With over two billion copies sold, no author has sold more books than Agatha Christie. In my favorite novel of hers, And Then There Were None, the seemingly impossible happens when ten dinner guests methodically die one by one, yet there does not seem to be any clues or motive. As the body count climbs, the remaining guests are left to struggle to find answers.
This CU Buff season seems to be like an Agatha Christie novel. While the losses continue to pile up, Buff Nation is left to seek answers, and no one has a clue how to stop the body count. Like Lt. Daniel Kaffee cross-examining Col. Jessup demanding answers, Buff Nation is in pursuit of the truth (even if we can’t handle it).
Coming on the heels of an embarrassing loss on the road against a terrible Cal Berkeley team last week, CU now goes on the road against an excellent #7 Oregon squad. No one believes CU will win this game, and everyone is right. The chasm between how these two programs operate and how they view themselves is too great to pull off an upset.
One of the reasons Agatha Christie novels are so good is because no matter the level of complexity, the reader knows that the author will reveal the truth before the novel concludes, and justice will be served. So, here is to CU solving this mystery before the season is over and enabling Buff Nation to turn toward next season (too soon?) with excitement and confidence.
Every year, immediately following the NCAA Men’s Basketball championship game, just as the credits begin to roll, a montage of tournament highlights are played to the snappy tune of One Shining Moment. Instantly the viewer can see why college basketball is so fun, and why these players have dedicated so much time to their craft.
On a perfect Fall day in a sold-out Folsom field, somewhere mid-way through the third quarter the Buffs hit on their own shining moment. Desperately hanging on to a 6-0 lead over the oh so lowly Arizona Wildcats, the Buffs exploded for three straight touchdowns (on Special teams, defense and offense). For that one shining moment the buffs looked legit. They looked happy. They made Buff Nation happy.
So, where do we go from here? Well, according to the Boss (and we know the Boss is always right), you can’t start a fire without a spark. Here is to CU parlaying their dominating win and their shining moment, into a spark that leads to beating a beatable California Bears team on the road tomorrow, and creating a fire we can all warm up to. If that does not happen, well, perhaps it is another season of dancing in the dark.
In the Winter of 1776, things weren’t looking so good for our burgeoning nation. The British had George Washington and his band of volunteers on the ropes, NYC laid in ashes, morale was low, and a seemingly unwinnable revolutionary war loomed large.
Seizing upon the moment of need, Thomas Paine published what would serve as a rally cry for America. With the now indelible words, “These are the times that try men’s souls”, American forces rallied, and the rest (more or less) is (American) history.
As a Buff fan (yup, just about to compare our current fandom struggles with those of our founding forefathers), we too face an uncertain future. What was meant to be a building block season, has instead turned into a stumbling block. While it would be easy, understandable, and perhaps even warranted to turn our backs on the Buffs and go back to our homes, now is not the time.
Instead let’s embrace the fact that CU is playing the Arizona Wildcats this Saturday at 1:30 at Folsom Field. A team that in the past used to torment us, Arizona is now arguably the single most hapless team in America, riding a 17 game losing streak. Coming off the heels of a bye week, CU will secure it’s second victory of the season and will be primed to grab it’s third on the road the following week at Cal. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. These are trying times after all, which in fact are times for trying.
Ok, let’s make this week’s update as painless as possible. No need to pile on while the Buffs are down. The Buffs have fallen and can’t get up. The Buffs offense is offensive, the Buff defense is tired, the coaching is suspect and Buff Nation is in a panic.
CU played last Saturday night and lost to ASU. The game was a late kickoff and on ESPNU a double whammy and an early warning sign that the Buffs are about to be placed on double secret probation and slip off the NCAA relevancy radar.
Too early for the season to be over, but CU needs a big time stop-the-hemorrhaging victory. That opportunity presents itself tomorrow at noon.
Week Five Preview
CU vs USC – Saturday – Folsom Field, Noon
What better way to stop a losing streak that to play a team you have never beaten (ever)? The USC Trojans come into Boulder on Saturday sporting a 14-0 record against CU. CU has come close in recent years but has failed to create the mental capacity to understand that it is okay to win these games. Oregon State just beat USC last weekend. Apparently, they don’t subscribe to the same mantra CU does, that you are supposed to lose to USC every single time you play them.
We need the Buffs Defense to go all gladiator on the Trojans for our entertainment pleasure, and hope QB1 Lewis can remember why he wanted to play QB in college and stop playing from a fetal position (some blocking from the O-line would help).
Incredibly, this is a game CU can win. While CU is hamstrung, USC is also in disarray. Already on their second coach and second quarterback, USC isn’t the nationally ranked Goliath that typically puts on the USC jersey.
A win tomorrow puts us right back on track for a bowl eligible season. A victory tomorrow puts this entire season on a different trajectory, one Buff Nation can be proud of. Strength & Honor.
Well, that wasn’t good. One of the most embarrassing losses in school history. One could argue Oregon St in 2018 was worse (it was) or losing to the multitude of other games we should have won but beat downs like this you tend to see coming. This one was like Apollo Creed entering the ring against Drago inRocky IV, and by the time you figure out you got bullied, it’s too late. The Buffs did get bullied. They got shamed. They got schooled.
I wasn’t interested in hearing the pundit’s spin nor the coach’s assessment. I didn’t follow the articles on how practice went, or changes being made to get ready for ASU. Those are all words. As I tell my kids, show me you know by your actions. The Buffs are going to have to make it up to Buff Nation with their actions. Show us you know by fielding a competitive football team that we can be proud of.
Speaking of kids, the first book my oldest ever learned to read was We’re Going On A Bear Hunt. It goes something like this. “We are going on a bear hunt. We’re going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We’re not scared”. The family in the book then goes on to meet obstacles along the way. “On no, long wavy grass. We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. We’ve got to go through it!”. Yup Buff Nation, what transpired on Saturday may be reality, it may be an anomaly, it may be somewhere in between, but until the Buffs can show us what they know by their actions, we are all going to have to go through it. We’re not scared. Okay, maybe a little bit.
Week Four Preview
#75 (yuk) CU (1-2) vs #37 Arizona State (2-1) – Saturday, 8:30 PM Tempe, AZ
Out of the fire, into the frying pan. Next up are the formidable Arizona State Sun Devils. The Vegas line has the Sun Devils as a two-touchdown favorite over the Buffs, and a dark horse to win the Pac-12 South. I’m sure ASU cannot believe it’s good fortune to catch the Buffs at such a fragile point in the season.
CU comes into this game wounded on many different levels. They are physically and emotionally banged up. If CU can’t find a way to generate some first downs and score some points, this game, and potentially this season will get out of hand. It’s possibly too early to play this card, but this coming Saturday night for the Buffs is not about keeping their pride but finding it.
The Buffs have the talent on the defensive side of the ball to keep the game close against the Sun Devils, but that strategy falls apart if they are back on the field after every three Buff offensive plays. Nate Landman is playing football as good as anyone in the nation right now. One bad game does not make a season, but it begins to lower the bar on program expectations and then begins to fester into something that becomes infectious, something Buff nation has been dealing with for years. Here’s to Coach KD showing us that this thing ain’t over. Here’s to KD putting together a game plan and program plan that does indeed begin to change the narrative of CU Football.
