Woelk: Buffs Haunted By Missed Opportunities At Washington

SEATTLE — This is one the Colorado Buffaloes won't be able to forget for a while.

The sting from this one will dig a little deeper.

Saturday afternoon, the Buffs had a chance to do something no Colorado football team has done since 2002 — beat a ranked team on the road.

The Buffs had their opportunities. They gave themselves a chance. They had a chance to prove they belong in the conversation when it comes to Pac-12 contenders.

But when they absolutely, positively had to make a play, they came up short.

Thus, for the 29th time in a row, the Buffs visited the home stadium of a ranked team and flew home with a loss, this time a 27-13 defeat to Washington that was a four-point game in the fourth quarter.

The Buffs let one get away — and they knew it.

"Obviously you never want to lose," said Colorado quarterback Steven Montez. "But sometimes, you'd almost rather have an absolute blowout than get one pulled out from under you in the fourth quarter. Those are the absolute toughest ones to swallow. We had opportunties and we didn't capitalize."

Indeed, Colorado had a chance — several chances — to put the Huskies on their heels and keep them there. But everytime they threatened to take conrol, they opened the gate and allowed Washington to regain momentum.

Colorado jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its first possession of the game, running the ball with authority before getting a 37-yard touchdown throw from Montez to freshman Daniel Arias. Meanwhile, the CU defense stopped the Huskies cold on their first two possessions.

Even after the Huskies tied the game — thanks in large part to a pass interference call on fourth-and-3 — the Buffs didn't blink. They came back and put a field goal on the board to take the lead again, 10-7, early in the second period.

But the Buffs one more time opened the door, allowing Washington to convert a fourth-and-one to keep another touchdown drive alive. When the Huskies went up 14-10 with 5:39 to go in the half, they never trailed again.

Not that the Buffs didn't have their chances. Late in the second quarter, they had a golden opportunity to regain the lead when Nick Fisher picked off a Jake Browning pass and returned it to the Washington 9-yard line. But three plays netted zero yards and instead of a 17-14 halftime lead — and the ball to start the third quarter — Colorado had to settle for a field goal and a 14-13 deficit at the half.

It was the same story, different verse in the second half.

One promising CU drive was cut short by a penalty; another ended when the Buffs couldn't convert a fourth-and-1. Washington, meanwhile, added another field goal, then put the game away for all intents and purposes with a long touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that saw UW score on a 26-yard pass on fourth-and-5.

"We just shot ourselves in the foot again," Montez said. "You can't do that if you want to beat the good teams like USC and Washington. You can do all that other stuff and get away with it when you're playing some other teams. But when you're playing USC and Washington, these guys who have been elite in the Pac-12 for a while now, you can't make those mental mistakes and expect to get away with it. Especially not on the road."

But while the opportunity for a road win over a ranked team will now likely have to wait until next year, the Buffs don't have to wait long to get back on track. After two weeks on the road, they finally return to Folsom Field next Saturday for a 1 p.m. homecoming matchup with Oregon State.

"We're 5-2," Montez said. "There's no need to freak out, panic. We just need to get back to work and do what we've been doing in practice and film study and all those good things. We were prepared coming into this game and just had some tough moments. If we keep preparing like we have been, we'll be fine."

Montez makes a good point. The Buffs have all kinds of opportunity ahead. Of their final five games, three are at home — and they could very well be playing host to a ranked Washington State team in a few weeks. There are plenty of chances for this team to make a statement.

But that process needs to start next week when the Beavers — and former Colorado offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, now an OSU assistant — pay a visit to Folsom Field.

It would be nice, of course, if the Buffs could get back to full strength sometime down the home stretch. They played Saturday without the services of four starters — wide receivers Laviska Shenault Jr. and Jay MacIntyre, cornerback Delrick Abrams Jr. and kicker James Stefanou — and lost another in the second half when cornerback Chris Miller suffered an injury.

But, as head coach Mike MacIntyre stressed, "No excuses, no regrets. We've signed good players, we have good players. We have enough good players to win."

True enough — but what we saw Saturday is that the Buffs are still walking a razor-thin margin for error, especially against the Pac-12's elite. The Huskies made mistakes and overcame them; the Buffs made mistakes and couldn't do the same.

Still, as every Buff will note, their record is 5-2. The chance for a very good season is squarely on their plate. The opportunity to still be in contention for a Pac-12 South title is by no means dead.

But the Buffs also know they can't squander many more of those opportunities and still reach those goals.

Instead, they have to take advantage of those moments when they arise — beginning next week at Folsom Field.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu