Colorado University Athletics
Woelk: Frustration Mounts For Buffs
November 10, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — What once had the promise of a special season for the Colorado Buffaloes has now come to the point of bouncing back to salvage a bowl game and winning record.
Nobody has to tell the Buffs what they have left to gain. It begins next week with their home finale and Senior Day against Utah, followed by a road game at Cal to end the regular season.
One win would make them bowl eligible. Two wins would guarantee them a winning season. It is still a worthy goal for a program that has had just one winning record and one bowl game since 2005 — but no doubt, the frustration of a 5-0 start followed by an 0-5 skid has set in.
"It's frustrating when you lose," Buffs quarterback Steven Montez said. "It's never fun when you go out there, work hard, work your butt off all week and then you come up short on game day. It's tough, it's frustrating. But we have another opportunity next week."
Indeed — but those opportunities are dwindling in number and growing in urgency. If the Buffs are to leave a positive stamp on this season, a building block in the program's foundation that will be a piece of the future, it has to happen soon.
Saturday's game proved to be the latest example of CU's struggles in a month-long stretch of frustration. The Buffs led early against the No. 10 team in the nation, still trailed by just three heading into the second half, only to slowly see the game slip away. A fumble led to WSU's second touchdown of the game and a 17-7 lead early in the third quarter, and some missed opportunities — dropped balls and another fumble — added to the offensive frustration.
Meanwhile, CU's defense simply wore out. CU's secondary played its best game in several weeks, but WSU ended up with a dominant edge in time of possession, holding the ball for nearly 24 minutes more than the Buffs.
That was too much to overcome.
This wasn't a game the Buffs walked away from saying they should have won. Not, at least, in the vein of losses to Oregon State and Arizona, two games the Buffs know they could have won. The Cougars have earned their top-10 ranking with an outstanding offense and an underrated but extremely effective defense. Mike Leach's team has become adept at slowly strangling an opponent, which is exactly what the Cougars did Saturday. WSU methodically stymied Colorado all day, and the Buffs had no answer.
Now, they have two weeks left to discover the solution.
No doubt, Colorado has been bitten hard by the injury bug. As head coach Mike MacIntyre noted Saturday, nine players who started the season opener have missed games due to injury this season, with another four significant contributors also out.
But, as he noted, "That's part of football, that's part of life. Our guys will learn from it. We've got one goal in mind, regroup and find a way to beat Utah."
The Buffs won't find any sympathy coming from the Utes. Utah two weeks ago lost its starting quarterback, then earlier this week its best running back to injury. But Utah also found a way to regroup and beat Oregon on Saturday.
That's an example from which the Buffs can learn. Colorado still has something to gain this season, a chance to leave a mark on the CU program that will be remembered in a positive light.
The key will be whether they can continue to look ahead and not in the past. MacIntyre believes there is still some fight left in the Buffs.
"These last two games, they've come out playing hard and doing some things," he said. "They haven't come out dead, they come out ready to compete."
That's an attitude the Buffs will have to exhibit again next week.
The Utes will visit Boulder still with an eye on the Pac-12 South title. Colorado's reward will be much more subtle — a chance at redemption, a chance for CU players to prove to themselves and their fans that they have not given up on their season.
While not drenched in glory, it is still a goal worth pursuing. That should be enough motivation for Colorado to come out ready to compete.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
