marking the first "touches" of his college career. He's a speedster (10.56 seconds in the 100 meters) whose role in CU's offense likely will expand. But for now he's listed fourth on the running back depth chart, with an experienced trio – Christian Powell, Michael Adkins II, Phillip Lindsay – ahead of him.

Carr isn't fretting over that or however, whenever his role evolves. "That's a coaching decision," he said. "I'll just keep fighting for my team and keep playing with those guys and help wherever I'm needed.

"Truly, honestly from high school to now has been a big jump, but I think I've adjusted well. The speed – I'm kind of used to the speed – but everyone here is faster. It's not just one or two guys, it's everyone. I have to get used to that."

Jim Leavitt is another Buffs "newbie" to the CU-CSU fracas, but he could hardly be lumped in with Falo and Carr. CU's first-year defensive coordinator has three-plus decades of coaching experience (including the NFL) and was part of the Kansas-Kansas State rivalry as a K-State assistant before muscling into the Florida college football scene as South Florida's start-up head coach (1997-2009).

His ambitious USF teams stood up to two of the state's longtime heavyweights – Florida State, Miami – and he won in-state recruiting battles against both, as well as Florida. An intense rivalry developed against another upstart program – Central Florida – and was initially dubbed "The War on I-4." It wasn't much of a war under Leavitt's watch at USF; he directed four consecutive Bulls wins in the series (2005-08).

"I've been part of a lot of rivalries," said Leavitt, who takes no-nonsense to another level. "I'm sure Colorado-Colorado State is the same situation. I understand how important the game is. I get that. Every game is really important, but this is an instate game. I understand that. Bottom line is you've got to play good football or you're not going to win."

THIS IS HOW HE SUMS UP HIS knowledge of last season's CU-CSU game: "I know that Colorado State beat Colorado real bad . . . they did a good job; they're a well-coached team. Colorado got beat and should have gotten beat. They didn't play good enough."

Simple as that . . .

I asked Leavitt if, while he was coaching at USF, his players viewed those Saturdays against instate opponents as rivalry games. "I hope not," he answered. "I hope they saw it as another game. You have to take care of details, play as hard as you can and that's it."

Again, simple as that . . .

Falo and Carr seem to get what Leavitt is talking about – at least they claimed to before venturing onto Sports Authority Field for the first time.

When he watched USC play UCLA, Cal play Stanford, etc., Falo focused on players from each team at his position. He saw "players playing every down like it was their last down," he said. "That right there explains a lot to me about a rivalry. They're going 110 percent and acting like that first play is their last play. They want to win every play so they can win in the end. Just from my experience of watching college football I can tell what the (CSU) rivalry is going to be like. All I've got to do now is step on the field and get a feel for it."

CU's upperclassmen have attempted to expedite that process; they've briefed Carr and Falo on what to expect from the game's intensity, playing in an NFL venue, the overall atmosphere, the decibel level, etc.

Said Carr: "They've told us it'll be so loud you can't hear yourself think. The crowd and the atmosphere are going to help both teams, but you have to have tunnel vision. You just have to be focused in and do your job.

"I'm getting myself ready physically and mentally, being a teammate and helping everybody get up tempo . . . that game is going to be, whooo, it's going to be a good game."

Better than last year's, hope the Buffs.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU